Post #64 – Women’s Memoirs, Author Conversations – Kendra Bonnett and Matilda Butler
Memoir Writes, Take Note
Take a break. Have a little fun.
For those of you who know me, “have fun” will seem like words from someone else’s lips. And you’d mostly be right. It’s true that recently when I was asked what I did for fun I responded, “Work.” That’s because my work is my passion. It’s my fun. Work is what I do because I want to. Kendra feels the same way. That’s one reason we’re compatible partners. We half-jokingly say that between us, we’re at work 24 hours a day. It helps that Kendra is in Maine and I’m in Oregon.
But what about my suggestion to have a little fun? In my previous life as president of a high tech company, my life partner and I made a discovery. Every time we went on vacation, we came back with a slew of new ideas for products and marketing. He was vice-president of technology so our ideas were all over the place. It got where the staff hated to see us leave because they knew there would be new directions to be pursued when we returned.
Over time, I started thinking about how that happened. Why didn’t those same ideas occur to me when I was sitting at my desk?
It turns out that there are many elements in being creative. For example, birth order (last borns tend to be more creative than first borns), personality (persistence and antisocial traits lead to more time alone to pursue new ideas), work environment (bosses who allow flexibility have workers who are more creative than bosses who shut off suggestions), etc. But to the point of explaining my vacation-based ideas, it turns out research shows that taking time off creates a mental environment where new ideas are generated.
So here’s the thought for the day. If you want to switch on your creativity when you’re stuck in your writing your memoir, take a little time off. Maybe you can’t go on vacation, but you can take a walk around the block, pick up a good book to read, see that movie you’ve been postponing. In other words, give your mind a mini-vacation.
Oh yes. Who’s that in the convertible? We were in California last week and rented a convertible. It turns out that it was the least expensive car on the lot. Cool, huh?
And did I come back with new ideas? You bet. I have been busy all week trying to figure out how to implement the best of the ideas. You’ll hear more about this later.
You are free to be as creative as you like. If you seem stuck, look around for your own solution. Think about the times in your life when you’ve been creative. What were the factors? Then see how you can replicate them in your current situation.
