Three Reasons to Be Afraid of the Dark (Excerpt)

Author's Note

There's this concept among some creatives--especially those who've found Julia Cameron's The Artist's Way of use to their practice--of "filling the well(1)." To be able to create art, the theory goes, you have to seek out the raw materials of art: evocative images, turns of phrase, connections between smells and memory, the physical sensations of emotions. To create experiences for others, you have to have experiences to draw from.

But the very experience of creating art can be itself an act of filling the well. It can't be the only act, but it is an act. Experiences aren't just episodes you propel your body through. They're also adventures your mind has. The monster in your dream may not be "real," it can't truly hurt you, but the experience of being chased by a monster in your dreams is a real experience. The racing of your heart, the shortness of your breath, the panic that narrows your mind to a single dreadful focus, that's real. So is the smell of the beast's breath as it looms above you, ready to pounce.

The dreams created in your head when you write a story or read one are no less real experiences. I'd wager none of us have seen a real, live twelve-year-old glow in the dark. And yet watching Marissa read herself to sleep--or even being Marissa, as the line between third and first persons is a blurry one in dreams--is a real experience I've had now, and maybe you will too.