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If I could choose any living person in this world to have dinner with—anyone—it would be the British actor John Cleese. As a writer, I am in awe of his understanding of the human condition, his willingness to push the envelope and his brilliant use of humor to first catch our attention and then to connect us to each other.
A writer is always in search of the original. We pick up existing ideas and hold them up to the light, looking for the glint of something new in them. We ponder: starting, stopping, thinking some more.
But in this hurry-up world of ours, we are not rewarded for pondering. We must come up with ideas quickly.
“Come on now. Spit it out!”
It has become unacceptable to stop and think first. And yet Cleese’s whole take on creativity and storytelling is to give yourself the time and space to play with ideas, to ponder, to not go with the very first idea that comes to you.
For instance, in sketching out Mama’s character in my memoir, I am asking myself, “What is Mama’s worst nightmare?”
Then I put her in that situation and watch her react. That particular thing might not have even happened to her, and it won’t make it into the book, but its value is in getting the cause and effect right. It helps me to write her character true, to show just how she reacts to the world.
Self-Defense Against Fresh Fruit
Cleese also reminds us that characters with unexpected quirks are much more real—and enjoyable. In the classic Monty Python sketch, Self-Defense Against Fresh Fruit, we are introduced to an army sergeant who at first seems to be a tough brute. But soon we see a silly man who is hell bent on teaching his recruits how to defend themselves against someone who tries to attack them with loganberries and other assorted fruit.
It is the precise moment when one thing is expected and the opposite happens that funny is born.
This piece of modeled storytelling Cleese-style has helped me make my memoir’s characters more believable, more three-dimensional.
In one deleted scene in my memoir, Mama, who was always prim and proper and a little afraid to show the world her real self, is out of her element. She is trying to talk my 2-year-old brother into riding his new tricycle, which he is deathly afraid of. She picks him up and tries to put him on the seat, but he resists. She tells him how much fun it is to ride it. Nothing works.
In desperation, she gets on the tricycle herself, pedaling it around the living room with her knobby knees sticking up, almost to the level of her chin. She honks the little horn and says, “Wheee!” as she circles the room.
And just then, out of the corner of her eye, she sees the Fuller Brush Man peeking in through the front door’s window, mouth open and eyes wide. The last image left in Mama’s brain is that of the door-to-door salesman almost falling down the stairs in his attempt to get as far away as possible.
John Cleese’s 5 Requirements for Creative Storytelling
In his trademark, humor-laced way, Cleese offered a recipe for creative storytelling at the 2009 Creativity World Forum. (Can you imagine attending a lecture with John Cleese as your instructor?)
1. Space
I cleared my desk to write this blog post. If John Cleese were here, I would say, “See? I made a space for creativity.”
Though some people claim they can write and create amid the chaos of noise, clutter and ringing telephones, Cleese tells us that we must have an undistracted space to play. He says:
“It’s easier to do little trivial things that are urgent than it is to do important things that are not urgent, like thinking. And it’s also easier to do little things we know we can do than to start on big things we’re not so sure about. ”
2. Time
Cleese says it’s not enough to create space. You have to create that space for a specific period of time. His theory is that if we just keep our mind resting against the subject in a friendly but persistent way, sooner or later we will get a reward from our unconscious. In his words:
“Creative people put in more ‘pondering time.’ They are willing to tolerate this disconnect that comes with not solving a problem much longer.”
3. Time
In typical Cleese fashion, he wakes us up with what seems to be a mistake. But what he is really telling us is that this one is so important, he is going to say it twice. This ‘time’ is about giving yourself the longest possible time to come up with something original. If the story or blog post is due on Monday at 8am, give yourself Monday, 7:30am as your final deadline.
Monty Python’s Dead Parrot Sketch is one of the most famous in the history of British television comedy. A disgruntled customer (played by Cleese) tries to return a dead Norwegian Blue parrot, which he has purchased “not quite half an hour ago.” The shopkeeper refuses to believe the bird is dead, claiming, “No, ‘e’s just restin’.”
It was the dead parrot that made this sketch so funny. But, as Cleese recalls, in the first draft of the sketch, it was a used car and later, a toaster. They kept pondering and tweaking and inventing until they came up with the one thing that would be the funniest to return: a dead bird.
4. Confidence
Cleese is a huge fan of allowing himself to fail miserably. Of taking all kinds of risks. Of trying things he knows won’t work and then finding that pieces of them will. Of having the confidence to know that not every word that comes out of us is going to be brilliant. At least not in its original form.
He thinks that these experiences better prepare you to handle the roadblocks when they come.
5. A 22-Inch Waist
“This one is self-explanatory,” he says. “Because come on, who doesn’t want a 22-inch waist?”
