How Do You Refill the Creative Well?

[Schlank]

I’ve been poking around the forums after being an avid reader for years and I first want to say, you’re all wonderfully creative people. I have gotten lost in so many people’s stories and characters. It’s truly been a delight

Okay, sappy part out of the way.

One thing I am curious about. It’s not anything I’m struggling with at the moment. I heard this asked in an interview once and the question has been with me since: what do you do to refill the creative well?

It’s not bottomless for anyone. Whether it’s something to recharge you after completing the latest project, something you do when you hit a wall, or things you do to avoid the wall. Anything really. What helps refill that creative drive for you?

I always wanted to ask a group of people this question and this seemed a good space to do it.

I always seem to get ideas for my writing when I'm nowhere near a computer and cannot write them down. Some of my best ideas comes to me when I'm in bed and just about to drift off to sleep.Or, when I'm in my car commuting to work.
I when I'm on a walking path deep in the forest.
It's a curse. I get my best ideas when I'm nowhere near a keyboard.

 

[writerzblok92]

Jump ahead to chapter 5 or 6, or the end, and come back later.

That's a good idea. I always feel like it should be written in a linear manner though... But maybe it's worth trying that

 

[TropicalTwist]

It's a curse. I get my best ideas when I'm nowhere near a keyboard.

Have you considered carrying a small notepad?

 

[AG31]

I always seem to get ideas for my writing when I'm nowhere near a computer and cannot write them down. Some of my best ideas comes to me when I'm in bed and just about to drift off to sleep.Or, when I'm in my car commuting to work.
I when I'm on a walking path deep in the forest.
It's a curse. I get my best ideas when I'm nowhere near a keyboard.

Sometimes you just have to get out of bed a 3 am to write it down so you can get to sleep.

 

[AG31]

Have you considered carrying a small notepad?

Essential!!! Just a 3 x 5 card. Anything. Transcribe later.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

Jump ahead to chapter 5 or 6, or the end, and come back later.

That's a good idea. I always feel like it should be written in a linear manner though... But maybe it's worth trying that

You know, this is reminding me of that GM advice I've seen once about not starting sessions with a recap, even if it's been too long since the last time the group gathered. I think it works for writing too.

If the previous session ended up with a massive cliffhanger, or a massive failure, and the group couldn't gather up for months, or years, instead of picking it back up where it was left off, start instead by showing the consequences of such failure.

Chapter ends with the princess being taken by the bad guy right when the heroes couldn't rescue her, and you have no idea how to write chapter 4, but you abandon the draft for months, and when you return to it you still have no idea how to continue... just start chapter 4 immediately by showing the consequences of the failure. Maybe the princess dies, or she is turned to the bad side, and now the kingdom is dark... I don't know; something.

Time skips are also good when the object in motion meets a wall.

 

[KittyOfSteele]

Have you considered carrying a small notepad?

I always carry one in my pocket, and a pen between my fingers like a cigarette.

 

[Writer61]

I always seem to get ideas for my writing when I'm nowhere near a computer and cannot write them down. Some of my best ideas comes to me when I'm in bed and just about to drift off to sleep.Or, when I'm in my car commuting to work.
I when I'm on a walking path deep in the forest.
It's a curse. I get my best ideas when I'm nowhere near a keyboard.

I suspect it is a necessary precondition. Several people in this thread have mentioned situations when they are away from a keyboard. For me, it is in the shower or drifting off to sleep.

 

[bi_cathy]

Uh, phones?!

waves around

The computer in your pocket?!

90% of what I've published on Lit so far has been written on my phone. I know it's not as sexy or as efficient as a full-on keyboard and a big screen, but give it a chance and you may see it works. I started in the mid-2000s on a Nokia with a 2.2-inch screen, a T9 keyboard and QuickOffice , so today's smartphones with their big screens, full keyboards and autocorrect and swipe to type are so much faster for me.

I've written in waiting lines and rooms, on public transit, on trains, planes, etc... wherever the words come. Not in the shower yet but I know it's waterproof... should I need to

 

[BeechLeaf]

I know no way of coming up with ideas, and no activity or thought that makes it even slightly more likely. Prompted by this thread, I made today a rare 'optimistic' day, and went out with a notebook and pen on my morning walk. It was actually more productive than my usual 'optimistic' days, because I wrote something:

NEW IDEAS?
- action, not dialogue

 

[Callum_M]

I started in the mid-2000s on a Nokia with a 2.2-inch screen, a T9 keyboard and QuickOffice , so today's smartphones with their big screens, full keyboards and autocorrect and swipe to type are so much faster for me.

Writing stories out on T9 is dedication like no other! Applause all around!

 

[crookedletter]

I dump ideas into my phone when they pop into my head, but phone keyboards were made for smaller fingers than mine. Trying to write whole stories that way might actually drive me (more) insane. I try to keep a notebook around for when I need to take down more than a thought or two.

 

[FromManyOne]

I dump ideas into my phone when they pop into my head, but phone keyboards were made for smaller fingers than mine. Trying to write whole stories that way might actually drive me (more) insane.

Voice dictation? Of course, you'd need a private place where you wouldn't be overheard.

 

[StillStunned]

"Refilling the Creative Well" would be a good title for an impregnation story.

 

[BeechLeaf]

Voice dictation? Of course, you'd need a private place where you wouldn't be overheard.

I have caught myself muttering, 'Now, sex, sex, sex, how do I get sex into it?' while walking around parks and woods. Whether anyone else was in earshot . . . not sure.

 

[TheLobster]

I have caught myself muttering, 'Now, sex, sex, sex, how do I get sex into it?' while around parks and woods. Whether anyone else was in earshot . . . not sure.

Plot bunny: a woodland nymph meets a quirky writer who liked to take walks in the forest while monotonically mumbling under his breath.

 

[crookedletter]

Voice dictation? Of course, you'd need a private place where you wouldn't be overheard.

That could work if I could get over the awkwardness, but having a notebook handy has generally been sufficient.

 

[bi_cathy]

I dump ideas into my phone when they pop into my head, but phone keyboards were made for smaller fingers than mine. Trying to write whole stories that way might actually drive me (more) insane. I try to keep a notebook around for when I need to take down more than a thought or two.

I estimate that about 100,000 words or more of my long 139K-word series Strings Attached were written on my phone, not to mention the other stories. I might have the fingers and wrists for that kind of productivity

 

[TheLobster]

@bi_cathy So you’re saying your fingers and wrists are fit for a particular kind of erotic activity…

 

[KittyOfSteele]

Uh, phones?!

waves around

The computer in your pocket?!

90% of what I've published on Lit so far has been written on my phone. I know it's not as sexy or as efficient as a full-on keyboard and a big screen, but give it a chance and you may see it works. I started in the mid-2000s on a Nokia with a 2.2-inch screen, a T9 keyboard and QuickOffice , so today's smartphones with their big screens, full keyboards and autocorrect and swipe to type are so much faster for me.

I've written in waiting lines and rooms, on public transit, on trains, planes, etc... wherever the words come. Not in the shower yet but I know it's waterproof... should I need to

I've written on my phone, edited on my phone, published on my phone, and there's one problem I have with the phone: it's a distraction machine. Whenever I grab it to write, I have to use a lot of willpower or else I won't write. The solution is easy, but requires me to go around changing settings too frequently, and app blockers are just too easy for me to crack.

 

[TropicalTwist]

Phone just never felt right to me. Only times I have done it were due to being bored on a flight and I'd already completed the novel I had brought along. I'd rather write on pen and paper, or feel a typing machine beneath my fingertips. Which reminds me, I should bust out my typewriter.