Thursday 5 May 2016

A change of location - good for filling the well

This week I've been out and about to some places I haven't visited for a while.  It's finally spring in England, and the last week has been a sunny and warm one.  The rise in temperature is welcome after a colder than average April.

I benefited from my change of scene by getting a flurry of new ideas.  Going to new places is good for "filling the well" as creativity teacher Julia Cameron calls it.  As I'm out and about I can observe things I want to change in the world, or things which I think need to change.  These provide the driving force for new stories.

And one of the things I notice a lot is aimless people, people without a purpose, or even a plan for the current day.  There are the retired men who buy the cheapest coffee in the cafe then hog the best window seat for three hours, staring out into pace.  But what if one of these aimless-looking men had knowledge that could save the world?  What if they were an adept at an ancient wisdom that was desperately needed to avoid global disaster?  Will our planet go to its doom because Western cultures generally don't respect and honour their senior citizens?

A change of scene has taken me to walking by the shore.  I see the many moods of the sea while walking beside it.  When it's out in the distance it leaves acres of mud flats.  What if someone buried a canister in the mud with top-secret data in it? 

What if this was a sea on another world, and the buried object contained the key to an ancient weapon?  And what if a bitter and twisted antagonist had heard about that burial, and was determined to find the key?  But maybe the ocean itself is the key's guardian?  Maybe it has some awareness that it uses to protect the key.  Or maybe the key itself has some awareness.  Perhaps the ocean and the key can communicate.  Perhaps the ocean knows that it will be harmed if the key is found and used to set off the weapon.  So many ideas from a change of scene and the application of the SF writer's magic question "what if".

A change of scene is a great way to "fill the well" of creative ideas.  Walking with our senses open, and alert to answers to the "what if?" question, we revitalise our ideas and or writing.  Anyone for octopus emperors?

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