Scott Andrew James, a book coach, inherited his grandfather’s 1948 Smith Corona. He is engaged by large corporate and private events to write individual poems for the attendees based on a word or story prompt.
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 what about 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…
