Have you ever had a story muse change it's mind on you?

[Duleigh]

I finally got back to work on my Captain Scarlett prequal series with Ensign Scarlett - Mars the Scarlett Planet and I decided to pretend to be a planner and outline my story from intro to outro. I plugged along and suddenly at the 2/3 point, out of the blue, my Muse said, "No, we're not going that way." And a different route to a more satisfying conclusion opened up. It's going to cost me a lot of time re-writing much of the story, from the first paragraph onward, but I think this is going to be worth it.

Have you ever had a story change like that on you? and if it did, did you follow your muse and rewrite? Or did you plug along because what does a Muse really know anyhow?

 

[StillStunned]

I always follow the muse. It helps that I'm mostly a pantser. I start writing, every few thousand words I go for a long walk and think about how it should proceed. But sometimes as I'm writing the mood just shift and I let the words take me where they will. Sligh's moment of despair in Orgy of Death was one of those times. The Countesses of Tannensdal took on a whole life of its own that required me to go back again and again to pave the way for the path the story was taking. Fairytale of New York was one of those times where the muse just takes control of your fingers and words come out that you never even knew were inside you.

 

[mildlyaroused]

What the muse says is usually gospel in my mind. If a change occurs to me and plays on my mind, there has to be some reason I thought it up. That reason is probably that it excites me. Even if it means a great deal of reworking, I think it's a good philosophy to follow inspiration. This creates the most fresh and interesting writing, and readers can usually tell when an author is motivated or otherwise about their work.

In an old novel I wrote, I decided to completely wipe a main character off the face of the Earth. I realised that their presence was only adding way too many extra scenes and dynamics for me to wrap my head around, so I got rid of her and added the most interesting parts of her character into another of my main characters. This meant a lot of extra work, but it was really worth it in the end.

I think we process our stories unconsciously while we write them. We do similar things while we're out and about in the world, which is why you might get "gut" feelings that turn out to be correct. Our ability to process information without realising it is mighty impressive. Trust your gut (or your muse). They are your friends. Following your inspiration will always turn out the best writing, in my opinion; and you can always edit later if it makes things a bit messy.

 

[Fatdog25]

My muse is many things...

Wrong is not one of them.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Stories do usually change a little or a little more as you write them, but the main themes and feel of my stories don't really change, probably because I spend so much time brainstorming before I sit down at the computer and start typing anything that I pretty much know where and how things are going.

 

[lovecraft68]

Dealing with this right now. Scene in my WIP where I started the ceremony with a sex scene, then was going to have the master of ceremonies give his rah rah speech which would contain some exposition on why all this transpires.

That's the muse.

Logical me sat back and thought, no, its never that way, its the speech which would then lead to the sex which the speech is all about. That's the way it always goes.

Then the muse says, "Listen, dipshit, you listen to me any other time, why the hell are you trying to think like everyone else this time?"

"Because I..."

Wife from the other room. "Are you on the phone or arguing with yourself again?"

 

[Voboy]

Oh, all the time. She's very reliable that way.

It's one of the reasons why I don't plan anything at all until I'm at least 10k words in; by that time, my muse seems to have added all the curveballs she's going to add, and I can get on with resolving the damn story.

 

[Duleigh]

My story was a straight 1950 style Sci Fi hero origin story but then my muse whispered in my ear "you've already killed off 101 people... let's go for a record."

She's so naughty that way.

 

[HordHolm]

I finally got back to work on my Captain Scarlett prequal series with Ensign Scarlett - Mars the Scarlett Planet and I decided to pretend to be a planner and outline my story from intro to outro. I plugged along and suddenly at the 2/3 point, out of the blue, my Muse said, "No, we're not going that way." And a different route to a more satisfying conclusion opened up. It's going to cost me a lot of time re-writing much of the story, from the first paragraph onward, but I think this is going to be worth it.

Have you ever had a story change like that on you? and if it did, did you follow your muse and rewrite? Or did you plug along because what does a Muse really know anyhow?

Those muses can be tough mistresses, but we all know it's brave man who refuses to heed their call...

