Novelist Anne LeClaire has recently penned her first memoir exploring the connections between silence and creativity, Listening Below the Noise: A Meditation on the Practice of Silence
Anne is the author of eight novels, including Entering Normal, The Lavender Hour, and Leaving Eden. And she leads a number of popular writing retreats and workshops.
Here Anne answers five questions about how practicing the under-appreciated art of silence can help you tune into your creativity.
You’ve spent 16 years observing silent Mondays. Can you speak to the connection between this practice and your creative process?
Early on I discovered that there is a direct correlation between quiet and creativity. In the space of silence, ideas can surface and connections can be made. All distractions distort and ultimately destroy creativity, noise most of all. And, of course, on the most basis level, silence is enormously restful to both body and mind and that frees up energy to create.
How difficult is it difficult to keep this practice up?
Not as difficult as you might imagine. At first, as with any new discipline, there were challenges but now it seems a normal part of my life. I welcome it.
Are silent days also writing days for you? Is that one of the goals?
I do usually write on whatever project I am working on during silent Mondays but that isn’t one of the goals. The sole goal is to not speak and watch what happens in the silence.
This is your first nonfiction work following numerous novels. How was the process of writing nonfiction different for you than writing fiction?
Well, nonfiction still requires the craft of fiction, i.e., structure, narrative flow, a central theme, care of language, all of which must arise out of the material and not be externally imposed. I guess the biggest difference is that in my novels, I could write to explore a truth without being limited by facts. In memoir, I needed to keep it honest and not massage facts to fit the truth and sometimes the novelist in me really wanted to invent.
What is the No. 1 thing you would recommend to writers who are trying to get more in touch with their creativity?
Obviously I would recommend getting quiet and exploring stillness. I would say if you want to become more in touch with creativity then you must be creative. You must consciously fashion a life in which creativity is central. Visit art museums. Expand horizons. Dream. Imagine. Play. Pretend you are again a child discovering your world. Take risks. And risk again. Dare to fail. Practice your craft. And read, read, read.
-Maria Schneider
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
I completely agree on the value of silence. We live in the country and besides the sounds of nature, nothing intrudes. The silence that surrounds me as I write allows me to settle completely into my work.
With two children, silence is a rare commodity in my household. But craving silence, I wake at 5:30 to cherish the quiet for an hour or two. It DOES help foster creativity, though the time passes more quickly than I’d like. Thanks for an inspiring post. Peace…
100% with you on the quiet being helpful for creativity concept. I find it hard to disengage from the creative process and try to hold a normal conversation because my mind tends to remain stuck on what I was writing. And then to turn around and go back and reengage with the story takes a little while once you’ve been interrupted because that is where your mind lingers.
Some people like having music in the background when the write, rock and roll, classical, jazz, I’ve heard it all. I’m envious of their ability to either screen out or incorporate the music as they write.
–John
While I certainly require silence when I’m actually writing, I’m not sure I agree that ALL of us writers need to have more silence in our lives…. I get a lot of inspiration from listening to and interacting with the world, the little that I do of it. Being a shy-ish, introverted writer-at-home (and online teacher/consultant), living with an equally introverted poet, in an empty nest, I crave a bit of stimulation daily. Some days it’s simply TOO quiet, and I don’t know that those days lead to more creativity than others. Always fascinating to hear another point of view though.