Mugging the Muse: Jumpstarting Your Creativity
© Roxianne Moore
Review of Mugging the Muse by Holly Lisle
Every January, you make up a list of goals for the coming year. And every December, you dig up the list, from the bottom of the junk drawer or from beneath the many magnets and notes on your fridge. With a heavy sigh, you total up your score. Just what did you accomplish this year?
Did you finally achieve your dream-goal of making your living as a fiction writer? Or did you listen once again to all those nay-sayers who told you it just plain can't be done? Well, don't give up just yet. At the top of this January's list, if you haven't made it already, write, "Make my living as a fiction writer" in large letters with black marker.
You may not actually make a living this year, but by reading one book, you could be well on your way. And, when next January rolls around, you won't hesitate to add that goal to your list, because you'll know that you will achieve your goal thanks to Mugging the Muse by Holly Lisle.
GREAT QUOTE: "An expert is somebody with a degree. That degree doesn't mean he knows how to do what he's an expert at -- he might have absolutely no practical experience. But he has the degree, which confers on him the right to impress other people with his accomplishment (which was the getting of the degree), and to get paid for his expert opinions. ... A professional is someone who makes a living working in the field in question."
Lisle doesn't advocate rushing off to your nearest university or community college. If you want to learn to be a writer, learn from a professional writer. Period.
I learned this the hard way, after taking numerous creative writing classes from professors who basically said, "If you're making money as a writer, then you're doing something wrong." Huh? It took me a few years to realize that, while college classes were a good way to get feedback on my writing, the feedback was pretty useless. Most professors make their living not by writing, but by teaching others to write. "And you need to remember that most people who go to college to become writers don't."
Lisle takes the standpoint that, to become a writer, you must teach yourself. She has no college degree, and has made quite a success as a full-time fiction writer. To date, she has at least 18 novels to her name, all of which are available from the SFF Net Bookshop.
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