This stream flows year round, a constant motion through the woods, often raging during the wet winter/spring months, and usually tranquil during the drier summer/fall. The words in my novels trend the same seasonal way: more flow when it’s rainy outside, less flow when it’s sunny. Trout Kill weighed in at 87,967 words, and Trout Run is currently a svelte 85,677– but gaining quickly. Raging or tranquil, I’m very, very thankful for the constant flow.
In his book On Writing, Stephen King suggests a quiet office with the door shut for optimum creativity. Personally, I prefer the kind of outdoor scene portrayed in your photo. I often sit outside with a clipboard writing longhand, while listening to the wind blow through the pine needles, to the background music of running water.
“…I did it for the buzz. I did it for the pure joy of the thing. And if you can do it for joy, you can do it forever.”
Stephen King