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Left or Right Brain Thinker?
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L.A.
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Feb 29, 2012 11:56AM
I recently wrote a blog about Left and Right brain thinking and how it can be insightful in your writing. I found the information fascinating and so I thought to share. http://www.lahilden.com/index.php?cat...
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That explains why I rebel against outlining until I absolutely have to do it. I try to keep my writing a fun little surprise for myself as I go along each little plot point and discovery a neat success in itself. `
I think most writers have to use their creative side while the juices flowing and get the story all down first. At least the basic story premis and characters. Then you have to learn to switch to the other side when you edit, and do revisions, re-writes, etc. One friend of mine does his writing in one place, like sitting up on his bed with his lap top. Then when it's time to edit, he does this in a different area, like at a desk. This way he associates the space with what he needs to do to get his story honed, error-free, and polished.
I usually take a printed copy of a chapter to my table when I edit, along with a couple of red pens. I mark it all up with word changes, inserts, etc. Then I go back to my computer to make the corrections.
My biggest epiphanyas a writer is that I must keep both sides of my brain going. I recently finished a first draft of a novel, which took forever because I never took a day off, never edited old stories or worked on outlines, queries, etc. it was created, create, create, and it got taxing. Now, while editing, I give myself periodic breaks to write new stories. I'm happier for it, and more productive.
I find I can't outline or do a synopsis first. I don't know my story well enough to know what turns I will make. I can't work that way. I try to never devote all my time to one story, because like you said, Nik, it gets taxing. I try to mix it up so my brain is fresh. I can write a chapter a day, but I usually will write a few days straight and then work on something else for a couple of days. There is some kind of method to my madness, at least to me there is. :) I have a follow up article I will be placing on my blog this week.
Here is the follow up article on how being Left or Right brained can affect your writing. http://www.lahilden.com/index.php?cat...
I'm a lot like you L.A. My writing is very much led by the story and I can't seem to sit down and try to plan the story even when I do have little bits and pieces about the plot figured out ahead. I think one of the few organizational things I've taken on is having a writing journal to take note of my ideas and what I've written. Its been a great help in keeping my ideas together in one place without having an official outline.
I tend to use a legal notepad to jot my notes, and if anyone looked at the notes I have they would laugh because it is a definite hodgepodge. After I use something, I cross lines through the ideas, or even tear off half the page, but to me that is organized. I begin writing a scene and I'll think, wait I wrote a few notes for this scene, then I scan my yellow notepad, it may be crazy, but it works for me. I realize everyone has their own way to write, and I think it is interesting that the brain signals what kind of writer you'll be. I was surprised to read that some writers write chapters out of order. I don't think I could do that. Do any of you write your chapters out of sequence? I'm curious, and wonder if this is common for many right brained writers.
I haven't done so often but here and there I did write certain scenes before others such as with my apocalypse novel. I had to make myself stop doing it because it threw my ability to make it all go together out of whack.
That's pretty good to be able to do that. The most I can write out of order is a paragraph. lol
I know of a mystery writer who writes her stories from the end to the beginning. She knows how it is going to end. So she writes out the ending scene. Then writes what has to come right before that scene to lead into it. Then she'll write the scene before that one, dropping in the major clue. Then she'll write the one before that and so on. She says it helps her to figure out what clues she has to put in that lead up to the end.
That's amazing, Tina. I can't imagine, since my characters often develop on the page I don't even know who they really are until the end. I think it is really neat to be able to write that way.
