For some time now, I have been trying to write a novella. The process has been largely slow, laborious and frustrating with brief bursts of furious typing. Somebody told me recently she felt the idea of the muse was a made up one, an excuse when you can't write. But inspiration is a very real, living presence for me. She (she's always a she) visits rarely,  more often than not at the end of a tiring day, demanding that I write. There are days when she has to be coaxed, bribed even. And when she leaves, I miss her. I miss being able to think the way I do when she is around. Lately, I have been struggling to write the narration from the point of view of my central female character. There is nothing I find harder than writing for a girl, even that girl.