Hemingway uses the image of a well to describe the supply of ideas and energy available to a writer. To “empty the well” would mean continuing until nothing remains for the next session. His practice was instead to stop while he still knew what should come next, preserving both direction and momentum for the following day.

In A Moveable Feast, the remark forms part of Hemingway’s reflections on the discipline of writing. It presents creative work as something managed through routine rather than dependent entirely on inspiration. The principle also recognises the value of restraint: productivity is not always improved by continuing for as long as possible. Sometimes stopping at the right moment can make it easier to resume with clarity and confidence. More broadly, the line applies to sustained creative or intellectual work where preserving energy and a sense of unfinished direction can support consistency over time.

Full quotation

“I had learned already never to empty the well of my writing, but always to stop when there was still something there in the deep part of the well, and let it refill at night from the springs that fed it.”