Monday Motivator: The Myth of the Muse

Several years ago, I met a young social scientist at a cocktail party here in Chicago. He had just finished his first semester on the tenure track, so I asked him if he was making time for academic writing. Like many new faculty, he told me that his first semester had flown by and he hadn't written a single word. I asked if he had ever tried daily writing and he looked at me is if I had suggested he try a colonic. He dismissed the idea of daily writing as "impossible" because he was only able to write when he felt inspired. His writing process involved being touched by the muse, dropping everything in his life, and sinking into a multi-day writing frenzy. He assured me that this had gotten him through graduate school and that he felt confident that the muse was just around the corner.

Muse or Ruse?
I have had this same conversation with literally dozens of new faculty and each time, I am stunned that otherwise rational people -- who are on a ticking tenure clock -- feel comfortable waiting to be "touched by the muse" in order to fulfill the primary requirements of their job: research, writing, and publication.

Unfortunately, I received a crisis call from this particular faculty member last year. After receiving a critical third year review, he's realized that the muse isn't going to win him tenure. While his department found his service and teaching exemplary, they made clear that his publication record was below expectations and he realized he would have to make dramatic changes in order to meet the publication standards for tenure and promotion.

For this faculty member, the strategies and skills that he used in graduate school were fine for that particular stage of his academic career. As he moved from graduate student to professor, he encountered greater responsibilities, pressures and demands on his time, but he was still relying on old assumptions that were no longer functional. He, like most of us, has to move beyond "hoping" that inspiration will strike, waiting for the muse, and/or avoiding the one thing that productive academic writers do: write every day.

YOU control your writing
I think that some tenure-track faculty cling to the Myth of the Muse because they conceptualize writing as an externally driven process that is beyond their individual control. When I hear new professors say they only write when they are "inspired" to do so, it signals to me that they have not yet internalized the fact that writing is our job. We don't wait to be "inspired" to teach our classes, and I've never heard anyone say they must be touched by the "Meeting Muse" before they can attend a committee meeting -- we just do these things as normal everyday activities.

This week, I want to encourage all of us to critically engage our core assumptions about the writing process and consider the idea that we control our writing. Academic writing doesn't just happen in a fit of artistic inspiration. Instead, articles and books get completed when ideas meet hard work over sustained periods of time. And as any daily writer knows, inspiration and creativity burst forth while you are actually writing. You just have to show up at the designated time and get started, because the flow of ideas is catalyzed by the physical act of writing. If you are currently operating under the Myth of the Muse, that's perfectly fine. If it works for you and you're publishing prolifically, that's great! But if you're only writing when you feel inspired AND you aren't as productive as you need to be, then I encourage you to gently and lovingly ask yourself:

1. Is this working for me?
   
2. Where did this idea come from?
   
3. Is it effective at this stage of my career?
   
4. Am I likely to meet the expectations for publication at my institution by relying on the muse?
   
5. What would it take for me to consider writing as an everyday activity (just like grading papers or attending meetings)?
   

For me, the best way to interrogate my assumptions about the writing process is to listen to (or read) successful writers reflect on the writing process. This week, I suggest three sources for such inspiration: 1) an amazing audio clip entitled: A Conversation on the Writing Life, 2) bell hook's insightful Remembered Rapture: The Writer at Work, and 3) one of my favorite books on writing, The Right to Write: An Invitation and Initiation into the Writing Life. Each is a great source of inspiration!

The Weekly Challenge
This week, I challenge you to:

• Consider why writing is an exceptions (instead of normal) activity in your professional life.
• Write every day this week for 30-60 minutes.
• Give yourself a treat for everyday that you meet your writing goal.
• Pay your self first by writing in the morning before you do anything else.
• Consider joining the November Writing Challenge for support and accountability.

Peace and Productivity,
Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD