Second Article in the “Sitting” Series:
Ready, Sit, Go
You know the term ghostwriter as a skill, a career, a service, don’t you? But do you know the term ghostwriter(s) as the experience of feeling your voice drowned out by internal voices, memories, and imagined fears? How can you discern whether your ego is shouting or you are hearing your ghostly Muse? That’s what I want to help you with today.
It happens like this: you get an idea or it’s your daily writing practice. You sit down (alone, you think) and all of a sudden your enthusiasm and energy vanishes. In its place is a cacophony of thoughts that interrupt your own. It’s as though uninvited ghosts squeeze into the chair with you. What attracts them to your writing chair? How many are fighting for airtime?
“Hear me. Your idea sucks.”
“Hear me. What are you thinking? You don’t know enough to write this.”
“Hear me. The laundry needs doing. Why are you wasting your time sitting down to write?”
But, sometimes a “hear me” ghost whispers a sentence that your gut responds to and you want to hear more. That’s a good thing. After all, a gal from Mississippi and guy from Montreal gave us True Blood – about vampires, and The Life of Pi – about a shipwrecked boy alone in a boat with a Bengal tiger. Don’t you wish you were there the day that idea was whispered to them?
I doubt my ghostly muse would ever give me such an idea as theirs. But, who knows? When the ghost of the Creative Muse gets fired up with imagination, all sorts of ideas play out in our writing. Haven’t you heard writers say, “I don’t know where the words came from?”
“Hear me. I’ve got a wild idea for you.”
“Hear me. Just write without thought.”
“Hear me. Move over a bit. We’re in this together.”
The next time uninvited, negative ghosts show up in your chair with you, give them a loud, “Boo!” and shoo them away. They know who they are. Ahh…doesn’t that feel more comfortable?
If you’re having some difficulty shooing your ghosts, take advantage of my offer for a free consult by simply entering your information in the red box to book your Brainstorming Writing Coaching Session with me!