I’m sure you’re all aware of the age old question: Which came first? The chicken or the egg?
Since high school I’ve had a logical and scientific answer for this and couldn’t understand why the question was even asked.
My outlook: The egg came first. Whatever partial-version of the chicken happened to be in existence prior to the egg being laid would contribute to, but not be, an actual chicken. What the egg contained, would be.
So, in my mind there was no question, and instead a syndrome where people who didn’t know all the facts were easily confused.
Often this syndrome accompanies the very basic question of: What should I be doing first?
My answer: Does it really matter if the outcome is the same either way?
Take for instance my writing. I usually have several scenes, moments, and scenarios in mind well before beginning the planning stage of my novels. This time, for book 3 of The Chronicles of Xannia: Rebel’s Rein/Rain, I knew what needed to happen in the book but hadn’t received any inspiration when it came to writing the characters or the scenes. To me, I was working backwards, without my muse.
I’ve found it difficult to start the book and really tap into the extreme situation the characters find themselves in but at the same time, by pushing myself to experiment and get something, anything, on the page, I’m slowly navigating through the writing to find my muse.
And it’s working.
I have this overriding and grand vision for book 3 but found myself blindly reaching for inspiration. That’s okay – just as a blind person may lose one sense (sight) they gain the ability to use the others better, to help compensate. My other writing senses faced quite the challenge, but they succeeded. I’m writing again and with each new chapter my muse is becoming clearer.
Thank God!
Have you ever had to do something backwards to what you were used to? How did you feel? What was the outcome?
Author MJ Moores 