Tap Tap Tap.
Scott Andrew James, a book coach, inherited his grandfather's 1948 Smith Corona. He is engaged in large corporate and private events to write individual poems for the attendees based on a word or story prompt.
On a recent episode of the Common Creative Podcast we had great fun unpacking the creativity behind writing poetry, especially on demand and in often noisy events. To show us how it is done, Scott tapped out a poem about The Common Creative as Chris and I prattled on. (And I did the sketch of him above as he did it)
One of the things that resonated with me is that he is not a poet locked away in his turret, scrunching up page after page into the waste paper bin, but done live. Scott types quickly with two fingers; while not the quickest, it is error-free. His interactive process only comes about because of his connection with his audience.
The Common Creative podcast seeks to unpack creativity in life and business through the lens of ideas, stories, and visual cognition. So, we asked Scott how his process might help him be creative at work. His answer was not quite what I expected.
He said that the thing was that to turn up to an event and be creative on demand, he has to take care of his body first. He has to get a good night's sleep, be well-hydrated, and have sufficient fuel on board to see him through. Further, he says that he has to clear his head and stay away from his devices leading up to the event. He can't go from distracting texts and emails and straight away turn on the tap (so to speak) out his genius.
While creativity is not the same as an ultra marathon, it still requires energy and focus. While this applies to all types of work to some degree, there are many mundane tasks you can do almost mindlessly; creativity is not one of them. But to have the best chance of producing something interesting, you have to be creatively fit first.
There are so many other great takeaways from this interview, and if you want to hear the poem, you will have to go and listen to the episode LINK HERE!
He also gives an excellent trick for writing your first poem in less than five minutes.
Scott James was our guest on this week The Common Creative Podcast. You can listen HERE.
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