MUSE: CHAR'S GUIDE TO FINDING YOUR MUSE !

[CHAR IN WONDERLAND]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style, width: 390px; border: 10px solid #1d1715; background-color: #e5e5e5] THE MUSE GUIDE ! Shit happens. We lose our muse. What's this guide here to do? Find it! People complain about how cruddy or nonexistent their muse is and it drives me absolutely insane! As a result, I have conjured this pretty little guide in order to help you find your muse. Never again shall I hear you're museless ever again? Why? Because you have this guide of course! The first step to finding your muse unblocking it. Obviously, there's something that is tipping you too far from the norm, and it's impacting you. Below, I have provided some key reasons. Unfortunately, I'm not Chuck Norris. I don't know everything. If you'd like to add more helpful hints onto our list, it'd be absolutely delicious if you'd private message me, myself, or I on my administrator account! I'm sure your fellow members would love to hear more ideas to find their missing muse. PROBLEMS & SOLUTIONS ! » Fatigue

[/u] One of the most obvious ones, this tends to be a culprit for a lot of your muse loss. After a long day, I'm sure you're probably exhausted, especially after a long day at school. When you're too tired to post, you're also more likely to produce a post that won't reach its full potential. I'm sure your thread partner won't mind waiting for a few more hours while you accumulate a little shut-eye. Sleep is important to be able to concentrate. The solution is obvious! Sleep for a bit or at least rest yours eyes in a power nap. You'd be amazed by how much muse you can get by taking a thirty or so minute nap.

» Appetite[/u] Pay attention to how you're feeling. If your stomach is rumbling and/or your throat is dry, it's time to get a little food to motivate that brain of yours. Not hungry enough for a large meal? Fruit is an excellent source for brain activity as well as bread, vegetables, chocolate, nuts, seeds, eggs, yogurt, and cheese. Don't know what to drink? Well, water is definitely healthy for you. Tea and milk happen to be excellent, healthy choices to quench your thirst as. Caffeinated drinks work too, but they may only be temporarily effective. Most caffeinated drinks tend to give you a high for a certain period of time and then you feel even worse than you were before. Use caution the next time you guzzle down that two-liter Mountain Dew next time.

» Mood[/u] Some of us right best when we're upset. Others write well when they're in a terrific mood. Because of the large range of emotions that suit us best, there's not much I can offer for a solution. What gets you in a zone? Do you have to read? Do you have to go outside and shoot some hoops? Do you have to take a break and spend some quality time with your friends or family? Maybe you've been loitering on our site absently for too long. We love you very much, but we don't want our forum to be a burden on your mood! Go have some fun. We'll understand. Are you stressing out or can't seem to shake off a funk you've been battling? Trust me, I understand. Feel free to take a short hiatus if you can't seem to control your emotions and think it might do you some good. On the flip side, being overly hyperactive can impact your productivity. Calm you chiz and get your head in the game, man.

» Characters[/u] If you have more than one character, you're likely to be impacted by conflicting characters. Sometimes your muse for one character that's more outgoing might mask the muse for a lesser character. In order to let the other character break through, you have to find a way to tone down the outgoing one. You may be able to do this by playing music the character you want to have muse for likes, and reading over old posts that you had written with the desired character. Another scenario is lack of character use. Characters that sit in your mind without being used for long periods of time can begin to become forgotten. I know after awhile of inactivity with one particular character, I have a difficult time playing him/her since I haven't practiced that character for so long. Be sure to keep your characters active in order to keep them alive and active in your mind, too.

» Old Threads[/u] If you have a thread that may have been replied to weeks ago and someone is just now replying to it, you may have lost muse for it. Since time doesn't always wait for your characters-- especially with the icc-- you may feel as though the thread is old news. My advice? Ditch the thread and start one anew. What's the point of describing something when you already know what happens? It takes away from the excitement of each reply. Therefore, you may lose muse for the character that you're posting in that thread with. Of course, someone may become angry with you if you randomly stop replying. Make sure you discuss with your roleplay partner in order to agree on closing the thread or not. Once you have done that, make sure you get an administrator to move it to the archives.

