The writing muse

When I was a child, I was fond of art but would become very frustrated very quickly by my inability to translate the image in my head onto the paper. In my head was a Van Gogh; on the paper a splodge. Learning to let go of such frustration and trust the process (and my muse) has been a journey for me.

Copywriting for a living is a funny old business. Obviously, I love writing (not much point being a copywriter otherwise), but writing my own stuff for my own amusement is very different from writing for a client. Why? Well, rather than waiting for your muse to seek you out, you have to get out there and find it on a daily business (and some days my muse loves to play hide and seek!).

I recently proofread a book called Muses, which got me thinking more deeply about how to be in touch with my own. And thanks to some heavy pondering, some experimental writing exercises and a willingness to change my attitudes to 'work' writing, I have found my muse visits much more frequently.

None of this means I don't believe my writing is my own, but I have long been fascinated by the writing process. Today, I sat down and wrote five marketing documents in one go. Before I began, I had a vague idea how I expected them to turn out; as I wrote, I felt myself relax and stay in the moment, going with the flow of my ideas and typing like fury to keep up; and at the end (as is always the case), I was pleasantly surprised by the direction I'd taken and the final result.

Writing must be structured, planned and well-formed. However, on the flip side of this, writing must also be creative and from deep inside. It's about balance. You have to trust that muse to take you there - even if there is somewhere rather different to your expectations.

And that ends today's deep and meaningful moment . . .