Creativity

John Cleese shares all he knows about creativity in this 103-page book. He studied science and later law in college, but it was only after he joined a society called the Footlights that he began to learn about creativity.

He learned that if he worked on a comedy sketch for the society at night, he would get stuck, and he'd eventually give up and go to bed. In the morning, he'd wake and the solution to the problem he'd had the night before became obvious to him. He began to realize that his unconscious was working on stuff all the time, without his being aware of it. The language of the unconscious is not verbal. To better think in the slow, more creative way, a person must (1) know how to play and (2) defer making decisions for as long as they are allowed. The answer will eventually present itself.

He warns us that, to be creative, we must avoid interruptions. The longer we sit, the more the mind settles. Don't get too critical too soon.

And that's it. Of course he also talks about “Hare Brain, Tortoise Mind,” and offers lots of hints and suggestions, so you may want to read the book yourself. Hey, it's only 103 pages.