I give speeches and workshops to writers of all ages and skill levels, and the number one question people ask is, “Where do you get your ideas?” The answer, of course, is that ideas are all around us. The trick is in spotting them, like the hidden picture in a Highlights Magazine drawing, and putting them together. Interestingly, nobody has ever asked me how to do that. I think that this is because many people believe that people are either born with that ability or not. But it is absolutely possible to become more creative, particularly in a place like Northampton.
I recently stumbled across an interesting fact in Scientific American. It seems that human brains developed significantly about 100,000 years ago. However, human invention didn’t really take off until 10,000 years later in Africa and 60,000 years later in Europe. What made humans suddenly start stringing necklaces out of shells and painting on cave walls? These were the historical moments in which the societies began living in large hunter-gatherer groups. Basically, when humans are exposed to new ideas (by being exposed to each other), they build on those ideas and creativity explodes. This is called cultural ratcheting; it’s an increase in cumulative knowledge. New ideas spark more new ideas.
We live in a town of roughly 30,000 people, but the creativity in this town is noticeably out of proportion to the normal population. I spot professional writers, musicians and visual artists — many with national reputations — at every local school, cultural event and even grocery store I wander into. Every Arts Night Out, I’m amazed at the amount of local talent on display. My specific field, writing for children and young adults, is over-represented to the point where people often ask in confusion, “Is there something in the water?” The answer is that there’s something in the connections between the people here.
Musician, writer and writing coach Nerissa Nields explains that living in an area with so many people who make a living from creativity confers a level of value on the arts. “A big part of being creative is giving yourself permission to spend your time that way,” she explains. “Because a lot of that time might seem to be wasted.” Creativity, of course, doesn’t always go in a straight line. As I tell students, writing isn’t like filling in a worksheet. It requires false starts and mistakes.
Northampton also offers a unique opportunity because of its size. In a large city such as New York, it’s possible to take in countless artworks and ideas. But one does not necessarily get the opportunity to develop a deep friendship with the originator of the idea. Author Heather Abel told me about the importance of her friendship with Erin White. Each was working on a book when they met at the Writer’s Mill, “Our work wasn’t collaborative, but we would read each others’ every sentence and talk it through and then go back to work with our backs to each other.” This ongoing creative exchange, “taught me more than my MFA,” Abel says. “And it was fun.”
The plethora of art shows and events, too, offer creative opportunities. “Any artist I see at the Iron Horse will give me specific ideas,” Nields says of the local music venue. “I’ll notice how you can write a song with no bridge, or a song with two bridges, for example.” She also pointed out how reading Heather Abel’s novel, “The Optimistic Decade,” offered a peek into how an author can work with multiple points of view. “I guess reading any book can teach you something,” Nields admits. “But it’s different when you actually know the writer and can talk to them about it.”
Several years ago, writer and teacher Molly B. Burnham came up to me after a children’s improv class that both of our daughters were attending. I barely knew Molly at the time, and I had only a passing acquaintance with the Improv teacher, Heidi Haas. “What do you think of using Improv to teach writing?” Molly asked me. I told her that I thought it was brilliant, and we went to pitch the idea to Heidi. The result was that we developed a curriculum, received a grant, taught drama and writing in the Northampton public schools, and then presented the curriculum and techniques at the national convention for the National Council of Teachers of English — twice. Two weeks ago, my first play was performed in Springfield. None of those things would have happened without Molly and Heidi and the Northampton ethos. As Nields says, “It’s like we’re at a church where everybody lights everybody else’s candle.” It’s a light that can help all of us see; all we have to do is open our eyes.
Lisa Papademetriou is a writer and the founder of Bookflow.pub, a tool designed to help writers improve motivation and organization.