Musings on Muses

"As you gaze upon the beautiful man in front of you his simple presence sets your mind ablaze with ideas and fills your heart with symphonies."

That seems to be the classical concept of a muse, at least as I was always taught. A divine presence, or seemingly divine, that shoots bolts of concept through you simply by being there. In reality, none of us have some magical being or object that when held grants us greater abilities to create. Most of us don't even have a mundane object that consistently helps, but what does spur on creative endeavour?

Anything and Everything. Over the last four to five months I've been discovering more and more that to be creative you must draw inspiration from everything around you. I’ve also learnt that when inspiration hits, don't ignore it. Jot down a note, write a paragraph, copy that link to an email. Whatever it may be grab it with both hands and don't let go, even if you have to shelve it briefly until a more appropriate time. [Please don't start writing a church scene for you next campaign half way through you Granma's sixth baptism]

You may be wondering how this relates to tabletop gaming, but really this is the essence of role-play both as the story teller* and the player. In any part of a game you are both constantly looking for invigoration and depth. Situations don't just happen in games, they are made by a unique mixture of planning and spontaneity, both of which need creativity flowing.

*At the end of the day Game Masters (Pathfinder) and Dungeon Masters (D&D) are also Story Tellers, WoD is just the only major system that calls them that.

As a story teller immense amounts of creativity are needed, even when telling a pre-written story. There are never enough details provided, players always come up with hinky scenarios ["I speak Ent, and we are in The Living Forest..." why did I ever let her commune with trees] and it's your job to have answers for those scenarios. Whether you're creating a new world, expanding on an established one, or warping what is known, you need inspiration.

Don't let it pass when you get it. No matter how crazy it seems [I smacked myself in the hand with a rubber band the other day and now have a new trap concept] or how long winded the initial idea may be it's worth holding onto at least part of it, let it take hold and grow. Over time, you may even find you slowly need less external influences, but always be open to finding a shiny new temporary muse.

As a player, it is quite often your job to come up with the aforementioned hinky scenarios. More often however, the need for muse is around character creation, direction, and growth. You need to think of yourself as a playwright, you just happen to only be in control of one of the characters. In fact with the right backstory or progression you could end up with you in charge of multiple characters story lines at the same time [NPC companions, how I love thee]. All while taking the supposed 'back seat' to the story teller. For all of this, you also need inspiration to help guide the direction you will take. Don’t limit yourself to your story teller’s expertise; the worst that can happen is that you can’t use a concept yet.

From experience your direction will usually deviate over time from it’s original path as your concept grows and becomes either more fully fleshed, or possibly even stripped back. Don't hold back from using whatever comes your way, and let it help shape your creative bubble. If the bubble gets too big (i.e. I HAVE A THOUSAND IDEAS AND ONLY ONE CHARACTER!) use it to make more bubbles. Build backup or future characters, design a wondrous or maybe not so wondrous item, or even try pitching an NPC concept to your story teller. Remember, you don’t have to be trying to take the reins of running a campaign to talk idea’s over with your story teller.

I think what I’m trying to get at through my ramblings, is that muses come in many forms. Music, movies, books, conversations, places, events, anything that gives you a light bulb moment is your own personal temporary muse. Don’t ever think that just because it was a small or inconsequential source that the creativity it spawned is also small and inconsequential. Grab your creative moment by the horns, wrestle it down, and give it a stern noogie till it agrees to be what you know it has the potential to be. Even if you’re not happy with the end result, the process is always worth it.

Frank out