Passive Writing by a Muse

By Johny Jagannath

A muse just by being in the writer’s world creates path ways in the writer’s mind that enable a writer to write new stories in a way that would have been impossible if it hadn’t been for the muse’s presence. This way, the muse is contributing to the writer’s story by what I call, passive writing. Very reminiscent of passive smoking. If smoking were writing, then the muse has taken part in the writing process by passive writing, just by being in the life of the writer. Of course, this would have to be a special muse or a special woman if the writer is of the masculine gender. 

In my case, Stephanie Hutchens has played the part of a passive writer when I wrote Rango and Interstellar. By having her in my life, she’s a breathe of fresh air and my mind get’s supercharged with her spark, and the writing is now tinted with that spark that Steph is responsible for. That spark is what I’d refer to as passive writing on her part. And indeed when I wrote many songs for her like, Mary On A Cross, Cayucos, That’s so True, Heat Wave, Out of My League, What Lovers Do, her spark is evident in the lyric.

You can say this is very nearly what inspiration does. When a writer says, she inspires me, this is the physics or biology behind it. It’s called passive writing by the muse, in my informed view as a creative writer.