by Debbie Burke
Mark Leichliter and Debbie Burke
A few days ago, my friend and writing colleague Mark Leichliter (who also writes as “Mark Hummel“) spoke to a group at a local active senior community.
Mark is a delightful, articulate guy who writes mystery and literary fiction. He also ghostwrites and teaches creative writing, although he finds the term “creative writing” redundant because he says, “All writing is creative.”
He’s the teacher you wish you’d had or would choose to teach your kids. He treats students as individuals, listening to their needs, encouraging them to pursue their dreams. Years after they graduate, students stay in touch with him.
I learned about Mark’s appearance at the senior community a short time before and on the spur of the moment decided to attend.
I didn’t expect his talk to lead to a post for TKZ. But here it is.
First thing Mark did was to rearrange the chairs from auditorium-style seating into a circle. “I want this to be a conversation, not a lecture,” he said. “I want to learn from you in the audience.”
His premise began that curiosity and creativity are linked. Curious people are also often creative. Curiosity makes them eager to learn and they create art, music, poetry, books, buildings, automobiles, recipes, etc. from what they learn.
I mentioned creativity was also the ability to take apparently unrelated ideas and find a connection between them.
Mark laughed and said I must be his shill because the concept of connection led into his next point.
He cited a friend who’s now writing a memoir. “Al” was a former mining engineer tasked with building a gold mine in Columbia. His employer was willing to pay top wages to attract workers to an area that was otherwise desolate. Al could have simply built the mine then moved on, one and done.
Instead, he was curious about the people and surroundings. He spent weeks exploring and talking with them, and learned there was no infrastructure, no water or power. Those conditions meant that workers couldn’t bring their families with them to the new mining jobs. A lucrative paycheck was a draw, but it wasn’t enough.
Al’s creativity took over. He connected the needs of the mine with the needs of the workers and projected into the future.
A mine would do well but was a finite operation—it lasted several years then shut down. He convinced mine owners to pay workers a little less and instead to budget that money to bring in electricity and water, leading to building a town with a grocery store to provide food, a school to educate their children, and other services. Mining would “do well” but building a lasting community would “do good.”
Al is now using curiosity and creativity to connect events in his life and solve problems as he writes his memoir.
Mark then asked the group about their individual creative endeavors.
A woman related that she and her husband had traveled extensively, getting to know and live with residents of other countries. Their endless curiosity about other cultures led to broadening their knowledge and understanding, resulting in rich rewards they never could have anticipated.
Another woman said she quilted, using fabric from her grandchildren’s outgrown clothes and sports uniforms. She created quilts that reflected each child’s particular interest and favorite activities, a physical, visual canvas of the stories of their lives.
Another said she was creating an “ethical will.” Instead of leaving material possessions to her children and grandchildren, she wants to leave family memories, lessons learned, advice, etc. in written form. Her title is More Than Stuff.
Another said she’d published a family history without telling her siblings. When she eventually let them know, a sister revealed she too had published a family history without telling anyone. Not surprisingly, the stories were completely different, giving rise to disagreements: “That’s not how it happened!”
That led to group discussion of differing perceptions. The same event happens to each family member, but all have their own memory and interpretation of the incident that is often radically different from the others.
A genealogist commented that “a lot of family history is fiction,” which prompted knowing laughter in the group.
“Leaving a legacy” was the common theme among the audience.
Mark connected the legacy angle back to storytelling. Humans are curious about past events and why they happened. Storytelling is a creative way to preserve, understand, and pass down those events to educate future generations. Stories explore the reasons and causes behind life’s mysteries and strive to make sense of them. Stories also serve as vehicles to teach ways to solve problems and survive.
Mark made another point I hadn’t considered before. He said a book doesn’t fully exist without a reader. Other communication and entertainment forms like TV, films, streaming, etc. continue whether or not anyone is watching. They are one-way activities that don’t require participation.
In contrast, a book is a two-way interactive exchange. The author creates it but, until someone picks it up and starts reading, it simply sits there. It’s a repository of knowledge, waiting to interact with a person. When the connection between the author and reader is made, it opens the door to an entirely new world.
Curiosity, creativity, and connections.
Because I was curious about Mark’s talk, I picked up creative ideas from it, and connected them into today’s post. Thanks, Mark!
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TKZers: Does curiosity enhance your creativity? Do such connections find their way into your writing? Please share some examples.
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Curiosity leads investigator Tawny Lindholm into a creative deep fake trap. Can she connect clues in time to save herself and an unjustly accused woman? Find out in Deep Fake Double Down.
Curiosity not only enhances creativity it’s a big driving force. “Write to explore” – whatever it is that you’re exploring. Human nature, a different time and place, etc. The “what if” scenario, whatever that means to you. I can’t really think of a better way to express curiosity than through writing. Inventors, I suppose could argue that point–but sooner or later they write their findings down. 😎
Brenda, excellent point! Writing is a vicious circle (in a good way)–the more we write, the more we learn.
Wow, Debbie. Wonderful post!
This is right up my alley. I love following a curiosity thread to find a solution to a problem, whether it’s a plot twist, a new way to put paint on a pen, or a new tool to allow an old man to continue doing young men’s work.
