Abusing your Muse

Ever had a sudden spark of inspiration and wrote for 1-5 days straight giving your head a time to relax only when you sleep? This is what I call "abusing your muse" It's a common occurence, especially around NaNoWriMo. Abusing your muse is a good example of short term gain long term loss. Once your "Muse" decides that it is fed up with the constant work, it will simply shut down and refuse to be productive anymore.

The only cure I have to offer is a thread to discuss this in, and this advice: play videogames. Often doing something "pointless" and thoughtless for a few days is just what you need to regain your "muse".

My muse can go for two weeks strait! Yeah, two weeks with minimal sleep. Gotta love it.

Ah yes, my way must be either writing something else or just not thinking about the story for like two weeks. Or lots of YWS. <---- One I'm using now.

yeah, it happens way to much in NaNo. Lets see, longest was 2 and a half weeks, and then complete shut down.
New music helps, that and new books....

I would call abusing about a week before it stops working and goes on strike. I find that sleeping or going for a walk will spark something. Either that or copy the entire document so far and completely randomize it.

How could I forget new books? That worked for me all summer.

Hmm, considering how my muse is currently used up I should crack open one of those books I've been meaning to read.

I'm full of ideas, my muse does not shut. But I don't get ideas foe´r one subject, I get them for many, but that is why I stop writing some books for long periods, that part of my idea stream has shut, some of my ideas don't even get to the paper since they are a bit too controversial or two-minded.

My muse sucks and I haven't been on good terms with it for a long time. I've somehow still managed to be able to write.

Funny thing, I think I wrote more during the semester than I did here on break. Now that's something fascinating. I agree with the whole video game concept, but I'll go you one further; take a hike out somewhere. That does even better for the imagination sometimes. If you live in a city, try to get downtown or wherever the action's at. Soon your muse will be recharged.

Works for me, anyways.

My muse frequently takes vacations and only gives me a few hours of writing time to work with. I wish I could abuse it!

You know when you're writing a lot? And you're excited? And you write like fifty pages in a day? And you're sweating and typing like crazy and tackling every plot thread and finishing your stuff? Yeah. Everything you write in days like that usually sucks.

Icaruss wrote:You know when you're writing a lot? And you're excited? And you write like fifty pages in a day? And you're sweating and typing like crazy and tackling every plot thread and finishing your stuff? Yeah. Everything you write in days like that usually sucks.

Yes it does! I had a moment like that at 5 this morning, looked at it after lunch and asked myself who wrote this crap?

My Muse usually goes on strike for a few days if I try to write very much in one day (20 pages). Hehe, Muse doesn't like me much these days.

My muse comes in spurts of... pages. Maybe one, maybe ten. Maybe a paragraph.. Actually, she usually visits me at night right when i've just gotten into bed, and forces me to roll back out of bed (I have a bunk bed, by the way, and sleep on the top one). I hate my muse sometimes.

My muse is very fickle and takes great pleasure in bothering me when I least have time for it. Like when I'm writing scientific papers. Or when I'm in the middle of studying for my Chem finals. Or right as I'm drifting off to sleep without a pencil and paper within reach.

At all other times, my muse is on vacation. I blame my muse for my very sparse writing tendencies, though lately the muse has been quite cooperative. I doubt it will last. >.>

My muse always dies when i stop reading:(. But when I start reading again it goes crazy!
Why do you call it Muse though? Is it just not writers block?

My muse got back from an extended vacation a few days ago and has been working full-throttle.