--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: What happens when a female writer invokes…" description: "\"What happens when a female writer invokes a female muse? Does something else happen? With Sappho's figures of desire, we have a different lesbian energ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de0/shirley-geok-lin-lim-3190_desire_what-happens-when-a-female-writer-invoke_2689577.png" --- # What happens when a female writer invokes a female muse?… ![“What happens when a female writer invokes a female muse? Does something else happen? With Sappho's figures of desire, we have a different lesbian energy.” quote by Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de0/shirley-geok-lin-lim-3190_desire_what-happens-when-a-female-writer-invoke_2689577.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de0/shirley-geok-lin-lim-3190_desire_what-happens-when-a-female-writer-invoke_2689577.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de0/shirley-geok-lin-lim-3190_desire_what-happens-when-a-female-writer-invoke_2689577.png) > “What happens when a female writer invokes a female muse? Does something else happen? With Sappho's figures of desire, we have a different lesbian energy.” [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Invoking a female muse reshapes narrative energy, introducing distinct lesbian perspectives and desire. **In simple terms:** Female muse changes tone and introduces lesbian energy. Key Takeaway Explore diverse muse influences in writing. Themes gender sexuality literature Mood analytical thoughtful Type critical philosophical When to use this quote - creative writing - academic analysis - storytelling - film scripts Key Concepts feminist theory queer studies Questions to Reflect On - What does a female muse bring to a story? - How can writers avoid stereotypes? A Different Perspective May risk essentializing gender; nuance required. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Energy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/energy/) [Female](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/female/) [Female writers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/female-writers/) [Muse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/muse/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“There's a chasm between envy and desire. Envy is like wanting something that's not yours. But desire is different. Desire comes out of wanting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michka-assayas/there-s-a-chasm-between-envy-and-desire-envy-is-like-wanting/) [Michka Assayas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michka-assayas/) > [As an actor, my desire was always to be different, there was a desire to associate yourself with projects that bring about the contemporary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pankaj-kapur/as-an-actor-my-desire-was-always-to-be-different-there-was-a-desire/) [Pankaj Kapur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pankaj-kapur/) > [The desire to do different things was the main motivator that made me leave late night because I'd been there seven years. The combination…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-richter/the-desire-to-do-different-things-was-the-main-motivator-that-made-me/) [Andy Richter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-richter/) > [The desire to be different from the people we live with is sometimes the result of our rejection- real or imagined- by them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-desire-to-be-different-from-the-people-we-live-with-is-sometimes/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [EVERY intense desire is perhaps basically a desire to be different from what we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/every-intense-desire-is-perhaps-basically-a-desire-to-be-different/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [Being in New York has definitely intensified my desire to be different and individual.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby-berk/being-in-new-york-has-definitely-intensified-my-desire-to-be/) [Bobby Berk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bobby-berk/) > [Every intense desire is perhaps a desire to be different from what we are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/every-intense-desire-is-perhaps-a-desire-to-be-different-from-what-we/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [I try really hard to ask people to take a look at their bookshelves. Are there female writers on it? Gay writers? Writers of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jodi-picoult/i-try-really-hard-to-ask-people-to-take-a-look-at-their-bookshelves/) [Jodi Picoult](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jodi-picoult/) > [I've had frank conversations with theaters who say, 'We love your play, but we've already done a play by another black person this year,'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katori-hall/i-ve-had-frank-conversations-with-theaters-who-say-we-love-your-play/) [Katori Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katori-hall/) > [I do believe female directors, as well as our female writer, can bring out male vulnerability that some men can't because they can't face…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-kingsley/i-do-believe-female-directors-as-well-as-our-female-writer-can-bring/) [Ben Kingsley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-kingsley/) > [“I said that the greatest female writers, with almost no exceptions, have been childless. A fact. And I have said that women generally, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-galbraith/i-said-that-the-greatest-female-writers-with-almost-no-exceptions/) [Robert Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-galbraith/) > [I love any books by Kelly Sue DeConnick or Marjorie M. Liu; it's lovely to have successful, talented female writers doing great work in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-simone/i-love-any-books-by-kelly-sue-deconnick-or-marjorie-m-liu-it-s-lovely/) [Gail Simone](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-simone/) > [There is a great quote from a female writer. She said, 'If you don't break out in a sweat of fear when you write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sally-mann/there-is-a-great-quote-from-a-female-writer-she-said-if-you-don-t/) [Sally Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sally-mann/) > [The bottom line is that female writers aren't being given enough opportunities by male producers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-o-dowd/the-bottom-line-is-that-female-writers-aren-t-being-given-enough/) [Chris O'Dowd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-o-dowd/) > [Hollywood has made a big push to be more supportive of female writers and directors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katy-o-brian/hollywood-has-made-a-big-push-to-be-more-supportive-of-female-writers/) [Katy O'Brian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katy-o-brian/) ## More by Shirley Geok-lin Lim > [Now that I'm more middle class, I have access to consumer goods. I do enjoy feminine frippery, feminine doo-da, stuff like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/now-that-i-m-more-middle-class-i-have-access-to-consumer-goods-i-do/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [The poem might come to you as you're preparing to teach a lecture, right? And when you say, "no" to that occasion, that poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/the-poem-might-come-to-you-as-you-re-preparing-to-teach-a-lecture/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [Once you stop talking about the female body empowering itself vis-à-vis male forays or invasions or male demands or the necessity to respond to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/once-you-stop-talking-about-the-female-body-empowering-itself-vis-vis/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [I have a muse who's very powerful, but I'm still a hopeless deadbeat of a poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/i-have-a-muse-who-s-very-powerful-but-i-m-still-a-hopeless-deadbeat/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [Free verse is chained in sentence-to-sentence links and breaks free in line breaks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/free-verse-is-chained-in-sentence-to-sentence-links-and-breaks-free/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [ I feel compassionate, because I know \[students\] all have to go down this road of suffering and it's going to be tough. