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The Voice of the Muse: Answering the Call to Write
Unleash the power of your creative potential!
~ Learn practical, fun techniques guaranteed to get your stories on paper
~ Weave worlds of wonder beyond your conscious imagining
~ Discover how to write naturally, eloquently and powerfully without struggle
Whether you're a seasoned writer or just starting out, whatever your genre or form, The Voice of the Muse will deepen your creative experience and awaken you to new skills, new stories and a renewed confidence in your innate gifts.
You'll never feel the same about writing again!
The words lie within you. They hover in the shadows, longing to be noticed, yearning to heard, aching to be shared. Together, through this book, you and I will give them voice.
~ Mark David Gerson, "The Voice of the Muse"
Winner of a Silver Medal as one of the top writing books of 2009 from the Independent Publisher Book Awards
Works well in conjunction with The Voice of the Muse Guided Meditations for Writers , a 2-CD recording that includes the author's recording of all the guided meditations in the book and is also available on Amazon.
~ Learn practical, fun techniques guaranteed to get your stories on paper
~ Weave worlds of wonder beyond your conscious imagining
~ Discover how to write naturally, eloquently and powerfully without struggle
Whether you're a seasoned writer or just starting out, whatever your genre or form, The Voice of the Muse will deepen your creative experience and awaken you to new skills, new stories and a renewed confidence in your innate gifts.
You'll never feel the same about writing again!
The words lie within you. They hover in the shadows, longing to be noticed, yearning to heard, aching to be shared. Together, through this book, you and I will give them voice.
~ Mark David Gerson, "The Voice of the Muse"
Winner of a Silver Medal as one of the top writing books of 2009 from the Independent Publisher Book Awards
Works well in conjunction with The Voice of the Muse Guided Meditations for Writers , a 2-CD recording that includes the author's recording of all the guided meditations in the book and is also available on Amazon.
- GenresWritingNonfiction
245 pages, Paperback
First published June 18, 2007
About the author
Mark David Gerson
30 books61 followersMark David Gerson is the bestselling author of more than twenty books. His nonfiction includes popular titles for writers, inspiring personal growth books and compelling memoirs. As a novelist he is best known for The Legend of Q’ntana fantasy series, coming soon to movie theaters. When he’s not writing, Mark David coaches an international roster of both first-time and seasoned writers to help them get their stories onto the page and into the world with ease.
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October 4, 2008The hardest part about being a writer is accepting it. Even if you’ve been writing all your life, to actually step forward and allow yourself the freedom; even the indulgence, of calling yourself a writer, is not easy. Even after three published books, one of which was an award winning novel, I tend to shrug and dismiss my writing as an all-consuming hobby, rather than a vocation or career. Mark David Gerson isn’t having any of that. He’s adamant that not only am I a writer who can write coherently, flowingly, engagingly, with ease, able to change the world; but also that you are too. The key is linking into what he calls the “muse stream.” The Muse Stream is the welter of unwritten stories (the “ocean of stories”) that, Gerson suggests, we all have within us. It’s our creative subconscious; our intuition and sensual experiences; the magic in our perceptions. We need only listen, open our hearts, and keep writing, and those stories will naturally take shape.
Much of Voice of the Muse is an incantation. There are a number of guided meditations designed to help you listen to your voice, rather than fight it, so you can approach the place inside of you where creativity begins. For those that prefer a pragmatic ‘how-to’ book full of check lists and rules, this might be a hard approach to swallow. It’s much softer than that. The first rule is that there are no rules. The second is that you must get out of your own way. Leap into the void, and then just write. It doesn’t much matter what you write, as your “muse”, which you can call by any name that suits, from the collective unconscious if you like Jung, to God if you’re religious, to the “muse” if you like the idea of a female spirit, to your own inner voice if you don’t like labels.
The key message here, and it’s repeated in many ways, is that you must write, and that if you do surrender and listen, and keep writing, you will succeed in your writing. It’s a good message and one which Gerson delivers particularly well, sometimes with a subtle, underlying humour.