 

[summer_reine]

I fought my muse because I thought I knew better... I do not recommend this... I'm now rewriting 3/4 of my story.

 

[TheRedChamber]

I fought my muse because I thought I knew better... I do not recommend this... I'm now rewriting 3/4 of my story.

I fought my muse and my muse won
I fought my muse and my muse won
She wanted cock cages and I wanted cum
I fought my muse and my muse won

 

[Rob_Royale]

Yes. The original idea was a very unemotional using-you-for-sex story, and somewhere, it turned into something much more loving. I didn't really even notice it until about 80% through. So yeah, I had to go back and clean up some of the more selfish dialogue.

 

[Agent0069]

Not sure if it counts as a “muse”, but I, as a reader, got so used to searching stories by tags, I thought that “Magic” was its own category. It’s not.

“Magic” stories usually go into “sci-fi”, and I don’t really think that works well for a story about a pair that found a lamp of the genie, and how it spiced up their sex life. Other categories don’t fit that well too, and now I’m considering redoing some scenes in the open so it would go to “E&V”.

So, yeah, plans change, but I think it’s more than fine, it’s strange if you never go off the intended path in the process of creating something.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

Not sure if it counts as a “muse”, but I, as a reader, got so used to searching stories by tags, I thought that “Magic” was its own category. It’s not.

“Magic” stories usually go into “sci-fi”, and I don’t really think that works well for a story about a pair that found a lamp of the genie, and how it spiced up their sex life. Other categories don’t fit that well too, and now I’m considering redoing some scenes in the open so it would go to “E&V”.

The category is "Sci-Fi & Fantasy". What you're describing is "Fantasy".

-Annie

 

[TheRedChamber]

The category is "Sci-Fi & Fantasy". What you're describing is "Fantasy".

-Annie

Yes, but there is a distinction between say The Lord of the Rings with its elves and orcs and, say, the hit 1987 movie Mannequin with its modern world setting and one key conceit. You can say its all fantasy (high and low) but it feels very different.

 

[SimonDoom]

Yes, I've had this happen. I have many partially written and unfinished stories because half-way through the muse began heading in a different direction. Sometimes I start from scratch with a new story that embodies some of the concepts of the first one. Sometimes the story lies abandoned, and I ask, "Muse, where did you go?" And sometimes the Muse is telling me to get off my ass and finish the story.

 

[AllenWoody]

Yes, but there is a distinction between say The Lord of the Rings with its elves and orcs and, say, the hit 1987 movie Mannequin with its modern world setting and one key conceit. You can say its all fantasy (high and low) but it feels very different.

And there's mythology, which I enjoy incorporating into my stories. If Theseus puts it in a Dryad's butt is it fantasy or anal?

 

[Duleigh]

I fought my muse because I thought I knew better... I do not recommend this... I'm now rewriting 3/4 of my story.

I think my muse toys with me. She'll inspire me then sit back and wait for me to head into a direction that leads me off into a dry, humorless desert. It's at that point she taps me on the shoulder and whispers "You should have turned left at Albuquerque."

 

[TheRedChamber]

I think my muse toys with me. She'll inspire me then sit back and wait for me to head into a direction that leads me off into a dry, humorless desert. It's at that point she taps me on the shoulder and whispers "You should have turned left at Albuquerque."

I have a crush on your muse. At least I do when he dresses up as a girl bunny.

 

[TheWritingGroup]

And there's mythology, which I enjoy incorporating into my stories. If Theseus puts it in a Dryad's butt is it fantasy or anal?

Sounds like Celebrities and Fanfic. Theseus is a pretty major celeb.

-Rocco

 

[StillStunned]

Sometimes it's important to keep a leash on her, though. One Orgasm At A Time 01 is a silly story about a woman who's been masturbating to much that the Three Aspects of Orgasm send her on a journey through time and space to give back all the orgasms she's stolen from people who deserved them more.

When I started brainstorming the next chapter, the muse whispered, "How about a scene with a former lover hours before he dies in a car crash?" I told her to save it for a more appropriate story.