Stories from the Muses: Become a Better Writer (Method Writing with Jules Swales)

Want to know how to be a better writer, and break through your writer’s block, and find artistic inspiration? Jules Swales, Jack Grapes’ Method Writing teacher, introduces the seven Muse energies and explains how to locate the energies in your body and explore the influence they have on the writer’s craft.

The seven Muses are:
Child
Mother
Maiden/Virgin
Siren/Seductress/Whore
Huntress
Medusa
Crone/Hag/Witch

Jules Swales teaches Jack Grapes’s Method Writing, developed by Jack Grapes, as a creative process, to enable writers to find and deepen their unique voice, to produce written work that is dynamic and powerful and therefore become better writers.

Disquieting Muses is level 4 of the Method Writing process and is often considered to be one of the most challenging levels, not least because there is no ‘right’ way to write from the Muses. An unexpected outcome of this level is that the authors often discover profound truths about themselves in the process.

Whilst they are based on archetypes, no two Muse energies are the same which is demonstrated by the stories in this book. They are wide, varied, and surprising. You can see how the same Muse energy is different for every author and get a glimpse of what they learned about themselves in the process. The results are stunning and often profound. Each muse presents itself in unique and unexpected ways. Some of the stories contain mature content.


Reviews

"I highly recommend this book and its approach for anyone who is wanting to explore themselves through writing and in doing so become a better writer." - Michael Monks, Actor, Director, Acting Teacher

"Powerful. Thought provoking. Important. Every line is a winner. I’ve never heard of a book like this, and the whole concept is so interesting! I loved every word!" - Nancy Aronie - NPR commentator, author, columnist

"Stories from the Muses is an incredible book, both a tool and a new way to explore. I certainly will apply these disquieting muses to my own work as a writer and a teacher." - Justen Ahren, Author of A Machine for Remember, and Founder of Devotion to Writing.

The following authors contributed their work to this anthology:

Jules Swales

Maria Iliffe-Wood

JB Hollows

Del Adey-Jones

Samantha Herman

Jennie Linthorst

Al Milledge

Mer Monson

Vanessa Poster

Linda Pritcher

Linda Sandel Pettit

Anna Scott

LN Sheffield

Sharon Strimling

N. Vyas

Maria Iliffe-Wood is the author of Coaching Presence, Building Consciousness and Awareness into Coaching Interventions, and Daily Yarns: Riding the Lockdown Roller Coaster of Emotions. She also contributed to and published A Different Story, the first book published through her company IW Press Ltd. She uses skills gained as an executive coach for over 30 years, to coach and motivate people to write and publish their best book. She always has several book projects on the go. Her next book - A Caged Mind - is due to be published in summer 2022. She continues to be a student of Jules Swales.

JB Hollows MSc FRSA is an eclectic writer of creative nonfiction, short stories and academic research. Jacqueline plays with words and content creation to tell stories that inspire, motivate and make people think about the world in a different way. Works to date include: co-author of the first book in this series: A Different Story; co-author of several academic research papers; and a monthly column for a prison newspaper (the Insidetimes). JB is publishing her memoir in 2022, of her time as founder for a social enterprise working with prison inmates. JB is passionate about giving a voice to the voiceless and ending stigma.

Jules Swales is a British born poet and writer who studied Method Writing for over 18 years with her mentor Jack Grapes. She transitioned from the corporate world to teach the first online version of Method Writing with a desire to bring the power of the writing program to the world. Jules is known for her poetry book, I Want A Stonehenge Life, but has also written a non-fiction book, and has been published in various journals and collections. Jules volunteered at Venice High School where she taught Method Writing to the students in the POPS program. She has MA in Spiritual Psychology and also works one-on-one with clients as a Creativity Coach.