{"id":31727,"date":"2023-03-09T15:07:11","date_gmt":"2023-03-09T23:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=31727"},"modified":"2023-03-09T15:07:11","modified_gmt":"2023-03-09T23:07:11","slug":"what-can-we-steal-from-each-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/what-can-we-steal-from-each-other\/","title":{"rendered":"What Can We Steal From Each Other?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Liz H. \u00a0Just seeing her name on my screen floods my mind with the \u201cThings nobody told [me] \u00a0about being creative.\u201d \u00a0In 2014, I received a phone call from my publisher announcing with joy how she secured Liz H. as my editor for my next book. Wanting to share in her excitement, I quickly chimed in, \u201cWonderful!\u201d how\u2019d you get her?\u201d When I hung up the phone, I gulped and took a deep breath. \u00a0I had heard rumors about Liz H. in my writing circles: she was the best of the best in the editorial world, yet she was also the hardest of them all. \u00a0From our first call until our last, Liz and I did not share a feel good relationship. Don\u2019t misunderstand, Liz H is a fabulous human being; she served as a \u201cCrafty Essential\u201d (throwback to Eve Poole\u2019s chapter 5), in my work as she brought out the best in me. \u00a0Liz H. never asked where my ideas came from and she did not give me time to feel inspired. And she let me know all the well-known authors of whom she lifted out of obscurity, including Max Lucado. Every day for five months, Liz H. would send me a section of a chapter with her edits and then two hours later she would call me so we could review one line at a time. Then, I would write for the afternoon with a final phone call with her. She pushed me so hard during one particular chapter that I lost an entire night\u2019s sleep, absolutely convinced I could not write a story the way she envisioned. About two months in, I called an editor friend who worked with Liz H. before and said, \u201cIs this normal?\u201d My friend shared with me that although many authors have chosen to not have Liz H. edit for them, she truly was a master editor who produced amazing work. \u00a0That phone call was the turning point in my relationship with Liz H. I decided to receive her as a master writing teacher and editor rather than my enemy. In fact, by submitting my grid-locked, imaginative work to Liz H.\u2019s capable pen, my creativity was tested and my leadership refined under her influence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Why are we so resistant?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

What happened to me during those five months is very similar to what Austin Kleon writes about in his inspiring guide to creativity in the digital age, Steal Like an Artist. <\/span>Where he offers 10 things \u201cnobody told you about being creative,\u201d I would argue what he was ultimately saying is what Eve Poole points out when she was encouraging her readers to step it up: \u201cLearning under pressure shows you how you react to stress and uncertainty. This helps you to face it more confidently and to see it not so much as the absence of certainty, but as an opportunity for leadership\u201d[1]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 Kleon\u2019s tips inspire us how to manage the pressure and stress of becoming the great artists of which we dream. \u00a0How does he manage to put us at ease? <\/span><\/p>\n

Theft and Practical Tips for the Creative Life<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I often put too much pressure on myself to come up with something original. \u00a0Have you ever asked yourself where you get your ideas? \u00a0What sparks your idea for a sermon? Or a poem? \u00a0A new way to hold a meeting? \u00a0I\u2019d love to think that my ideas are original but the point Kleon makes about, \u201cAll creative work being built on what came before,\u201d[2]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0might be the secret to less stress on ourselves. \u00a0What if next week or during Spring break, we take two hours and read all the blogs from the previous three years\u2019 of doctoral students? \u00a0Might that free us from the burden of trying to be completely original, allowing the students who went before to influence us? \u00a0Dr. Clark also encouraged us to read the cohort\u2019s blogs during one of our online chats. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When you think about it, our next larger assignment for our NPO could be likened to a \u201cswipe file\u201d. \u00a0We are keeping track of all the research, quotes, content, books and ideas others had about the context of our NPO. \u00a0Even one of our first books, How to Take Smart Notes,<\/span>[3]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0is based upon an idea of a German man from the 1960s named Niklas Luhmann. \u00a0Sonke Ahrens wrote an entire book based on someone else\u2019s idea. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Practical Tips<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Anne Lamott in her famous book, Bird by Bird<\/em>, tells the story of her little brother, a 10-year-old at the time, who had to write a report on birds assigned three months earlier. \u00a0At the kitchen table, he was surrounded by unopened books about birds. The report was due the next day. \u00a0Their father sat down at the table, put his arm around her little brother, who was in tears, and said, \u201cbird by bird, buddy. \u00a0Bird by bird.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/sup>\u00a0 What makes this scene so powerful is that both Anne and her father are prolific writers who have influenced thousands, maybe millions of readers. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What Steal Like An Artist <\/span>and our journey together are saying to me is this: Let\u2019s find even more ways to share our ideas and add to Kleon\u2019s 10 things nobody told you about being creative. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll start. \u00a0Here\u2019s one more:<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

11. I already keep a Logbook or a journal where I write everything down but I also journal my feelings, impressions, insights, and ideas. \u00a0I will go as far as recording (in writing) deep conversations with colleagues and friends. Then, months or weeks later, I may take an idea from what we talked about and use it. <\/span><\/p>\n

12. ?<\/span><\/p>\n

Haven\u2019t we already spent our earlier years practicing the proverbial scales on the piano? Learning our crafts from masters? Experiencing the pressure to perform? \u00a0Perhaps there\u2019s another way. \u00a0How might we reduce the pressure to birth original ideas? By sharing how we are managing our creative lives, I am confident we will become better leaders. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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[1]<\/a>\u00a0Poole, Eve. <\/span>Leadersmithing: Revealing the Trade Secrets of Leadership<\/span>. London\u202f; New York, NY: Bloomsbury Business, 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

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[2]<\/a>\u00a0Kleon, Austin. <\/span>Steal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative<\/span>. 1st edition. New York: Workman Publishing Company, 2012.<\/span><\/p>\n

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[3]<\/a>\u00a0Ahrens, S\u00f6nke. <\/span>How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking<\/span>. 2nd ed. edition. Hamburg, Germany: S\u00f6nke Ahrens, 2022.<\/span><\/p>\n

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[4]<\/a>\u00a0Lamott, Anne. <\/span>Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life<\/span>. 1st edition. Anchor, 2007.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Liz H. \u00a0Just seeing her name on my screen floods my mind with the \u201cThings nobody told [me] \u00a0about being creative.\u201d \u00a0In 2014, I received a phone call from my publisher announcing with joy how she secured Liz H. as my editor for my next book. Wanting to share in her excitement, I quickly chimed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[2686,2680,2684,2683,2685,1725,35,2091,2327],"class_list":["post-31727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-artistry","tag-dlgp02-kleon","tag-howtotakesmartnotes","tag-luhman","tag-thewritinglife","tag-creativity","tag-leadership","tag-leadersmithing","tag-writing","cohort-dlgp02"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31727"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31727\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31728,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31727\/revisions\/31728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}