I’m refreshing the wells today by dipping into The Oxford Dictionary of Allusions. Topics include Conformity, Seducers and Male Lovers, Wholesomeness and the one that has taken my attention, Immobility. Those who have been immobilised are Daphne, Gulliver, Joshua and the Tin Man.
As I’m working on a story which carries some characters who are almost immobilised this is interesting indeed.
I am particularly disturbed by the story of Daphne, who was turned into a tree to protect her from Apollo’s unwanted pursuit thus punishing the victim most clearly. I have a Daphne bush in my backyard which flowers briefly but with great intensity.
I want more more more examples of refreshing the wells! Comment here or email me, and I’ll post the next day.
From Cat Sheely:
“I’ve recently been on a 3 week trip to outback Australia – Echuca, Ouyen, Burra in Vic and SA and then Broken Hill and Cobar in NSW. The people, landscape and the old pubs we stayed at, the old miners stories and so on have really inspired several ideas.
Like Alan, I walk daily and again, little things like a strange bird call, people grouped on the beach and so on seem to inspire ideas.
This morning it’s raining and dreary but the colours of the trees and shrubs really stand out making me think of hyper-reality and perception. So I started a new story.”
I have a ritual for refreshing.
1. Visit to the national portrait gallery in London (or sometimes the British Museum, it varies). Visual imagery unclogs the pipes for me.
2. Immediately after the visit I get a massive sheet of paper (A1 or A2) and spill either Indian Ink or thinned acrylic paint in Pollockesque splashes which may transmogrify into doodles or sentences.
3. The next stage is to leaf through the complete works of Shakespeare and read random passages out loud. Sometimes I just copy out the Shakespeare and I’ll start writing my own stuff immediately after.
It never fails.
I love this, the idea of literally spiling the words onto the page. I doodle a lot when I’m working (I always write my first draft by hand, black needle-point pen!).
I’ll post this in a couple of days, after the others.