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/i-feel-compassionate-because-i-know-students-all-have-to-go-down-this/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [Even after the mothering dropped because my son grew up, the writing - the muse - was always the third wheel, the lowest on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/even-after-the-mothering-dropped-because-my-son-grew-up-the-writing/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [If you've been in a symbolic struggle long enough, even when the struggle is over, you don't know it's over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/if-you-ve-been-in-a-symbolic-struggle-long-enough-even-when-the/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > ["I want to be always happy," Maxine Hong Kingston announces . But, as this interview makes clear, for me, it was the desire to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/i-want-to-be-always-happy-maxine-hong-kingston-announces-but-as-this/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [I'm in my 60s, and a cancer scare just makes you more aware of mortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/i-m-in-my-60s-and-a-cancer-scare-just-makes-you-more-aware-of/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [Crows appear in many of my new unpublished poems. In these walks, they take on a symbolic life apart from their irritating, undeniable, interruptive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/crows-appear-in-many-of-my-new-unpublished-poems-in-these-walks-they/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [People called me a tomboy. That was the term used then. I was very much someone who was comfortable in male clothing, and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/people-called-me-a-tomboy-that-was-the-term-used-then-i-was-very-much/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [I'm much more comfortable in pants and shirts, running around. There was a typical construction about womanhood when I was growing up that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/i-m-much-more-comfortable-in-pants-and-shirts-running-around-there/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [I have some weak poems in that new collection, which is why I'm not ready to send the collection out yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/i-have-some-weak-poems-in-that-new-collection-which-is-why-i-m-not/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [If I could write a novel while I'm walking, I probably would.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/if-i-could-write-a-novel-while-i-m-walking-i-probably-would/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) [Explore all 137 Shirley Geok-lin Lim quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) ## More Desire quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [Passion is what you need to be good, an unforgiving passion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-easton/passion-is-what-you-need-to-be-good-an-unforgiving-passion/) [David Easton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-easton/) > [I want the municipality to be a helping hand to the man with a desire of sympathy, to help the fallen when it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-burns/i-want-the-municipality-to-be-a-helping-hand-to-the-man-with-a-desire/) [John Burns](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-burns/) > [Ye youths and virgins, when your generous blood Has drunk the warmth of fifteen summers, now The loves invite; now to new rapture wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-armstrong/ye-youths-and-virgins-when-your-generous-blood-has-drunk-the-warmth/) [John Armstrong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-armstrong/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“THE ESSENCE OF YOUR DESIRE IS A FEELING”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/danielle-laporte/the-essence-of-your-desire-is-a-feeling/) [Danielle LaPorte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/danielle-laporte/) > [On the brink of being satiated, desire still appears infinite.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rostand/on-the-brink-of-being-satiated-desire-still-appears-infinite/) [Jean Rostand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rostand/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He caught her, she fell, he caught her in his arms, he held her tightly unconscious of what he was doing. He held her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/he-caught-her-she-fell-he-caught-her-in-his-arms-he-held-her-tightly/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [ Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. My three \[great teachers\] did not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/teaching-might-even-be-the-greatest-of-the-arts-since-the-medium-is/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/the-deepest-urge-in-human-nature-is-the-desire-to-be-important/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [In discovering books, you became free to explore the full range of human motives, desires, secrets, and lies. All my life, people have scolded…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betsy-lerner/in-discovering-books-you-became-free-to-explore-the-full-range-of/) [Betsy Lerner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betsy-lerner/) > [I have never been in, nor have I had any strong particular desire to be in, what is termed a costume drama, but I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-freeman/i-have-never-been-in-nor-have-i-had-any-strong-particular-desire-to/) [Martin Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-freeman/) > [Now I am in the place I call this wide wide Heaven because it includes all my simplest desires but also the most humble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-sebold/now-i-am-in-the-place-i-call-this-wide-wide-heaven-because-it/) [Alice Sebold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-sebold/) > [“from THE DEVIL YOU KNOW : She wanted him too. He could see it in the rapid rise of her breasts. He could smell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emery-lee/from-the-devil-you-know-she-wanted-him-too-he-could-see-it-in-the/) [Emery Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emery-lee/) [Browse all 15,155 Desire quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What happens when a female writer invokes a female muse? Does something else happen? 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