When the Well Runs Dry · 24 May 2025
I am not sure, but I believe the writing well will never run dry.
I have surely had times when the idea well or writing well has been short of water. But I do not think that the well has ever run completely dry. Nor do I believe that it ever will. At least not as long as I keep writing. Not as long as I keep priming the pump.
Now, I know that people do not know much about pumps. They might know that you can get a pump, plug it in, and liquid will flow. Or they know about their water pump on their car. At least they do when it happens to go bad. But most people do not know about hand pumps. And they surely do not know about priming said hand pumps.
I must admit that I do not know how to prime a hand pump. All I know is that you need to do it. You need to pour water into a hand pump to get water out. Which is called priming the pump. For if you have a hand pump, you cannot just pump and pump and pump to get water. You need to pour water down the line and then pump. Then, you will get water from deep down in the earth. Aah. Fresh relief.
Writing is like that hand pump. The ideas are deep in the well. Or they may even be in a well that has water close to the surface. Either way, the ideas are there. And that well never runs dry. It is just that sometimes you need to prime the pump. Sometimes you need to write nonsense or shallow thoughts or terrible rhymes to get something good to come out of the well. Sometimes, you need to prime the pump to get the cool, clear, fresh water. You need to prime the pump with a journal entry to get that next idea to come through the pump.
I have been writing six days a week for many years now. I do not always write anything worthwhile. Even when I put said stuff on the internet. But I write and I publish. Even if it is just to prime the pump. Even if it is just to keep the ideas flowing. For I know that one day, something will stick. Some idea will be great, and I will write it. And maybe one person will read it.
I know that I will always be striving to become a mediocre man. And I know that I will keep writing and writing and writing. Even if nobody reads. Even if I never have a good idea. For I know that one day I will have a good idea. And that idea will turn into some piece of writing. And if that one reader gets something good out of that writing, I will be satisfied.
I might have said at the beginning of this piece that I was not sure, but I am now. I am sure that when it comes to writing, the well will never run dry.
© 2025 Michael T. Miyoshi
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