So…I just have to crow! I signed up for Holly Lisle’s How to Think Sideways class, and I’m absolutely loving it. Should’ve done this the first time I heard about the class a couple of years ago *headdesk* BUT! Better Late Than Never!
One of the basic points of How to Think Sideways is to get the two halves of your brain to work together so you can have all the muse’s magic AND all the editor’s skills. My exercise for this week is to “call down lightning 3 times” (in other words, get my muse to give me 3 viable story ideas…on command. I’m not allowed to recycle old ideas.) Lots of interesting stuff led up to this assignment, and I thought I’d done it well.
Uhm…NOT!
So, I asked my muse the suggested questions this morning, and all I’ve gotten is:
“I want colored pens.”
“Why don’t you have any colored pens?”
“When are you going to get me colored pens?”
“I NEED colored pens!”
I’ve been ignoring this all day, because that’s what I do. I ignore impulses to spend money unnecessarily. Besides, I hate writing by hand, so why do I NEED colored pens?
That’s when it hit me, my logical self was explaining away my muse’s request…just like it had taken over the exercises that were supposed to be the foundation for this exercise.
I asked my muse to do something, but I’d been ignoring her attempts to communicate and refusing to give her the tools she wants–no, I believe her word is NEEDS–in order to carry out the assignment *facepalm*
We just got back from buying colored pens. *VBG*
Can’t wait to see what she does with them!
