Hello Writers and Editors
There are people who “know” everything they need to know. Some of them think they know everything there is to know. Most of the ones I’ve met are in the 13-25 demographic, people with MBAs, or college professors (the college professors with MBAs are particularly confident in their all-knowing status).
Some of us have a pretty good handle on some areas of knowledge. If you’ve been working in a field for 20 years or more you’ve either gained a fair amount of knowledge in that area or you’re a lazy bum (and the lazy bums that survive 20 years in a field have a fair amount of knowledge about how to avoid work…). But there’s more than one field out there. And these fields are always changing.
Creativity and Learning
While writing about his studies of flow and creativity, Csikszentmihalyi told us that creativity and flow require a body of knowledge to work in. Those who are creative are those who can discover or create something new and socially relevant pieces of that body of knowledge (I refer to this guy’s research a lot considering how annoying I find his writing…). Based on Csikszentmihalyi’s research, creative people are by definition still learning, and other people would do well to learn what they discover.
Within-field Learning
Stepping outside of the psychology realm, think about how much things have changed recently. Some of those old MBAs may think they know business. But are they caught up with the things that have changed in the last 10 years?
Other fields change too. Business matters to professional authors and publishers. The current (and future) tastes, demographics, viewpoints, and needs of readers matter to them too. That poses real challenges. The readership pool is changing all the time. People get older. Kids advance in school and skills. World events and new ideas change the way we do things (for Romeo and Juliet to work as a 21st-century story, you have to account for smartphones…).
Our understanding of science changes all the time too. Recent discoveries show that the old theory of being born with our brains fully developed isn’t completely accurate. They also show that we have to keep learning or risk losing the brain cells we already have (please don’t do that!).
There’s No Reason To Stop
Fortunately, if we stay in practice at learning, it makes learning easier, both because we’re keeping more current and because we’re keeping our brains in better shape.
No, dear reader, we don’t (we shouldn’t) try to learn everything (at least not all at once). The key is to be learning something. Maybe this week we’re looking at the changes in our business environment. Then next week, how about something in history?
In the weeks before writing this, I took a little time to watch Britain’s Most Historic Towns(citation). I got at least two things out of it: insight into building a few of my own (in-world) cities, and a plethora of ideas about potential conflicts and challenges for my characters.
Learning keeps us healthy. It guides us to new opportunities. Sometimes it’s even fun.
Take a little time. Learn something new. Comment on something you’ve learned recently (we love sharing).
I’ll see you next post.
