The Art of Silliness

When Seattle artist Carla Sonheim joined me on the show* last week, I asked her to share a key takeaway from a book that we both rank as one of our favorites – The Creative Habit, Learn It and Use It for Life by award-winning choreographer, Twyla Tharp.

Carla immediately replied that her biggest aha moment was discovering Tharp’s theory on “creative DNA”.  And that that once she recognized – and understood her own creative DNA – it changed her life and how she works.

So what does Tharp mean by creative DNA? “Creativity is learned, nourished, and maintained; for inspiration to flow through us and spring forth from the mind, you must prepare, have rituals that invoke it...know how to scratch the surface of things to extract the essential, use the accidents and incidents that that appear in our life, have an idea-base which serves as a backbone for our creation, use our talents wisely, recognize roadblocks and the moments that overtake us, know how to fail, and pace ourselves over the long term – to the very end.” Twyla Tharp, The Creative Habit.

Tharp’s book includes 33 questions to help you figure out your own creative DNA, if you haven’t already.  It certainly made me think about my own creative habits, and I adopted several practices from Tharp that have helped me gain clarity and stay focused during challenging times.

I also have to mention Carla Sonheim’s book The Art of Silliness: A Creativity Book for Everyone.

This is a really different book  – and it’s fun and effective, especially for those who don’t enjoy reading.  The Art of Silliness is all about drawing, doodling, and playing for just 10 minutes a day.

Of course, once you start doodling, those 10 minutes usually drift into an hour or so.  But it’s a great way to relax and tickle your creative mind by tapping into your playful side.

Carla told me that when she feels stuck, this is exactly what she does to get unstuck. She plays around, doodles, sketches, taps into her inner kid “...and before long, I’m picking up a pencil...” and away she goes.

Do you have habits, rituals, practices that work for you?  I'd love to hear them!

*You can hear the interview with Carla Sonheim here, or at Conversations Live with Vicki St. Clair.  (Carla's segment begins about halfway through!)

Carla Sonheim is a painter, illustrator, and creativity workshop instructor known for her fun and innovative projects and techniques designed to help adult students recover a more spontaneous, playful approach to creating. She is the author of Drawing Lab for Mixed Media Artists: 52 Creative Exercises to Make Drawing Fun, and The Art of Silliness: A Creativity Book for Everyone.   

See more about Twyla Tharp and her books.  

Writers on Rewriting

As I resurrect a manuscript that got buried 18 months ago, I’m reminding myself that good writing is all about rewriting.  

The same can be said of many creative ventures, from painting a masterpiece to producing a film, designing a runway collection to ... trimming a hedge. 

Ernest Hemingway wrote one page 39 times.

After all, a landscape gardener doesn't just buzz cut a hedge and walk away. He looks it up and down. Tweaks a little here.  Snips a little there. Smooths out the edges. Just like rewriting.

That may sound like an over simplification of an arduous and necessary routine in the writing process, so to prove the point – and procrastinate on my manuscript even further – I  collected the following insights from writers at the top of their field.

Probably the most quoted thought on this comes from a 1958, Paris Review interview with the inimitable Ernest Hemingway.  It went like this:

Interviewer:  How much rewriting do you do?

Hemingway:  It depends. I rewrote the ending of Farewell to Arms, the last page of it, 39 times before I was satisfied.

Interviewer:  Was there some technical problem there? What was it that had stumped you?

Hemingway:  Getting the words right.

I have to wonder: Did Hemingway's editor changed those words, yet again? And how many times? But Hemingway was not alone in his persistence, as these giants attest: 

"I can't understand how anyone can write, without rewriting everything over and over again." ~ Leo Tolstoy.

"If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.” ~ Elmore Leonard.

"When I say writing, oh believe me, it is rewriting that I have chiefly in mind." ~ Robert Louis Stevenson.

"The best writing is rewriting." ~ E. B. White.

"I have rewritten – often several times – every word I have ever published. My pencils outlast their erasers."   ~ Vladimir Nabokov.

"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter – it's the difference between the lightning-bug and the lightning." ~ Mark Twain.

Happy rewriting my creative friends!

favorite creative spaces: water

... the thing I love most about living by the water,

is that sky, wind, and water

tell a different story

every day. 

i smell abominable snowmen

 

... after a five-year hiatus, Dylan's coming back

 to Bibi's Beat.  Guess that means Bibi is, too. 

See you soon!

never say goodbye ...

There’s a saying I like that’s really true: One cannot seek new horizons if one is afraid to leave the safety of the shore.

With that in mind, I’ve hedged on something all week. Should I, shouldn’t I? Why? Why not?

It all started when I answered five questions from Ian Lidster. And simultaneously read a post on KJ's new blog. And another by Kiyotoe. Then one of my closest friends left Seattle to begin a new life in Florida. Sometimes it takes just a little nudge to get us to regroup, recommit, or re-assess.

Whatever you call it, all three posts sparked that flame that flickers deep inside and I realized I’d been coasting, living in a very cushy comfort zone—something I knew intrinsically, but not a state I like to be in for too long.

I need to step it up, and step on out!

Won’t bore you with the details of my life, but as a result of this, I’ve made significant changes and have the opportunity to really stretch myself. And … most importantly (!) … I want to (choose to!) get away from the keyboard more. So last month I hired a personal trainer to get me reconditioned over the next few grey months. I want to learn to ski ‘properly’ this winter. I also want to master that darn snowboard once and for all; and go snow-mobiling and snow shoeing—without getting stuck in a drift!

To gain a better balance on my work and personal life, I need to create more creative space and time. That means letting go of, or subtracting, certain other roles and activities, most of which I can't/won't mention here for obvious reasons.

So it’s with much ambivalence, my bloggy-buds, that I sing “So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodbye” … at least for now.

Blogging was something I thought I’d do for a couple of months—and even though I was by no means a prolific blogger compared to most of you, 18 months later it’s like leaving the comfort of a home you’ve lived in for a while to move to a new town. Sad to be leaving, but excited about the journey and new challenges and opportunities ahead.

I hadn't expected to ‘meet’ such wonderful, warm, funny, wise and incredibly smart and talented people. So, thanks for the timely kick in the pants! Thanks to those who've left comments on-blog and off-blog.

And thanks to all of you who’ve made me laugh, learn, and cry by sharing your skills, experiences, and life-journeys.

Bibi’s come to the end of her Beat for a while … but I hope you’ll stay in touch …

Love and hugs x

P.S. I have withdrawal symptoms already.