Conversations with a Muse

I’m feeling much better now.

Thanks to those who chimed in with encouragement after reading the last post. It was certainly a moment of frustration that I actually needed to get through. After a few late nights and a total of about 5 hours sleep in those two nights, coupled with to very different days at work (i.e. covering an event for work that required a completely different commute) and fighting to get things done, I was completely spent.

So, with work unfinished and unsatisfied, I pretty much passed out.

Fast forward to this evening. After exchanging emails, I finally heard back from Milill. I’d sent him a version of BP#2 a while ago and hadn’t gotten a lot of feedback. In fact, I’d hadn’t gotten any feedback from him or Liira. And with The Heroine out of the loop in terms of my creative support circle, I didn’t want to open the door to someone new reading it just yet. I’m very protective of this project. And while there’s a few new people I want to add to the list of readers, I know I need to get v 2.o done before other get involved. So, it helps to get 1.3 done first.

So Milill and I get into writer/editor/creative geek mode over the phone. He updates me on some revisions he’s making to a play of his (one that I love and admire for numerous reason) and we hash out character, plot and structure improves on BP #2. This goes on for about a good hour, allowing me to take tons of mental notes that I’ll put to use as soon as this entry is done.

Then things get silly.

I mean really silly. Milill is a great banterer. One of the best I know. I say that not just because he and I can riff, although that’s part of it. But I’ve seen him take a tangent and run with it The Heroine and half a dozen other people. Its not just that he’s funny, quick witted, opinionated (pig-headed-ly so at times) and clever, but he helps you elevate your game. He gets your creative juices roaring and you just get caught up in talking and laughing and being creative in alternately completely serious and impossibly silly ways. He’s like the Scottie Pippen of banterers, making anyone he’s in a conversation with like Michael Jordan.

No, excuse me while I take off from the free throw line and get this damn thing done.