How do you get your muse?

[Krystal Zanguzen]

Inspiration to write can come from many things and many forms. Imagination is a gift that we all cherish and need to be fantastic fantasy writers and role players. Interpretation to understand all that you read, and role play accordingly. But where do the three I's come from? How do you the RP'er get the muse too crank out such elaborate and beautifully written posts.

In this thread, we'll talk about all the ways you use too get that muse you need to role play your character. That way, when ever someone is lacking that extra something they need too write, hopefully they can come here and pick up just the right tip they need. Feel free to compare and contrast different people's styles seeing as this is the debate room. But everyone has their own way of getting their muse, and the goal of this thread is too help out those who need a gentle push in the right direction ^^

Disscuss!

[Kai]

If I'm feeling uninspired, it's usually random things that determine when I'll get motivated again. I get bored easily, but that doesn't necessarily mean I feel like posting to pass the time. Sometimes, however, I just get smacked in the face with so much motivation I don't know what top do with it all! [It's usually times like these when there's no one to RP with XP] Sometimes I'll get a few posts completed in one night when I'm in these moods, and it's sort've rare. Depends on how much I've been thinking of how my character would react in their thread, and how often I've been feeling like them, lately.

Listening to music usually helps me a great deal. I've gotten into the habit of interpreting song lyrics in light of my characters; finding songs that match their personalities or obstacles they've faced in their lives. Doing this helps me want to post, and I try to do it every time I sit down to listen to music. Sometimes I even incorporate lyrics into my posts, which can help to move it along or give me ideas if I'm feeling stuck. If other people put lyrics in their posts, it makes it even easier! I usually go find the song/lyrics and listen to it/read them to get a better idea of how they were feeling when they wrote the post, and in turn, the mood that the thread is now leaning to.

Other than that, I just imagine what my characters would do in real life situations. For example [and a not very good one, at that], if I knew I had a really big Chemistry test next week and I had all this time to study for it, I wouldn't study at all. My characters, on the other hand, would probably react differently [at least some of them]. Kai would probably study and try to do his best as not to disappoint himself or the ones who care about him, Dane might give a weak attempt at studying, but give up shortly after realizing that he never really understood the class anyway, and this wasn't going to matter much for him in the long run. He'd probably then proceed to spiral into a dark depression about how he was never good enough to do anything, but moving on... Carnage would sooner eat the teacher or just not attend school at all than try and take a test and Hyde would either go out clubbing and ignore the fact that the test existed, or he'd stress so much over the test that he tore his fur out and missed the day it was given because he was in the hospital for having a nervous breakdown.

It may sound sort've silly, but it works for me and helps me to better understand my characters by constantly questioning how they would act in similar situations.

Try it sometime!

[Keenan & Kennal]

well i have an over active imagination to beginin with, but i always put music on when I;m writing. but not jsut any music. music that i think fits the mood of the scene or characters. like when i was killing off my beloved Zhentee, i had an enter list of music i listened to, just while writing his oen post...

[okamiwolf]

Well, when I am inspired to write anything at all I must first be in a good mood. Sometimes things that happen at school or through the day make it so that when I come here to relax, I just can't do anything. I remeber dating my most recent boyfriend, and I believe that was my most inactive time. He caused a lot of troubles with me, stress and such, and when I dumped him it all sort of came back (though in small doses).

This year has been rough for me though. I've been kind of like a train wreak with my emotions and my writing has suffered terrible for it (along with my grades). So I am finding that the music I listen to also has a great effect on my mood and the way I write. If I listen to something that's very classical, I realize that I write with more 'old english' text and if I listen to simply instruments or japanese pop my music tends to flow more like a short story rather than Shakespearean.

Finally, to conclude my trip into muse waters, I find that my affection state comes in to play a lot too. If I like the person that I role-play with, and they are putting in a great effort and giving me long posts, I do my best to return that gift and make things as long and beautiful as my skills allow. If its someone who I do not like my posts are short, chopped, and not nearly as interesting as if I'm really putting my heart and soul into them.

[Exerci]

My muse eh? Hhmm. I get it in many different ways.

Firstly, I listen to music which matches the personality and current mood of the character I'm roleplaying with. So, if I'm roleplaying with a character that's angry I listen to something like Korn. That's my usual way of getting muse, but I have more.

Next, I read other people's posts. This always give me ideas. I read them from lots of different roleplay sites, and I read the ones in the thread over again.

I also draw the character I'm roleplaying with, it seems to give me muse for some odd reason. I also have quite the imagination at times too, but sometimes muse does go astray.