» Your Surroundings[/u] It just so happens there are factors about your surroundings that may be conflicting with your muse. Lighting, messes, temperature, and silence are a few of them. If you're like me, your muse tends to disappear as the light disappears. Turn on a light or open a window to let some light flood in to cure this. On the flip side, you may like the dark better. Shut those blinds and dim the lights if that seems fit. If you're like me and have a tendency to worry about a huge mess, you'd know trying to post in a thread while you're surrounded by clutter is the equivalent of trying to take a test while someone is staring at you. It's difficult and nerve wracking. Do some quick spot cleaning if it bothers you that much. If the mess doesn't bother you, more power to you! Temperature tends to effect your muse, too. If you're too hot or too cold, you're more likely to be thinking about how cold you are or vise versa. In order to warm up, I love snuggling in a blanket or putting some socks on. You can also turn up the heat if you so desire. Too hot? Try the air conditioner. Chances are, if you're hot inside, it's too hot to open the windows outside. If there's a nice breeze outside, go for it. Climate control can be extremely important in the muse-making process. Lastly, silence or even too much noise can make it difficult to post. In order to solve this muse block, all you have to do is turn up the music, move to a more populated area, or open a window for a more natural sound. Basically do the opposite if it happens to be too loud for you to focus.

» Hygiene[/u] That's right, folks. Your own body odor can most definitely mess with your muse. Smelling sweaty and feeling grimy is definitely not a tempting thought. Why don't you mosey on over to a shower and do a little scrub down? I promise you, you'll feel MUCH better afterwards. Grime on your teeth is gross. Brush your teeth, too. Have you been sitting in your pajamas too long? Change your clothes! Your hair a mess? Brush and style it if you have to. I know I tend to lose muse when I feel gross from sleep and not showering until late in the afternoon.

» Restlessness[/u] It's unhealthy to not go places other than your room with your laptop or computer. After awhile, you may feel enclosed and depressed. Why? You're probably not getting out enough. Feeling the sunshine and spending time with friends away from home is important, too. As much as we love your dedication to the site, it happens to bring down your muse if you're on too much. More often than not, staying on the computer for too long happens to give you headaches. A study shows you are more than 90% more likely to become depressed as a teenager if you spend five hours plus on the computer everyday. Yes, we love you, but being on too much is unhealthy for you. Get out of the house! Get some exercise! Spend time with your friends. I can guarantee you'll get plot ideas outside your room and even muse to come back with! The same thing goes for vacations. You may not want to be away from the site for that long, but you accumulate tons of plot ideas by being in a new environment. Trust me, after going to Hawaii, I had a billion and a half new ideas to embed into my character's lives.

» Conflict[/u] Any kind of conflict can certainly drain your muse, especially if the conflict happens to be on our very site. We really don't want you feeling like you're unwanted on the site at all. If a member happens to be getting on your nerves, you can address the problem yourself if it's manageable and happens to be over a private conversation like Private Messaging or instant messenger. If it's really killing your muse, don't feel ashamed to come to an administrator so they can help you out. if you're not enjoying yourself on a site, you're not going to be able to find good muse. we're willing to help you out if it's site-based. if not, try talking it out with that person. again, conflict can really affect your mood when you come on here, so addressing any conflict to give you peace at mind is probably a good idea before doing anything rash like quitting.

» Distractions[/u] Obviously, distractions are making you take your eye off the prize. Too many distractions make you lose focus, and therefore you lose muse. I tend to find it easier to post when i'm alone without someone around. I usually turn the television off, stop looking at any mode of chat, and close any distracting windows such as youtube, facebook, tumblr, etc. You'd be surprised by just closing down things that distract you help you get your muse up and running. If you can't seem to concentrate at that current moment, just leave that alone and set it aside for a day when you can focus better. As long as it's reasonably put aside, I don't think anyone would mind. Putting something off for two weeks happens to be a bit out of control, don't you think? That goes back to my point about old threads. Don't put things off for too long.
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ALTERNATIVE METHODS !

» Music

[/u] That's right. Music is definitely a helpful way to get your muse going. Suppose your character has a certain style of music they listen to. Maybe that'll help you get their muse. Are there songs you based your character off of? Use those! Making a playlist of songs that give you character muse happens to be extremely helpful method of obtaining desired muse. Is your character in a couple? Does the couple have a song? There are so many songs out there that it'd be insane if it doesn't somehow relate to your character. Sometimes you have to look hard for that perfect song, but once you find it, I'm sure it'll be the motherload of muse for you.

