Writer Isabel Allende offers this writing advice: “Show up, show up, show up, and after a while, the Muse shows up, too.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Isabel Allende’s Advice”
One of my favorite quotations about writing comes from the great writer Isabel Allende, who wrote, “Show up, show up, show up, and after a while, the muse shows up too.”
Oh, it’s perfect. The stick-to-itiveness required in order to complete anything.
Yes, glue your bottom to that chair. Just keep showing up.
Or whatever your tool is, right? Keep the hammer in your hand and the work will get done, right? Just keep at it.
And one of these days, the muse will show up. That’s a hard thing to impress upon kids in particular, right? That persistence of effort equals results eventually.
Oh, yeah. Because you want it to be done miraculously in a minute.
Yeah. Show up, show up, show up. And it’s funny how often a completed work looks like there was a muse and you’re like, no, that’s all sweat. There’s no muse.
I wasn’t inspired at all. I just worked more. 99% perspiration.
