How To Piss Off Your Muse In One Easy Lesson

My ex-husband plunged headfirst and very publicly into projects.

He was a great doer, surfing a tidal wave of his own enthusiasm. It was fun to be around all that grabbing-life-by-the-lapels, but there was a hidden cost.  

One of his soft spots was the Spanish Civil war. 

His parents met a fundraiser for Spanish Civil War veterans, and he always credited the war for his birth. Decades later he stumbled across James Yates, an African American who fought in the Lincoln Brigade. Yates penned a memoir From Mississippi to Madrid, and Hugh decided to write a screenplay based on the book. 

His next step? Spend $5000 buying the film rights. 

Hugh wrote for Musician Magazine and Electric Vehicle Weekly when he first got out of college, but hadn’t written a thing in decades, nor taken a class in screenwriting. 

He talked about the  Spanish Civil War and his screenplay non-stop for months. And then he wrote a page and a half before showing it to friends. It was surprisingly good, and I looked forward to reading more.

He never mentioned the Spanish Civil War again.

Hugh wanted to be the guy who was going to write a screenplay, and the guy who wrote a screenplay. In between, not so much. All the talk had drained motivation out of him. 

There’s building in public, which is about accountability. You make and share as you go, getting instant feedback and encouragement. 

But when you spend more time talking about your art than you do making it, your brain checks out. It thinks you’ve already made it. It leaves you with no resources to actually do the work. 

The thrill is gone and so are you, on to the next uncompleted project.