What Does Muse Mean?
Writing & CraftThe personified source of a writer's inspiration — fans talk about their muse cooperating, vanishing, or demanding a different story entirely. In roleplay, it also means the character a player embodies.
Muse in Practice
Writers have invoked muses since antiquity, but fandom made the muse a running character in authors' notes: 'the muse refused to write the next chapter and produced this 5k coffee shop AU instead.' Treating inspiration as an external, slightly unreasonable creature lets authors talk about creative droughts and hyperfixations with humor instead of guilt. In RP communities the word has the second, more technical meaning of the character a mun plays, and a player may juggle several muses across blogs. Both senses share the same core idea: the creative impulse has a personality of its own.
Example usage
"I sat down to finish the angst fic, but the muse demanded wingfic, so here we are."
Related Terms
Mun
In roleplay communities, the real person behind a character account — short for 'mundane.' The character itself is called the muse.
Definition →
Plot Bunny
A story idea that hops into a writer's head, demands attention, and multiplies. Plot bunnies are notoriously easier to acquire than to actually write.
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WIP (Work in Progress)
An unfinished work being posted as it's written — the serialized heartbeat of fic culture, complete with update hopes, hiatus fears, and the eternal gamble of starting one.
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More Writing & Craft Terms
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