Is There Such a Thing as a Perpetual Creative Well?

Dogs are so smart!

This week Writing Wednesday has become Thoughtful Thursday (due to internet connectivity issues and being klutzy enough to sprain the right side of my body while attempting to hike with Momma’s Girls).

Is there such a thing as a perpetual creative well?

We talk craft on Wednesdays, but I'm still a rookie. So it's mostly my own experience and a lot of thinking, practice, and study. Yes, I still study the craft. I want to be a pro, and pros always stay on top of their craft. I think the right and best answers can be different for each one of us. I've also found that different methods and techniques work at different times and with different projects but those can change as well. This brings me to the well. Now, I'm thinking creative well right here, but wishing well might be just as good for writers.

This is what I call "priming the pump".

Creativity and ideas come from everywhere, all of the time. If you're not seeing them, you're not looking around enough and you need to get out and do it. The opposite of the creative well is writers block, or is it? I find that when I'm blocked, it's one of two big things. What I'm working on has an inherent problem that I can't figure out how to fix right now, or my well has run dry.

You can't keep pumping a well, without giving it some time to refill once in a while. In an extreme case, you may completely tap your well, leaving it barren and worthless. At those times you're going to have to look for a new location and work hard to drill back down to the water.  Most times you'll have to go even deeper than before.

That's one really deep hole to hike down into!

There are as many ways to refill your well as there are people. And when you dig a new well that can mean digging into a new project and a leaving non-producing one behind, or it can mean finding new sources of inspiration.  I shared one of my favorites with you last week- The Kill Zone.

After all of this talk, let's go back to my original question. Is there such a thing as a perpetual creative well? I think I've found that this is actually possible. If you're slightly crazy and aren't afraid of the illogical and bizarre filling your world.  Yes, it may be possible to have a perpetual well.

Sometimes you've just got to take the leap!

I've been finding out lately that the more I create, the more creative ideas I have gushing up. I decided since I wasn’t making immediate progress on my current WIP (my character tripped and fell into a volcano and ?) that I needed to do something.  I didn’t want to be a bum and stagnate with lots of excuses.  Not to worry.  My scathingly brilliant plan seems to have worked.  I shined up my blog here, came up with a plan and a schedule (yep, we’re taking the scenic route this week!), and the ideas have been gushing up ever since.  Better yet, they’ve been flooding over into my day job as well (I work with web design, social media, advertising, newsletters, etc.)!

Maps are always a good starting point(s).

I’m mostly a pantser, with some plotting habits (having a map and a compass are the first steps to knowing exactly where you’re going I’m just a little more open on the “how to get there” portion).  The question is:  Knowing how working more seems to be working for me, how do I apply that back to my story (my hero would REALLY like to know)?  I’m thinking that I need to take what I know about the ending, make some smaller “marker” goals on my map and take those hills, one here and one there, until the river of my gushing well, washes me back up and around.

Has your story ever taken a sudden turn?

Hey! That’s sounding more like a toilet all of a sudden instead of a well.  Now it sounds like I’m saying we need a good creative flushing – often.  Help me!  Ok, we may revisit this topic later when I make it work better.  Until then – gush, don’t flush (unless you think it would help – we are all different :D)!

Help!

*All of today's exciting pictures came from icanhascheezburger.*