[tron]

[glow=red,2,300]Ok I have three muses
Akorr(human) my drawing/art muse
Chocoboo(four winged bird) my science muse
Naka(Sixx legged winged wolf) my writing muse

Music helps me some but ussally I daw out my muse(my science comp book is covered with Chocoboo) depneding on what I need muse for*shrugs*[/glow]

[Krystal Zanguzen]

Are we talking about the same Chocobo from the Final Fantasy games?

Music is my main muse. I play different music depending on the mood of the writing. If I have too write dark, then I'll put music that makes me feel dark. Happy, music that makes me feel happy, ect... Plus I get inspiration from many people on TS. ^^

[tron]

[glow=red,2,300]Somewhat it is a yellow bird it has brown eyes , but four wings and a red tail and it's pronouced differently.[/glow]

[Farrah]

Hiya...I know I'm not one to talk about writing since I haven't been here for so long *braces self for volley of frying pans and apolstery supplies that will soon be making contact with head as punishment* but...
Preferable, counter to most people here, I like to be in a really BAD mood. This instigates my thinking...I think of deeper and more intense ideas having them induced by my emotions. If I'm happy, it's all jolly and like a bowl full of jelly and I never get anything done. If I'm angry or aggrivated, I take it out on my key board and my character. Either something bad will happen to my character, or my character will do something bad. If I'm sad, my character has better comments and dialogue for some reason. If I'm envious, I usually get naughty in rps by trying to steal someone's lover or whatnot. *tsk tsk*
Believe it or not, your English teachers are right: reading the dictionary can be fun. I 'read' it sometimes to look for cool words. That way, I can mix it up a little. TADA!
Music has a negative effect on my writing unless it's really really sad music. Don't ask why.
Finally, I observe my surroundings: my dog. He helps me think about what a canine would do in a particular situation. Lame, I know, but effective.
Well, there it is. My boring sermon. Enjoy!

[Channon]

Sadly (if some people haen't noticed... like Krystal), I've been too busy to really have wolf character muse. I still push out posts so I don't forget about them, but I usually get muse at random intervals.

[Farrah]

Yeah. They're random for me too...I guess I'm too emotional sometimes, though, and I just have an urge to write...like I won $500 dollars in a school contests (believe it or not) recently because I was really angry the day we had the impromtu (sp?) given to us...

[Ayasha]

Music definately helps me to get a muse going, or if I've read something that really gets to me. I think that what also helps for me is the person I'm posting with. If they have a good post then I can usually go off of that. If I'm doing a post that is rather difficult then I turn on my music. I listen to different genres for different posts. Sometimes I'll also jus tget a muse and roll with it. But like most people I can't do that all the time. I suppose that is what makes those posts so good. Well I'm going with that anyway.

[Krystal Zanguzen]

Actually I'm having a hard time getting a good muse as of late. It's mainly because I'm now over worked in the amount of RP's I'm in, and now it kind of feels more like a chore to write. -_-

I'm going to take Maverick's advice and stick to an amount I can handle. I think three will do. Your's Ayasha, the one I'm in with Draeg, and the one in Koran. The others I have to end quick because I just can't take it anymore.

Music is the best way to get muse by the way this is looking. Which means I'm doing something right ^^ I think once I start lightening the load though, my posts will start getting better.

[Ayasha]

I agree that the amount of threads you are in can affect how you post. Me, well I like numerous characters, but the problem I found with playing skep is that I didn't know where to go with him. Often getting a muse can be the easier part, figuring out how to develop a character can be hard for me. It can be especially hard when you have two characters on one account. They grow up together and one always seems to be more active than the other.

I should get Uskiya into more threads, but I've felt that Ayasha is really starting to develop really well. I get excited and lose sight of my other charries. But it also helps if you have a group of people who you normally rp with Like being in a pack, then you always have someone to rp with...usually I should say. And your character cand develop more according to who you post with. If you pick a song for a character that can also help your muse, but I have trouble thinking of one song for a character. I've rambled on now.

[Exerci]

Like Ayasha, I agree that too many posts can affect how well you write. When I have too many posts going, I lose my muse really quickly and make posts that are super-duperly-craptastical. I'm thinking of cutting down to.. at most 4 per character - but keep them down, like have 2 per character at a time.

Ayasha, I have about 3 songs for Exerci, and I'm going to list them here because I feel like it xP Anyway, first, is The Feeling - Strange, then Hoobastank - The Reason (which I'm listening to now xD) and Bullet for my Valentine - Curses, depending on her mood. Because she's pretty mellow, it's usually one of the first two. Reject, I only have one song for at the moment, and that's Hoobastank's Crawling in the dark - because it suits him xP And I've rambled on too xD