There is a warmth and an affirmative coaching quality to this book, but it isn’t only about urging you on. There are also some useful suggestions and exercises designed to help you work through your fears, and find out exactly what you need to write. There are exercises for overcoming block, even when it seems overwhelming, ways of coping with distraction and transition, and ideas you can use to deepen your characters, enrich your settings, and extend your plot. The book contains chapters for working in writing groups, and also a chapter on how to edit your work without being too brutal to your ego or ideas. The book contains a number of anecdotes and suggestions from things that worked, and didn’t work, while Gerson was writing his novel The MoonQuest. Gerson isn’t afraid to share his own experiences as a writer, a teacher, and as a person, and his honesty with the reader encourages trust, as he effectively practices what he preaches.
Voice of the Muse is certainly a spiritual approach to writing, and it may not be suitable for every kind of writer. Some people may dismiss the book as being too much of an incantation – continually pushing the reader away from the page and into the (foul) rag and bone shop of the heart (where all ladders start…), but Gerson’s point is that there is little that a writing teacher can provide in the way of pragmatic advice because, as Yeats himself said so beautifully, the true voice comes from within the writer. The one thing that you can do is encourage and coach, and Gerson has been doing this for fifteen years in his successful classes, and does this very well in Voice of the Muse. The book provides the tools to guide us towards our own stories, urging us that we must open our hearts and allow ourselves the space, and the self-trust, to do so. We not only have the ability; we have the responsibility.
Much of Voice of the Muse is an incantation. There are a number of guided meditations designed to help you listen to your voice, rather than fight it, so you can approach the place inside of you where creativity begins. For those that prefer a pragmatic ‘how-to’ book full of check lists and rules, this might be a hard approach to swallow. It’s much softer than that. The first rule is that there are no rules. The second is that you must get out of your own way. Leap into the void, and then just write. It doesn’t much matter what you write, as your “muse”, which you can call by any name that suits, from the collective unconscious if you like Jung, to God if you’re religious, to the “muse” if you like the idea of a female spirit, to your own inner voice if you don’t like labels.
The key message here, and it’s repeated in many ways, is that you must write, and that if you do surrender and listen, and keep writing, you will succeed in your writing. It’s a good message and one which Gerson delivers particularly well, sometimes with a subtle, underlying humour.
There is a warmth and an affirmative coaching quality to this book, but it isn’t only about urging you on. There are also some useful suggestions and exercises designed to help you work through your fears, and find out exactly what you need to write. There are exercises for overcoming block, even when it seems overwhelming, ways of coping with distraction and transition, and ideas you can use to deepen your characters, enrich your settings, and extend your plot. The book contains chapters for working in writing groups, and also a chapter on how to edit your work without being too brutal to your ego or ideas. The book contains a number of anecdotes and suggestions from things that worked, and didn’t work, while Gerson was writing his novel The MoonQuest. Gerson isn’t afraid to share his own experiences as a writer, a teacher, and as a person, and his honesty with the reader encourages trust, as he effectively practices what he preaches.
Voice of the Muse is certainly a spiritual approach to writing, and it may not be suitable for every kind of writer. Some people may dismiss the book as being too much of an incantation – continually pushing the reader away from the page and into the (foul) rag and bone shop of the heart (where all ladders start…), but Gerson’s point is that there is little that a writing teacher can provide in the way of pragmatic advice because, as Yeats himself said so beautifully, the true voice comes from within the writer. The one thing that you can do is encourage and coach, and Gerson has been doing this for fifteen years in his successful classes, and does this very well in Voice of the Muse. The book provides the tools to guide us towards our own stories, urging us that we must open our hearts and allow ourselves the space, and the self-trust, to do so. We not only have the ability; we have the responsibility.
May 9, 2013
[Please note: I will also be posting this review on my Amazon profile under the user name 'Esofagus']
In a review of a creative writing book I came across a while ago, one of the readers said that if he could learn even just one new/useful thing with every ‘writer’s manual’, the book had served its purpose.
