Guest blogger Beatriz Terrazas says there’s no Tooth Fairy, no Easter Bunny, and no Muse.
Forget about the muse. There is no such thing. Inspiration, yes, but that comes as a result of being aware and open to the world and the people around us, and of course, of our own personal histories and adventures, good or bad. Yes, at its best, writing is art but even art is work, hard work. This art is only achieved by sitting at the notebook or computer and putting down the words day in and day out. Sometimes the words are pure crap and you may wad up the sheet of paper or hit the delete key the next day, but it's part of the process. I say it again: there is no muse. Only your fingers on the pen or keyboard priming the pump in your mind.
Beatriz recently won first place in the American Society of Journalists and Authors for a first person narrative about taking care of her mother with Alzheimer's. She says the essay was fairly raw as it was pretty much written under duress in the way she described above, “by simply putting down the words.”
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