Humainologie dialogue Creativity book synopsis and Zoom link for Wednesday September 30

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead

My book synopsis, appended below, is of the book Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide by John Cleese. It’s all about new ways of thinking about almost anything.

Think about what Margaret Mead mentioned in the quote above.

My good question for you for next Wednesday’s dialogue is to think of at least three ideas for projects that our dialogue group could engage in over the year ahead that would change the course of history ever so slightly. (You remember the butterfly effect and you know that just a slight change in direction of a line of flight, if it continues, will lead to a vastly different destination many miles away.)

I assume we will not actually carry out any of the ideas. The purpose of my challenge is simply to exercise your creativity. Obviously if one or more of your ideas is irresistible, yes, of course we might actually do it.

For example you might think of one project that involves a flash mob; another project that involves a road trip; and a third project that involves memorizing a simple phrase that everyone in our dialogue group would agree to use at least five times between one dialogue and the next dialogue.

Those are just additional little cues to get your ideas rolling. Please ignore them and use the John Cleese book synopsis and come up with those three ideas. If our dialogue group steadily empowers the creativity of every participant, it will have accomplished quite a lot!

Here is the Zoom link that Greg has provided for next Wednesday September 30:

Link to Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87986716977?pwd=dnVlUG01VDgzTGlubjdyRDB4V1hEZz09

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Meeting ID: 879 8671 6977

Passcode: 817905

Toot sweet,

Arthur

Book: Creativity: A Short and Cheerful Guide (John Cleese, 2020)

The brevity of this book and its easygoing style and humor make it a quick and easy read. The author emphasizes: “There’s a myth that creativity is something you have to be born with. This isn’t the case. Anyone can be creative.”

Creativity means new ways of thinking about things, says Cleese. (You are being creative if you find a new way of making each day more interesting, of thinking about your city, of using a broken brick and some autumn leaves, of putting your kitchen in order, or of writing an inspiring autobiography - perhaps writing the first draft proactively or making it bring to life the extraordinary in the ordinary). When he gets down to some detailed suggestions, Cleese turns his focus to writing creatively, but with the intent of being helpful with anything you might want to do more creatively, whether it’s writing or art or whatever.

Creativity can be taught, Cleese tells us, “Or perhaps I should say, more accurately, you can teach people how to create circumstances in which they will become creative.”

At Cambridge, Cleese had joined the “Footlights,” a club in which the members had to write something of their own to be accepted. Also, each month there was an event where every member had to get up and do something. It was all about creativity. Cleese quickly discovered something important about writing, namely that if he was working on a piece at night and got stuck, the solution to the dilemma would often come to him the following morning, as if it were a reward that had come to him during the night for the effort he had put in before going to bed. This and other experiences taught him that – waking or sleeping – “my unconscious was working on stuff all the time, without my being consciously aware of it.”

He introduces a concept for which he gives credit to Guy Claxton, that for creativity to flourish, both a “Hare Brain” and a “Tortoise Mind” are needed. The Hare Brain is efficient, structured, critical; and aims to reach a specified goal within a certain time. But it’s the Tortoise Mind that (by meandering and dreaming and taking its own sweet time) comes up with the wealth of ideas for the Hare Brain to review and use for a final brilliant production. In a study comparing very creative architects with other architects who were much less creative, another author, Donald McKinnon, found that the creative architects “knew how to play” and “always deferred making decisions for as long as they were allowed.” Creative architects (and by extension creative people) “are able to tolerate that vague sense of discomfort that we all feel, when some important decision is left open, because they know that an answer will eventually present itself.” The reasons for waiting are because 1) new information may become available; and 2) new ideas may occur to you.

“The greatest killer of creativity is interruption,” writes Cleese, and the interruption may come from outside, such as someone coming in and talking to you; or it may come from inside – a thought about something you need to do tomorrow, for example. Cleese writes down the intrusive thought about something he needs to remember so that he can turn his attention back to the creative process. Another approach, for example if you are working on a scene for a short story, is to write down your idea for that scene on a sticky note and paste the note to your computer screen. For the interruptions from outside, create a space and time for your creativity that keeps those interruptions out, as in “Do Not Disturb.”

“When you’re being creative there is no such thing as a mistake.” What might at first sound like a bad idea might turn out to be a brilliant breakthrough if you explore it. In writing a screenplay (“A Fish Called Wanda” was written by John Cleese) the secret is rewriting every scene again and again. (This is related to concepts such as developing two or three ways of approaching any situation – and then choosing the one that seems best.) This is “Tortoise Mind” work, followed by “Hare Brain” focus, to achieve the best possible outcome. At first things are foggy, then a clear idea emerges. The first idea your “Hare Brain” decides on may not be great but keep at it and you will keep getting better.

The author then provides “hints and suggestions” for creative writing, which can be applied to many other types of creative activity.

“Write about what you know.” (You probably know quite a bit about the place where you live and at least one or two kinds of work you have done. That’s your starting point.)

In looking for inspiration, take a hint from Shakespeare. “He stole all his plots, and then wrote rather creatively.”

Making an imaginative leap refers both to welcoming ideas that “come out of the blue” and to making many small improvements. (One of my favorite practices, from the surrealists, is to combine two or more things that seem unrelated and see what happens.)

Keep going! This may involve a strategy of alternating the work on your creative project with some other activity such as walking or playing the drums, but the point is to keep your mind fresh, even as you move relentlessly forward. Cleese refers to the Law of Diminishing Returns and mentions that “the very best minds seem to produce work that can divide itself into three stages. First, they produce original work as they learn their craft; second, when they’ve mastered their craft, they begin to express their mature ideas in their best works; third, there’s a tailing-off of their powers, as their insights become more familiar.” He mentions Richard Feynman, a theoretical physicist, as one of those rare people who “manage never to lose their ability to come up with fresh ideas.”

Learn to cope with setbacks, in part by accepting that “some days the stuff flows, and some days it doesn’t.” Cleese learned to think of his “fallow periods” as a necessary part of the creative process, a preparation for the fertile periods.

“Get your panic in early.” Do you have a goal of writing a short story within one month, and absolutely no idea worth using? Perfect. “Just begin to make a few notes, knowing they don’t have to be any good, and you will throw them away soon. …The key thing is to start, even if it feels as though you’re forcing yourself through an emotional roadblock.” Jot down ideas, ask yourself questions such as who your audience will be, or what you are really trying to say. Then go for a walk. Play the drums. Then add to your notes as things come out of the blue. Put some work in at night before you go to sleep. Keep going.

Your thoughts follow your mood, and you’ll do your best writing when the emotional weather is right, and the wind is in your sails. There are dangers of over-confidence, and creativity is not about pontificating. “The trouble is that most people want to be right. The very best people, however, want to know if they’re right. That’s the great thing about working in comedy. If the audience doesn’t laugh, you know you’ve got it wrong.”

Moving from first draft to the finished piece involves testing your idea, killing your darlings, and seeking a second opinion. Bounce that story idea off someone who knows something about writing stories. Do they think it has potential? Be ready to scuttle an idea you had once thought was great but simply does not go anywhere. Of seeking a second opinion, Cleese suggests four questions for an experienced writer to ask of people: 1) Where were you bored? 2) Where could you not understand what was going on? 3) Where did you not find things credible? 4) Was there anything that you found emotionally confusing? Using that feedback, “go away, decide how valid the problems are…and fix them yourself.” The people you’ve asked will probably suggest solutions but ignore that part. “Smile, look interested, thank them and leave, because they have no idea what they’re talking about.”

This book, of course, is far from the last word on how to build your powers of creativity, but it’s a good start. We can take it from there.