12 Devious Prompts for Creative Writers with Muse Problems

When the thing you want to create resists the birthing process, consider cheating. I don’t mean copying someone else’s work and calling it your own, or forcing yourself into territory that’s unnatural for you. Instead, get proactive by enlisting the concept of the muse—your personal source of creative inspiration. And then use subterfuge and underhanded tactics to entice your muse to deliver.

Each of us courts our own muse in our own way. Personification of the muse is a handy device for getting to know yourself better as a creator with an endless source of ideas, imagination, innovation, and creative power. Plus, working with a personified muse can be a lot of fun. For example, my muse is a middle-aged gay man who smokes, is not traditionally handsome, has a wicked sense of humor, and doesn’t condone “typical” anything. (Scroll down to the second cartoon on this page to catch a glimpse of him at this face-painting booth.)

Who is your muse? Have you caught glimpses? What is your relationship?

So how can you engage your muse? Paradoxically, muses enjoy being bamboozled. Confounding your muse with intrigue is like saying, “Come closer, my pretty.” Enigmas, conundrums, mysteries, puzzles, and feigned ignorance lure creativity to lounge in your vicinity and lend a hand.

Experiment with the devious tactics below to out-trick the trickster into opening the doors of inspiration. You might want to circle back around to this list later as well, because different tactics work on different days for different projects and moods.

1. State the obvious.

For a change, don’t try to be fresh or original or excellent or brilliant. Instead, state the bald facts and ignore quality. This is a rake. I use it to rake leaves. Leaves fall in the fall. (Zzzzzzz.)

Why this works: The muse doesn’t like to be bored. He or she or they will step in to save you from your obviously tedious self.

2. Use mirrors.

How much more of yourself can you inject into what you’re writing? Ugh. I’m conflicted about what this scene needs to be about. And... I’m embarrassed that I want money from the sale of this book. How could I use that here? Whatever type of writing you’re doing, there’s room for you within the words somehow.

Why this works: The muse is attracted to honest confessions. She’ll goad you to reveal more.

3. Open wider.

Bare your soul more. Dig deeper. Excavate until you squirm in your seat with discomfort at exposing that for all to see. That one lie I told poisoned our home for years. Dare to bring more vulnerabilities to the surface for possible inclusion in your creation.

Why this works: The muse can’t resist an exposed neck. She’ll want you to writhe with creative flair in the spotlight, especially if an unacknowledged truth has festered in the darkness.

4. Roll yourself up in a rug.

Huh? Surrealism in any form is a siren call for creativity. The left brain wants to correct things, set things right, figure things out. The creative right brain adores multiplicity. Freakiness short-circuits normal. The mayor took a ride on a rose.

Why this works: The muse loves to see the left brain squirm. She’ll help you take bizarre creative leaps in order to vex it.

5. Put on a different hat.

Which alter ego is in charge here? If you’re writing a poem, The Poet is in charge. Right? If you’re writing a business plan, it’s The Entrepreneur. Or... maybe not. What if The Poet wrote your business plan?

Why this works: The muse approves of mistaken identity. They’ll join in the fun of mixing things up.

6. Play dumb.

Dwell intently on what you don’t know, on what intimidates and mystifies you. How is love sustained? When do love and indifference cancel each other out? Engage to the point of floundering uncertainty and wallow there.

Why this works: The muse dotes on ignorance, especially self-aware ignorance. He’ll take pity, pushing your efforts toward luminosity.

7. Brag.

Write pompously, with emphasis on knowing it all and single-handedly mastering the topic. Love is everywhere! No one but me can see it. As the universe’s preeminent love guru, I know this for a fact. Blow things all out of proportion in your favor.

Why this works: We humans are cogs in the machinery of creation. The muse will recapture the limelight you’re hogging. He’ll throw open the roof to prove his necessary inclusion and his prowess, flooding the scene with starlight magic.

8. Gather crumbs.

Pile up all the interesting elements, even if the result looks like a flea market. Hmm... kids playing chemistry lab with Mom’s spices in the garage and... a rude postman... Keep going. Proceed with trust that interwoven threads will appear and reveal a cohesive tapestry.

Why this works: The muse loves to connect the dots, however far apart or unrelated they seem at first.

9. Look the other way.

Behave as though you’re no longer interested. Stifle a yawn. Lean back and daydream. Turn up the music. Feign indifference. Whatever. This article is bullcrap. Where’s my shopping list? What do I need to get when I walk to town this afternoon?

Why this works: The muse craves purpose. Being ignored will trigger a bout of insistence that you pay attention to their indispensability.

10. Use blatant bribery.

Pick a number and make it big. Pick a timeline and make it short. I’ll write 100 journal pages in the next seven days. I’ll do a start-to-finish first draft of the business plan by midnight. I commit to painting 30 five-by-five-inch canvas panels in the next 30 days.

Why this works: Quantity profoundly impresses the muse, who considers earnest devotion to creativity in excess to deserve rich rewards.

11. Bring in a bomb.

Add elements so surprising they make your own jaw drop. Go way, way over the top. This sex scene is boring. What if Max’s troubled ex stopped by earlier, tucked their surprise baby into an open box of blankets under the bed, then hid in the closet and watched? Introduce explosive, dangerous, rebellious bombshells.

Why this works: The muse is a gifted troublemaker. She’ll rub her hands with glee at the prospect of mayhem.

12. Herd some dust bunnies.

Bring on the fluffy and ridiculous! Be foolish, irreverent, and wildly inappropriate. Our gourmet cookies are gluten-free, fair trade, organic, insanely delectable, and full of magic flying dust. We guarantee supersonic flight after only two bites. Make lighthearted fun of your topic. Consider silliness non-optional.

Why this works: The muse adores being loopy for no reason. They’ll want to be included and horn in to come up with even more goofy options.

Allow yourself to have fun. Even when you’re creating work of the utmost seriousness, brought forth from the fearful depths, inviting your muse to join you can remind you that you are not alone, you are connected with benevolent forces larger than your human self, you are befriended and beloved.  

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Grace Kerina is the author of Personal Boundaries for Highly Sensitive People and other resources for quiet people. She has more than twenty years of experience helping writers and other creators find their true voices. Get her free ebook 7 Liberating Life Hacks for Highly Sensitive People when you subscribe to her newsletter. She also writes novels as Alice Archer.