Saturday, October 15, 2011

My Muse Wears Work Clothes

Granted, there's nothing particularly sexy about the image here, but that's exactly the point. We're supposed to be writing about our day jobs and or the biggest writing mistakes we've ever made. Let me combine both and come clean. I've got plenty of writing mistakes behind me, and no doubt, I'll probably have more ahead of me, but my biggest mistake, by far, has to have been my slow recognition of how to live with a flighty muse.

I fell in love with words and books as a little kid and the magic holds as much of a spell on me as it ever did. Even now, watching the letters group up into words and the words into sentences on this page pleases my eyes and settles my soul, only now I know there is nothing mysterious about the magic! I once thought of my muse as this elusive creature who must be cajoled into making an appearance. I had to attend to her every need with just the right coffee/surroundings/writing pad, etc.. Otherwise, like some spoiled prima dona, she might get offended and disappear as quickly as she arrived. There's a good country word for that sort of thing: bologna!

My muse wears work clothes. She has to, y'all. Deadlines call from every corner. Oh, yes, I love words and writing as much as ever, the process will always feed my soul. But if I were waiting on a flighty muse to show up and perform, I'd be dead in the water.

Like so much else in this life, success comes when one foot, or word in our case, is placed in front of the other, time and time again. I can't get the hours back that I've wasted in the past, waiting on my muse to show up and perform, but that's okay. Experience is, after all, a mighty fine teacher. I may have stumbled towards the understanding, but I've learned that my muse, she is me. I've taken the power back and it feels good. Who knows, if she's good, I may even treat her to a caramel macchiato!

  
Known as The Belle of All Things Southern, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson is a national best-selling author, speaker, and columnist. She and her husband Phil live and farm in Louisiana. Shellie’s Penguin Group USA release, Suck Your Stomach In and Put Some Color On, was voted SIBA’s Nonfiction Finalist of 2009 by the Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance. The sequel, Sue Ellen's Girl Ain't Fat, She Just Weighs Heavy hit stores in May 2011 with a hearty endorsement from legendary comedian Jeff Foxworthy, a blurb Shellie adamantly denies purchasing.

Shellie hosts her weekly talk show ATS LIVE every Mon. evening from 5-6 PM CST on TALK 540 KMLB out of northeast Louisiana. The show also streams in real time on Shellie’s popular website, www.allthingssouthern.com and podcasts there for listening convenience.  Shellie’s three minute daily doses of All Things Southern are carried by twenty-eight radio affiliates across the South.  Shellie writes a weekly inspirational feature in Newsstar, a Gannett paper serving the Ark/La/Miss and a monthly print and online column for Louisiana Road Trips.  Shellie is also blogging as the new Girl Friday at Southern Belleview Daily. Y'all come!

9 comments:

Rachel Hauck said...

My muse wears work clothes too! Great post, Shellie!

Rachel

Lisa Wingate said...

LOL! My muse likes Facebook and the Dr. Phil show way too much, but a little duct tape and good sturdy desk chair, and she's all right.

Love your post, Shellie! 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. It's good to be reminded ;o)

Southern Belle View said...

I love this post, Shellie. I think that authors who are just waiting around for the right "muse" moment often end up to be one book authors. Once published, it's hard to keep up with the promo activities, reader contacts, and the business aspects of being an author. It's easy to get sucked into putting off the 'seat in chair' writing and then the career languishes.

Beth Webb Hart said...

So true and insightful, Shellie. Hemingway used to be afraid his muse would leave him. He had to make sure he left with a little left to write each day so he could come back with the tank still somewhat full. As for me, two little children made me realize I couldn't pamper my muse any longer. She was going to have to scrape a twenty minutes here or there just like me. Very freeing for both of us!

Shellie Tomlinson said...

Thx, y'all! Enjoyed reading the comments of some women who KNOW a thing or two about hard working muses! :)

Jackie K Cooper said...

Hats off to the hardest working woman in the book/writing business.

Shellie Tomlinson said...

Jackie K. Cooper!!! What in tarnation are we thinking? We've been out of touch too long. ATS LIVE misses you. Holler at me via email and let's fix that.

romantic ideas said...

yes it's true.my muse wares work clothes too.and i love this article.

Write a book said...

I did not get one thing in this article.... what is this muse??????????