I have certainly learnt more than one thing from MDG’s ‘Voice of the Muse’ book and from its companion meditation CD (sold separately). But first, let me tell you what this book isn’t. It’s not a creative writing manual, nor a ‘how to’ guide to perfect plotting, amazing dialogue and awesome characterisation. If that is what you are looking for, look elsewhere.
VoTM is something more akin to a self-help book for writers. If the idea is enough to send shivers of horror down your spine, do not be afraid.
What you will learn from VoTM is how to overcome the myriads of barriers that writers inevitably stumble upon - you know those pesky obstacles that just prevent you from writing, whether they are practical obstacles or mental blocks that make everything you have written seem utter drivel. It will show you how to ignore your inner critic and how to suspend judgement; how to write under what MDG calls the ‘Muse Stream’ - an interrupted flow during which you are asked to abandon all inhibitions and just let the pen move on the paper or your fingers type on the keyboard. The idea sounds a bit new agey at first, but it gets you going and above all, it keeps you going. Give it a try.
There are too many useful insights in VoTM to list in this review, but perhaps the most useful one to me was also the most obvious: learning to suspend judgement. Like the majority of aspiring writers, I have a very loud, vocal inner critic permanently shouting in my ear: “This sucks! Why do you bother? You will never write like X/Y/Z! You are a fraud! Give up, now!” - and so on. But deep down, again, like all aspiring writers, I am still doing this because something inside me tells me that I should, and that I can. Unfortunately, the inner critic becomes a hindrance that makes even just getting started an ordeal. Because, of course the annoying inner voice tells me that okay, maybe I did once write something good, but that’s it - I will never be able to write do it again. This is where VoTM’s guided meditation really resonated with me. With the author’s permission, I will quote from the last track on the CD:
“You are a writer. What you write is powerful. What you write is vibrant. What you write, whatever you believe in this moment, is luminous”.
The key is ‘in this moment’. The Muse stream will get your writing flowing, if you silence your judgement. And when the moment is passed, there will be time to edit, redraft, re-write and make everything sound and look pretty. For now, just write.
In a review of a creative writing book I came across a while ago, one of the readers said that if he could learn even just one new/useful thing with every ‘writer’s manual’, the book had served its purpose.
I have certainly learnt more than one thing from MDG’s ‘Voice of the Muse’ book and from its companion meditation CD (sold separately). But first, let me tell you what this book isn’t. It’s not a creative writing manual, nor a ‘how to’ guide to perfect plotting, amazing dialogue and awesome characterisation. If that is what you are looking for, look elsewhere.
VoTM is something more akin to a self-help book for writers. If the idea is enough to send shivers of horror down your spine, do not be afraid.
What you will learn from VoTM is how to overcome the myriads of barriers that writers inevitably stumble upon - you know those pesky obstacles that just prevent you from writing, whether they are practical obstacles or mental blocks that make everything you have written seem utter drivel. It will show you how to ignore your inner critic and how to suspend judgement; how to write under what MDG calls the ‘Muse Stream’ - an interrupted flow during which you are asked to abandon all inhibitions and just let the pen move on the paper or your fingers type on the keyboard. The idea sounds a bit new agey at first, but it gets you going and above all, it keeps you going. Give it a try.
There are too many useful insights in VoTM to list in this review, but perhaps the most useful one to me was also the most obvious: learning to suspend judgement. Like the majority of aspiring writers, I have a very loud, vocal inner critic permanently shouting in my ear: “This sucks! Why do you bother? You will never write like X/Y/Z! You are a fraud! Give up, now!” - and so on. But deep down, again, like all aspiring writers, I am still doing this because something inside me tells me that I should, and that I can. Unfortunately, the inner critic becomes a hindrance that makes even just getting started an ordeal. Because, of course the annoying inner voice tells me that okay, maybe I did once write something good, but that’s it - I will never be able to write do it again. This is where VoTM’s guided meditation really resonated with me. With the author’s permission, I will quote from the last track on the CD:
“You are a writer. What you write is powerful. What you write is vibrant. What you write, whatever you believe in this moment, is luminous”.