The concept of a book needing a reader is like a light bulb needing a switch. Until the reader flips the switch (reads), the electricity doesn’t flow to turn on the light and enlighten the reader.
Amen to leaving a legacy. “Storytelling is a creative way to preserve, understand, and pass down those events to educate future generations.” What better motivation for a writer, than to pass on life lessons while entertaining readers!
Thanks, Debbie. Have a creative day!
Thanks, Steve! Your middle names are “Curious” and “Creative.” During Mark’s talk, I kept thinking of your writing legacy for your grandkids.
The lightbulb/switch simile is perfect! Another example of your creative brain at work.
And BTW, Steve Hooley the Pen Guy, just received your latest and it’s my favorite so far! Just beautiful…I don’t want to give it away. See what you do?
If you haven’t seen his pens, go here: https://stevehooleywriter.com/legacy-pens/
Great post, Debbie! I love the grouping of curiosity, creativity, and connections.
To me, curiosity is like turning the ignition. You have to get the car started before you go anywhere. Then creativity takes the writer to places previously unknown through a maze of connected highways. (Including an occasional dead end, but that’s the price we pay. 🙂 )
I particularly liked the woman who makes quilts from her grandchildren’s old clothes. What a lovely idea.
Another great simile with the car ignition, Kay! TKZ’s gang is super creative.
Dead ends? Yup, but sometimes when we get lost, we discover an unexpected new destination.
The grandchildren’s clothes are a sweet idea.
Great post, Debbie! Without curious folks, we’d still be in caves.
My curiosity level sometimes makes my husband run and hide. 🙂
There’s a movie line from the Lonesome Dove series that I like. A little boy is saying to a man, “Mama always been that way.”
Yeah, I’ve always been curious about random stuff, like what’s in that particular handful of dirt? Or, why do dragonflies lead us down the orchard road we walk every morning? No kidding, they zoom down from somewhere up there and fly right in front of us! It’s like they’re parade marshals or something.
And I’m not shy about wondering out loud about stuff. My husband’s fave answer (as he’s running and hiding) is, “Nobody knows.” I don’t believe that. Someone knows, and it’s my mission in life to find them.
Are y’all running yet? 🙂
“…it’s my mission in life to find them.” And a worthy mission indeed, Deb!
“I wonder . . .”
“. . . what a young Yankee girl might find in her Confederate great-uncle’s room after he dies. ” [Olivia’s Story]
“. . . what it would be like to be an ant.” [Rocks That Move]
“. . . whom Santa would seek help from if his sleigh were stolen.” [The Adventure of the Incognito Client]
“. . . what would happen if a writer won a contest he doesn’t remember entering.” [The Prize]
“. . . if it’s possible to entertain people with a story about a man who has a boring life.” [Call of a Distant Song]
“. . . how a boy and a girl could sail away from their troubles on an imaginary boat.” [Sail Away on My Silver Dream]
“. . . what would happen if a simple clerk is sent to give an important speech for his company in a dystopian country.” [A True Map of the City]
“. . . what would happen if a desperado meets a young greenhorn in the desert.” [Unforsaken]
“. . . why a magician would sell his best trick to a rival.” [The Demon Box]
“. . . who would buy part interest in an African animal.” [My Last Rhinoceros]
“. . . what really happened to Paulina in Josephus’s tale.” [Midnight in the Temple of Isis]
I wonder.
J, those are all intriguing questions and great loglines for your stories. Your comments on TKZ are always interesting and thought-provoking. Thanks for joining the discussion.
Insightful post, Debbie. For me, curiosity and passion for a subject are intertwined. After I returned to stargazing and amateur astronomy in 2020, I amassed a shelf full of books on double stars, deep sky objects, observing the Moon etc.
With writing, my curiosity is intertwined with my passion for my story, and forging those connections you and Mark mentioned. So, in the Meg Booker series, I’m always looking for connections, as well as figuring out how to form the narrative unity that all good stories have. I’m also researching the past, albeit lightly because I’m writing historical cozies. In the first novel, that meant looking at 19th century houses in Portland and learning about them to help fuel my own fictional mansion in the book.
For me, Dale, with my first novel, it was delving into information about cinnamon bears.
Who knew?
Dale, passion is definitely a strong motivator. Sometime I start out being idly curious about a topic but once I delved deeper, passion ignited.
Is there such thing as “light” historical research? My rabbit holes always have greased skids and are impossible to escape from. 😉
Fabulous piece, Debbie!
This line struck me personally: “…a book doesn’t fully exist without a reader.”
That’s cold, hard truth right there.
Curiosity very much informs my writing. I might write fantasy, but I’m terribly pragmatic, grounded. I need to know how things work (or don’t work, as the case may be), and even completely “made up” story items and processes must have some basis in reality for me.
So that curiosity leads me down a great many rabbit holes, which usually end up being historical or archaeological.
Inspirations and analogues end up as posts on my writer’s social media page for readers to see.
Thanks, Cyn. Mark’s observation struck me, also.
What a smart use of research to enhance your writer’s SM page. I recycle “extra” tidbits by including them in my magazine columns and articles. Readers really like “value added” details. Win-win.
“…a book doesn’t fully exist without a reader.”
I loved that, too.
💕