The following is a few excerpts from "A Guide to Generating Ideas for Uninspired Architects" by Various Authors, used with permission from the University of Utah.
As an Architect, a large majority of your job revolves around the creation of new and functional structures. However, doing so is taxing on the mind, and there will come a time when your well of inspiration dries out. This book is meant to serve as a guide to help you reignite your creativity…
…however, if the previous half of the book has failed to give you back what you need to continue on your career path, this author suggests you find alternatives solutions, such as using a different book, taking a break from Architecture, or changing career paths. If there are no further options, or if you're in a press for time, proceed to the next section of this book…
…The following is a truth, discovered time and time again after countless of tests, with mentions of it found across millennia of scholarly pursuits: there are no more new ideas. Every idea ever conceived since a time long past has been a recycling of older imaginings, most of which are long forgotten. The concept of the vast but limited repository of ideas is commonly referred to as the Well, and the mind pulls from this Well in some currently unknown way to form "new" ideas1. Creativity can thus be defined as the period of time between the penultimate redefinition of an idea and the current.
Following this concept, via the rigorous application of Ways and the endeavours of intrepid explorers throughout the ages, a relatively reliable method of accessing the Well physically has been found.
The journey to the Well can be separated into three parts: the going-to, the arrival, and the going-from. The following sections will be dedicated to the method of going to the Well, and is meant to serve as a primer to the journey. Be warned against commiting to this journey without having done further preparation beyond reading the following portion.
The going-to involves the entering of a Way into a Wayhub, so as to use the Wayhub to enter the Well. One of the most frequently used and easiest to access Wayhubs is the Bucket. This section will be dealing with the Knock to enter the Bucket, and some of the dangers and aspects of it.
Most of the Knocks to enter the Bucket involve a stream of water. The process of opening the Way typically requires the blocking of the stream with something of a wooden nature. In addition to that, an additional clause based off the nature of the stream is usually required. Using a natural stream of water coming from a swamp, for example, requires the wooden object to be stuck in place for a day and a night while being continuously swept by the water without being dirtied. The most commonly used, however, involves a stream that twines through a forest, which only requires a seed to be buried at a turn of the stream to activate. Once the requirements are met, a Way will open in the nearby area. If using the Way with the stream in the forest, a tree at the next turn of the stream from where you planted the seed will have some sort of opening in the gaps in its roots, and descending into it will bring you to the Bucket, but in doing so will close the Way behind you.
As an Architect of the modern era, you may find it easier to call a Beach Taxi by tossing a sand dollar up into the air, and having it fall onto an asphalt surface. When the taxi arrives within fifteen to thirty minutes, hand the driver the sand dollar, and ask to go to the Bucket. The taxi will take you to the nearest available location with an open and stable academia-maintained Way to the Bucket2.
The geometry of the Bucket can vary, but always begins in an octagonal room with wooden walls. Should you find yourself somewhere different, you are not in the Bucket, and should exercise the necessary caution as applied to unknown Ways. Addendum: as of the 11th edition of "A Guide to Generating Ideas for Uninspired Architects", the following has been added to this paragraph: Bring something made of iron that is safe to step on, and a magnet, with you on journeys into the Bucket (iron fillings will suffice). Should you find yourself in a room fitting the description of the Bucket, but with some sort of iron in the room (you may use the magnet to identify the iron), it is heavily advised that you exit the Bucket, and close whatever Ways used to do so as you leave. Report this event to any group of Architects with international ties. If you are unable to do so within 5 minutes, disperse the iron material you have brought with you in a circle around you. Know that doing so will help future Architects greatly. We at the University of Utah thank you for your sacrifice.
The room you start in upon entering the Bucket will have upwards of 3 openings, but never any less. Passing through them will bring you into an apparently neverending path of some sort. The nature and appearance of the path is unique to each Architect. The path will always be traversable, although it might not be pleasant to do so, and along the path will always be a selection of items. Each of these items will resemble something once seen by the Architect, and bring to mind some memory, however vague. Upon collecting a specific number of these items, a passage out of the path will present itself to you. The number of items needed to be collected once again seems unique to each Architect, but constant. It is highly advised you do not lose any of the items collected on the path if you are intending to return via the Bucket.
Upon exiting the path, you will find yourself in a location of some sort, a sub-section of the Well. The nature of the location always seems to depend, to some extent, on the items collected on the path, and is rarely one cohesive whole, more likely being a mix between various bits of Architecture. This stage of the journey is known as the arrival. The location will be free for you to explore, with no danger beyond those posed by the geography of the location itself. The entry point into the location is always safe. Should you wish to return to the location in the future, it is advised to utilise your own methods of finding the location again, as the Bucket is notorious for not showing the same location twice. A sufficiently gifted Architect will find that the details and layout of the location sticks in their mind.
It is of utmost importance that you do not take anything from the location. If you accidentally do so, get rid of it while you are returning via the Bucket. Failing to do so does not have any immediate consequences, giving you a grace period in which you can attempt to return the item to the Bucket on your next expedition there3.
Upon finishing your exploration of the location, you may exit the location the way you came. You may alternatively use your own methods of leaving the location, but you are advised to leave the items collected from the path somewhere in the location.
The going-from starts the moment you re-enter the Bucket. The layout of the path will have changed, and as you travel, you will encounter a number of obstacles corresponding to the number of items you took when you were traveling the path during the going-to. Obstacles come in two main forms: environmental and entital. Environmental obstacles resemble environmental hazards that will require you to use an item in order to traverse them, often causing the item to break in doing so. Entital obstacles appear to be sapient beings that will request for an item, often citing some reason or personal connection to you while doing so. If you wish to keep the item an entital obstacle requests, you may attempt to convince the obstacle to let you keep it, or give it another item instead of the one requested. You may also attempt to bypass an entitial obstacle, although doing so is not advised, as the obstacle will pursue you while you remain in the Bucket.
Eventually, when all obstacles have been overcame, you will come across the room you started in when you entered the Bucket. Going into the room will close the passage behind you, and transport you to a random location in your home plane. It is advised that you plan accordingly.
In addition, common courtesy also dictates that you should, at bare minimum, construct one thing you saw in the location, especially if you didn't set a way to find it again.
Hopefully, with this, your imagination will be refueled, and your Architectural endeavours may continue.
The rest of this book will now be dedicated to detailing the experiences of others who have gone through the Bucket into the Well. Reading through these may serve to prime you further for your own forays…