Filling the Creative Well
Self-Care, Inner and Outward Exploration Improves Writing and Voice
Julia Cameron, author of The Right to Write and The Artist's Way, suggests taking time to see and absorb new images and ideas and to nourish the creative artist within.
One of Julia Cameron's favourite pieces of advice to aspiring authors, in her beloved books The Artist's Way and The Right to Write, is to reap the benefit of "filling the well," taking time out in our busy schedules to turn inwards in relaxation as well as outwards in observation. "Filling the well" is a concept that can deepen the scope of good writing by adding richness to the images and inner landscapes a writer draws on in writing fiction.
"Filling the Well"
The idea of "filling the well" is based on the old metaphor of water as a source of inspiration. In many cultures, including old Celtic and British traditions, water is a symbol related to insight and emotional richness. People would travel to lakes, rivers or the ocean for clarity and inspiration.
The image of a well describes creativity as a channel deep into the earth or the psyche – a vessel or conduit that can be tapped unseen for a long while, but may eventually run dry unless more water is allowed to flow into its source.
In filling the well, we allow more "water" to enter the well from below, by relaxing and resting the creative mind. We may also refill the fount from above by pouring new images and experiences into the inner well of the mind.
Emotional Richness and Depth
When a writer's heart is in her writing, sense and meaning ring from every word on the page. When an author is running on empty, drained and tired with his writing, it likewise shows.
Being grounded in our own lives and in our emotional experience of ourselves can make the different between writing that lifts itself off the page and sings, and writing that is flat and meaningless.
One way to improve this ephemeral quality of writing is to give oneself the time to step back from the work, relax, and just be.
Take an evening off and go for a long walk in the park. Watch a movie. Read a good book. Doing something for yourself, even for an hour or two, can have an impact on the experience of writing and on your results on the page.
Images and Experience to Add Texture to Your Writing
The other kind of "artist date" recommended by Julia Cameron is an experiential one: travel, people-watching, trying a new sport or a restaurant you've never been in before, doing anything new and interesting.
The old truism is that authors should "write what you know." On some level, everything we write comes from what we know and from personal insight and experience. By trying something new, we are able to "stock the pond with fish" (to use another of Julia Cameron's metaphors) or refill that well with new water to be drawn on for future writing.
Two Secrets to Writing Success in the Long Run
Two of the keys to successful, long-term writing that never dries up:
- taking time to experience new things that can inform your writing, and
- taking time for ourselves so that we never tire of doing the work that writing requires.