After the laughter subsides, he makes his point: that this writing thing is supposed to be fun. That we should allow ourselves to play, to laugh at ourselves and even keep that sense of humor as we go onto the editing mode.
What about you?
What’s your process with coming up with your most creative stuff?
What conditions—in or around you—must you absolutely have to write your best stuff?
About the author
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My best writing comes from “old school” ways. I create both time and space, in a beautiful setting (my favourite “reading” chair in the sunroom) and write longhand, with a favourite pen in lined journals. I have many, many, many journals:) I like quiet: no music playing in the background, save for the sounds of nature outside. I have my cup of tea or glass of water, in one of my antique cups or special glasses and, if chilly, a soft warm blanket. My writing either flows furiously, the pen striving to keep pace with my thoughts, or meanderingly, taking breaks to look outside and pause. I.love.to.write. Cheers! Kaarina
Kaarina Dillabough recently posted..How to Stand Up and Stand Out: Getting Attention for your Book through Media
Kaarina,
As a teacher who worked in the “pre-technology” days (computers were just beginning to be introduced in schools the 1980s), I can just say that a big piece of butcher paper and a thick-tip marking pen worked very well, especially when getting kids to engage in creative thinking and spontaneous generation of ideas. You and I have talked about this before, but the brain to arm to hand to paper just frees me to pour the ideas out uncensored.
You and I definitely share a love of writing. : )
Judy Lee Dunn recently posted..Straw into Gold: 5 Blogging Lessons from Rumpelstiltskin
Judy, I love this! You have such a skill for deriving inspiration from a myriad of places! (and thanks for being a person I can use the word “myriad” with
When I started to blog over two years ago, my inspiration came from my past. It was as if I was drawing from all the questions I’d had back then (putting together the Life User’s Manual let me see that.) Since I was catching up on my entire life, I had lots to work with and usually had posts written and ready to go a month and a half ahead. But since Alex died everything is different. I still have some that I’d written before but most of them were edited until unrecognizable or deleted. I publish 2 post of my own every week and I tend to write two per week. They come to me, from my present-day life. I don’t know how else to explain it but at the beginning of the week I have nothing and by the end of the week some things I’ve been thinking about that have been percolating drive me to the keyboard and morph into posts. I like this new way. It feels as if I’m guided.
BUT – to answer your question. When I begin to panic and wonder if I will come up with two at the beginning of each week, I ask myself; what are you wondering about? There’s always SOMETHING in there!
Did I answer your question? I’m not sure but it was fun!
As always!
Lori
Lori Gosselin recently posted..Are You a Wimp?
Lori,
I know what you mean with “myriad.” I used “anomaly” the other day in a blog comment and then wondered if people thought I was trying to act smart or something. : )
I love how you describe your new process for generating blog posts. It sounds like you have naturally moved to Cleese’s 5 steps for creative writing/thinking. That “pondering” part is very important to the process. Sometimes I will sleep on an idea and the next morning I know how to tackle the post. It is as if my subconscious did the work for me!
Thanks for sharing your wisdom here.
Judy Lee Dunn recently posted..On Writing, Christopher Walken and Finding Your ‘Wild Thing’
Yes, on two points Judy! The subconscious does help me a lot! So often I will wake knowing that something is wrong with a post and how to change it! They say it never sleeps and mine seems to work on my posts while I do!
And yes on using all your sophisticated words! I have had many friend in the past for whom English was their second language so I couldn’t “use all my words” without having to explain them. I loved it when I was with my teacher friend, a well-read, highly intelligent woman, and could use all my words! I am still working on my punctuation, though I wonder at the wisdom in taking a lot of time to learn something that few will appreciate! Comma placement and that semi-colon, which I’m sure I abuse are so tricky! Have you got this all nailed down (you were a teacher, right?!) or are you still brushing up? Does it bother you when people misuse the English language or abuse it?
Lori
Lori Gosselin recently posted..How Do We Deal With Death in an Online World?
Haha. We are two peas in a pod. But the one thing that irritates me to no end is when I dream about a post I haven’t written. In my dream, of course, it was the most fantastic post I had ever written (although things often seem wonderful in a dream and if you remember it the next morning, you think, “Why was I so happy in my dream. That idea/event sucked!”) So it just might be if I did remember that “dream blog post” the next morning, it wouldn’t look so good in the light of day.
On the language/grammar thing, yeah, every once in a while I have to write a rant post on that topic. (You know, typing “your” for “you’re,” etc.) What happens is that I can’t focus on the person’s message because I am so distracted by their misuse of language.
