The 12 Days of Muse

by Kathryn Lang

The holidays make me have to sing. Me and my friends, and now my family, have spent many hours crafting our own renditions of many holiday classics. As soon as my mind went in the direction of a holiday theme for this post, the 12 Days of Christmas began to ring clear.

On the first day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “I’m not working without my eggnog.”

On the second day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “Would you go stoke the fire, and remember I’m not working without my eggnog.”

On the third day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “There are three messages in the email, it is time to stoke the fire, and remember I’m not working without my eggnog.”

On the fourth day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “You have four articles due, there are three email messages, go stoke the fire, and I’m not working without my eggnog.”

On the fifth day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “I want to wrap some presents, even though there are four articles due, and three emails flashing, so stop to stoke the fire and remember that I’m not working without my eggnog.”

On the sixth day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “I need a week off to enjoy the holidays . . . I want to wrap some presents, with four articles due, three emails calling, stop to stoke the fire and I’m not working without my eggnog.”

On the seventh day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “Exactly what is a Lord a leapin, I need time off for the holidays, and I WANT TO WRAP SOME PRESENTS, because there are four articles due, three emails flashing, stoke the fire before it dies, and I’m not working without my eggnog.”

On the eighth day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “Stop to clean the house, and picture a Lord a leapin, before taking more time for the holidays, and I WANT TO WRAP SOME PRESENTS, while the four articles come due, three emails flash, and you need to stoke the fire and remember I’m not working without my eggnog.”

On the ninth day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “Just wait until the New Year to start, because you have to clean the house, research Lord a leapin, take time to enjoy the holidays, LET ME WRAP SOME PRESENTS, and the four articles are past due, the three emails have doubled, the fire is just about out, and I’m still not working without my eggnog.”

On the tenth day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “You should have picked a different carol, wait until 2011 to start your novel, clean the house before company comes, discover the secrets of the Lord a leapin, LET ME WRAP SOME PRESENTS ALREADY, your editor wants those four articles, the three emails have doubled, the fire will have to be rebuilt and I’m still not working without my eggnog.”

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “Quit piping about the novel and do it, if you ever finish this stupid carol, or you could just wait until 2011 to start, because the house really does need to be cleaned, and I still want to know what a Lord a leapin is, and I NEED TO WRAP SOME PRESENTS, the four articles are so past due, and the editor keeps emailing, you’ll have to go out in the cold for fire wood, and I’m still waiting for my eggnog.”

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my muse said to me: “I guess we should get started, quit piping up about the novel and just write already, the carol is ALMOST over, or we could wait until the New Year, company should NOT see the house like this, the Lord a leapin mystery still needs uncovering, and I MUST WRAP SOME PRESENTS, the four articles will never get done at this rate, and that’s why the emails are flashing, the fire has completely gone cold, and you have yet to bring me that mug of eggnog.”

My muse can be very demanding, and fickle, but fortunately she has never tortured me quite this bad. The one thing you can take away from this little exercise is that inspiration can be unlocked EVERYWHERE. Even an old, often annoying, Christmas carol can ignite an article that you never saw coming.

How will you choose to let the holidays inspire your writing?