Leaving a little ink in the well
If you dig around the Recommended Reading section of this blog, you’ll find links to two good articles on writers block (43Folders, Screenwriters). Both quote Hemingway’s writing methodology: “Leave some water in the well”. It’s a great idea: stop working when you’re writing your best and it’s easier to start writing next time. You leave the work excited to return. You only face the dreaded Blank Page in the middle of your writing session, fresh from a success. It’s a cool enough idea that I’ve started a little experiment adding this discipline to my work and to life.
Mixing ink and water
Ok, I mis-remembered the quote. The convolutions of my brain have been remembering it as “Leave a little ink in the well.” (ink — inkwell — writer, get it?) I like my metaphor better, naturally, and not just because it’s more apt. Thinking of it as an inkwell, I found the corollary, “pouring ink in the well”: Namely, when an idea comes to me, taking a little extra time to flesh it out, leaving myself something easy to start with when get around to implementing the idea.
I come up with ideas constantly, and rigorously write them down in endless lists. I rarely go back and do any of those things off my list, though. When I look to my lists for inspiration, the items seem lifeless; like a bunch of empty ink pots. Now, I’m extending the habit to not just writing them down, but really sketching them out: outlining, drawing, or writing random phrases or scenes that come to mind - really doing a braindump of the idea so that there’s something fascinating to start with. In effect, I’m filling the empty ink pot with ink to later write with.
It works with photography too, but I really do need to learn to draw…
Getting ink all over the place
I’ve been having so much fun with these ideas that I’ve been applying them in several places in life:
With friends: When visiting, don’t stay until we’ve exhausted every topic of conversation. Leave a few things unsaid for next time - or even for the next person (so I don’t feel like I’m rehashing the same story for every friend I run across).
In dating: Don’t satiate desire; leave a little lingering in the air that you both can savor until you next see together. Anticipation gets the blood boiling after all - why use it all up? I’ve been trying this and the the past few weeks have been quite fun. No, electrifying.
With housework: Don’t try this at home, kids. My laboratory studies have shown that these techniques have a negative effect sanitation: if you stop cleaning in the middle, you still end up with a bunch of crap around your house. Think before you ink.