Judy Lee Dunn recently posted..Do You Remember Your 10,000th Tweet?
Having been a lifelong fan of John Cleese and of Monty Python, one of the things missing from the list is you can’t take yourself too seriously. John says that many times in interviews. To be creative means dropping the self-made boundaries that fence in our souls.
I suspect John, if he had been born in the Internet generation would have been the first to use the term WTF!?
Greg,
Yes, definitely. I couldn’t cover everything he said in that speech, but #5 in the above list was all about having fun, which includes laughing at ourselves. Did you see the video of his speech at Graham Chapman’s funeral? It started out all warm and fuzzy and then turned to, “You BASTARD!” And ended with the F word, because “that is what Graham would have wanted.”
Nice to meet another Monty Python fan. And Fawlty Towers. Loved that, too. : )
Judy Lee Dunn recently posted..On Writing, Christopher Walken and Finding Your ‘Wild Thing’
Judy,
Insightful post, as always. Of course, as a musician, I am a fan of Monty Python (I think it’s mandatory for all band geeks), and my husband is a walking MP quote machine (he can do the entire cheese shop sketch, I think, plus the dead parrot and large chunks of movie scripts).
So it’s no surprise that I find your post right on the nose. What I most appreciate: “give yourself the time and space to play with ideas, to ponder, to not go with the very first idea that comes to you.”
The introvert in me says AMEN to this piece of wisdom. It’s the introvert M.O.: we like to think before we speak and sit with things awhile. Didn’t Einstein come up with E=MC2 not by sitting on a committee or brainstorming with colleagues, but by sitting down and *thinking*?
Your post also reminds me of the lessons in one of my absolute favorite speeches, “Solitude & Leadership” by William Deresiewicz: http://www.utne.com/mind-body/solitude-leadership-william-deresiewicz-speech.aspx . He writes, “My first thought is never my best thought. My first thought is always someone else’s; it’s always what I’ve already heard about the subject, always the conventional wisdom. It’s only by concentrating, sticking to the question, being patient, letting all the parts of my mind come into play that I arrive at an original idea.”
I find time and space to be critical to my thought processes. When it comes to writing (esp. blog posts), I end up composing much of the post in my head over a period of days or weeks. Then the actual writing of it comes relatively easily. I am trying to blog regularly, *and* I only want to write when I have something remotely original to say. So “regularly” is relative!
Thanks for the food for thought, Judy.
B
Beth Buelow recently posted..If You’re Happy and You Know It…
Beth, my friend. Nice to see you here!
So I suppose that must mean that Cleese is an introvert? It’s funny because people always think actors are introverts. But the way my daughter, who is graduating in May with a degree in theatre arts, explains it, the stage is a release because an introvert becomes SOMEONE ELSE, some other character. Explained that way, it seems like it would be rather freeing.
I know what you mean with the writing inside your head.
I’m going to have to check out Deresiewicz’s speech. Thanks for sharing that. Sounds like his method is very similar to Cleese’s. Good stuff for anyone who wants to be a more creative thinker.
Judy Lee Dunn recently posted..‘To Thine Own Self Be True’: What’s Your ‘Heartsong’?
Judy, I love these examples from Cleese! He is hilarious.
I also loving getting more snippets and insights into your memoir. It sounds fabulous. Can’t wait to read more.
Lisa Ahn recently posted..Wing-Feather Fables: The City of Dreams
Lisa,
Good to see you here. I find it so fascinating when I come across an interview or speech that gives me greater insight into one of my favorite artists, especially when they are talking about how they generate ideas.
Looking forward to guest posting on your blog next month. : )
Judy Lee Dunn recently posted..Do You Remember Your 10,000th Tweet?
Hi Judy,
I have been thinking about writing environments and what I require to be at my best quite a bit lately because it all got turned upside down.
I am proud to say I earn my living producing content but that is not the same to me as the type of writing your post makes me think about.
The distinction is I receive request/directions/instruction for what I am supposed to do with one and the other comes entirely from me.
So I’ll focus on what I want for the latter and that is a quiet space with a clear desk and comfortable chair and headphones I can use to listen to music if I so choose.
Josh recently posted..19 Ways You Can Make Money While Blogging From The Bathroom
Important distinction, Josh. It is both freeing and scary at the same time when WE get to make the decision about what we produce. I could be creative in my content development and copywriting when we had our marketing business, yet there were still limits and expectations form the client. In this past year, it has been absolutely exhilarating just knowing that I can dig deep and try anything I want to try in my storytelling. There is room for both kinds of writing in this world. Sounds like you are still doing both kinds.
Judy Lee Dunn recently posted..Do You Remember Your 10,000th Tweet?