In this book I’m reading the author argues that we are servants of the muses, and the art we produce is a result of their influence from a higher plane of existence. So when we sit down to write, what we’re actually writing are the words whispered to us from the muses. To connect with these muses, a writer must pray or engage in some sort of ritual. The most common way is to recite Homer’s invocation to Calliope.
This sounds weird to me. If this is true, shouldn’t all first drafts be considered an immediate masterpiece? If the work we produce comes from the muses, who are masters in their field, then the first draft should be a reflection of their skill. However, this is obviously not the case. First drafts aren’t always stellar. Does that mean the muses are not as good of a writer as we think they are?
Some artists surrender to the unconscious. The muses represent an entity (whether you consider it inside us, our subconscious; or slightly inside us, say like the collective unconscious; or completely outside us, say like a theistic god or nature as a life force) that breathes the creativity in a work of art.
I feel writing about this makes it sound very mystical, but I feel it quite otherwise, and observable. Straightforward rationality can get a lot of things done, but it lacks a certain life spark, and that “life spark”, that creative element, arises from factors that we don’t (yet) fully understand. So a lot of people use the term muses to refer to this force that is not fully in their control.
Not all writers are like that of course. A lot of great writers are just good at showing up, and writing and writing. So one doesn’t have to believe in the muses to be a good writer (or a good anything).
tl;dr; some people do acknowledge that there is a sense in which they were more of a conduit of the creation, than the creators themselves, of whatever art they have created, and muses are one of the terms to refer to this force that they don’t fully understand. It’s a personal preference.