» Pictures[/u] Yup, looking at pictures does wonders for your muse. In my case it does, anyways. Browsing through candids of what you character does in real life happens to be brilliant. Seeing pictures of your character and his/her significant other happens to be effective, too. If your character happens to be a model, you'll probably only be able to find pictures for them, so you should be sure to take advantage of any sets of photos you find. On the off chance neither of those options happen to work, look at pictures of the characters your character is currently involved with. If you're doing a crackship and you don't have any manips to look at, look up the second half to the crackship. For example, I love pairing Taylor Lautner and Selena Gomez, right? They do have pictures, but not a lot. Let's say I play Taylor Lautner. In order to attempt at finding muse, I can google search Selena Gomez to see if that'll do anything for my muse. These are simply ideas. They happen to work for me, but everyone's different.

» Videos[/u] Youtube and so many other sites are simply full of videos that could contain your character. Try typing their name into a search engine and see what you come up with. You'd be surprised how much seeing your character talk instead of the still pictures do for you. Interviews can give you an insight to your character's personality. Back stage exclusives may get you pumped for a post. I tend to like to watch Saturday Night Live skits if my character happens to be in them or comedy bits. Maybe you're more into video diaries, covers, or videos made by them on their own time. No problem. I'm sure you'll find a video that happens to spark your muse eventually.

» Television & Film Productions[/u] This is why I love using celebrities compared to a model. When you see your play-by in a character or movie, you may be able to develop a plot for them. It also gives you possible ships to have romantically or in a friendly manner. Movies don't even have to have your character in it to give you muse. I know I tend to take movies I adore, borrow the plot, and tailor it to my needs so as not to have an exact replica of the movie. Television is effective because it's an ongoing chain of episodes unless you're going off a discontinued show. You don't know what to expect with new episodes, so they suspense for the events may very well give you muse. It's fun seeing the different personalities your play-by can take on in different roles. It may help you develop a more three-dimensional view at your character's personality. By giving your character emotions, you're making them easier to relate to.

» Reading Old Threads[/u] You wrote them prior to this, and it's your character talking. By remembering the good times on the roleplay forum, you may be able to wake up your sleeping muse. Seeing character development from how you used to play your character to the now happens to be quite powerful, too. Of course, it might not give you a ton of muse, but it's worth a try. I usually try to go back on previous threads I've had with the person I'm trying to reply to (if possible) and see how my character had interacted with them before. When you've been writing the thread out for awhile, sometimes reading all the replies prior to yours gets you in the mood for the thread. I find reading the last reply multiple times over gives me more muse than just reading it once because I pick up details I may have missed when I skimmed it over.

» Books[/u] What are books based off of? Plots! A lot of my characters originate from an idea I had while reading a book. If your character is a book worm, try reading books that your character may like to spark the muse. If you based your character off a book like I do, skim through your favorite passages in the book. Romance novels may be helpful in aiding your character's love life. Horror stories may help your character develop certain fears. Since this is a high school roleplay, you might find reading a book with high-school aged characters may be helpful when trying to find a thread idea. People all over the world have the same troubles with high school most of the time. Books realize this, and maybe you will too when you read a book that helps. Sometimes you can't help but make a character like the one from a book you adored. It happens. As long as it's muse, right?

» Taking a Walk[/u] There's something peaceful about a walk. If you take a walk alone, you can focus on the thoughts and scenery outside rather than being cooped up in your house. Sunshine or moonlight isn't a bad thing either. Walking under the natural light, natural sounds in the background, you can just think. You may see your neighbors out or you may see something you never noticed before. I find walks or running relaxing because no one is talking to me and there's not really any rush if you don't want there to be. By letting your thoughts wander aimlessly without too many restrictions, your muse will be blooming in no time.

» Taking a Shower[/u] yes, we already discussed this up in the previous category, but there's a reason for my madness. Taking a shower does cleanse you, and it seems to cleanse your thoughts, too. Being under the running water happens to give me tons of plot ideas. In fact, that's where I do a lot of my plotting because there's really nothing but the sound of water and you're alone. You can't bash it until you've tried it, right? I'm not sure how this works, but it does.

» Write Through It[/u] Do you want to know what I do quite frequently? I confuse lack of focus with lack of muse. I'll be so distracted or unmotivated that I'll excuse my laziness for lack of muse. It's a terrible misconception I make all the time. Recently, I've found out about a terrific web page called Write or Die. This web page forces you to write by giving you a time limit, a desired word count in x amount of minutes, deleting your words if you're not quick enough, and plays music when you haven't typed for awhile. Using that handy tool or actually forcing myself to write out a reply has done wonders for me. Forcing posts doesn't always work, but if you're unsure on whether or not you're just being lazy or not, it's definitely work a try.[/div]
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