The key is ‘in this moment’. The Muse stream will get your writing flowing, if you silence your judgement. And when the moment is passed, there will be time to edit, redraft, re-write and make everything sound and look pretty. For now, just write.
October 5, 2008
Writers in search of their muse need to explore The Voice of the Muse by Mark David Gerson. As you sit down to write, your inner voice may ask: Where have all the good stories gone? To where have the inspirations disappeared? When will you be given the words to share the story trapped inside? Ideas along our inner paths can be found with the pages of this book.
Mark David Gerson provides thoughts and direction on finding and connecting with your muse. He shares exercises on how to connect with the mysterious disembodied voice writers rely on to share their stories. He provides encouragement and meditations for beginning writers and experienced storytellers. The Guided Meditations found within many chapters will encourage your muse to breath life into your words as they make their way from your pen to the page.
Mark David Gerson provides thoughts and direction on finding and connecting with your muse. He shares exercises on how to connect with the mysterious disembodied voice writers rely on to share their stories. He provides encouragement and meditations for beginning writers and experienced storytellers. The Guided Meditations found within many chapters will encourage your muse to breath life into your words as they make their way from your pen to the page.
May 15, 2011
As a writer, it is important to me to keep all of my projects on track. Sometimes, this feels impossible. In those moments, I pick up this book, which was written by one of my dear friends. It is an incredibly insightful read. While the subtitle is "Call to Write", I believe what is within can be used for almost any creative endeavor.
Gerson writes with a calm, casual air, making this book an easy read, and quick reference. I am pleased to know him, and be able to share his knowledge with those who are willing to get it from me, or the book. :)
Gerson writes with a calm, casual air, making this book an easy read, and quick reference. I am pleased to know him, and be able to share his knowledge with those who are willing to get it from me, or the book. :)
May 30, 2011
Whittling 13 down to 5…I propose that the top 5 quotes from this book are:
5. “The pain is in the resistance.” (p.113)
4. “You ask why you fear the blank page even as you know that the act of writing will make you feel better. It’s simple: The fear of the void far outweighs any perceived benefit that might arise from allowing it to be filled.” (p.112)
3. “Your imagination is limited by what you think you know. When you let go of that, when you leap off the bridge or cliff with nothing but trust, that’s when you fly.” (p.233)
2. “The fiercest ridicule and loudest, cruelest judgment will come from those who are touched most deeply by your words…Your critics are touched at a place deeper than they feel comfortable going, so their reaction and response is one of cruelty.” (p.69)
…and my pick for the No.1 quote is…
1. “Writers often have the cleanest windows, floors, fridges and toilets, the most up-to-date filing system or the best record for returning calls or e-mails because, in the moment, just about any task seems more palatable than sitting down to write.” (p.136)
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5. “The pain is in the resistance.” (p.113)
4. “You ask why you fear the blank page even as you know that the act of writing will make you feel better. It’s simple: The fear of the void far outweighs any perceived benefit that might arise from allowing it to be filled.” (p.112)
3. “Your imagination is limited by what you think you know. When you let go of that, when you leap off the bridge or cliff with nothing but trust, that’s when you fly.” (p.233)
2. “The fiercest ridicule and loudest, cruelest judgment will come from those who are touched most deeply by your words…Your critics are touched at a place deeper than they feel comfortable going, so their reaction and response is one of cruelty.” (p.69)
…and my pick for the No.1 quote is…
1. “Writers often have the cleanest windows, floors, fridges and toilets, the most up-to-date filing system or the best record for returning calls or e-mails because, in the moment, just about any task seems more palatable than sitting down to write.” (p.136)
The Uncustomary Book Review
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July 11, 2010
Love the book and the CD of meditations -- such great inspiration for writing!
May 2, 2012
This is one of the best books I've ever read about the writing progress. So good... I wish I'd written it, myself!
August 8, 2012
I will recommend this book for anyone that is having a difficult time getting started writing. In a clear no nonsense approach, Mark walks the writer through his approach to writing.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews