Neuroscience for Writers
Sunday, March 21, 2010 at 3:28PM
If you would like your writing to be stronger and more surprising,
there are two areas of the human brain that you can cultivate.
1) The nucleus accumbens which responds pleasurably to the unexpected and 2) the binary operator which helps us divide complex concepts into opposites.
Most of us say that we like surprises. We mean pleasant ones like a marriage proposal and an engagement ring, a surprise birthday party or even a snow day. No one wants a burst water main, a tax audit or the stomach flu.
Historically surprises were NOT pleasant, and usually came in the form of an invading army or a plague. We’re actually wired to observe patterns, form models and order our lives precisely to avoid surprises in an effort to control our environment and to survive.
In our STORIES, though-- fiction, nonfiction, films, song lyrics, even advertising-- we delight in the unexpected.
The nucleus accumbens, located behind the left eyebrow (just kidding, I have no idea), responds pleasurably to surprising stimuli. It’s evident from birth and if you’ve ever played peek-a-boo with a nine month old, you know what I’m talking about.
Humor is largely powered by surprise, so figuring out how to tickle this area can help make us funnier writers. I’ll speak for myself, but even (especially) with the most serious of subjects, I can stand to lighten up a little.
The binary operator is responsible for our ability to divide and simplify relative and complex concepts into opposites.
Like: big/small, isolation/integration, mature/immature, good/evil. That's how we get black and white thinking in a world that's an infinite number of shades of gray.
If we think in terms of OPPOSITES in our fiction, and push everything as far out on the poles of extremes as possible, we will get more surprises. Lukewarm or gray characters, settings, and situations will not produce the unexpected. When you put opposites and extremes, incongruous and exaggerated elements together--voila the unexpected!
So the next time you sit down to write, think about your brain.
Reader Comments (7)
Love your new website - and v. interesting article! I HATE surprises in real life but am disappointed when a book or story doesn't surprise me.
hope you are doing well! loves, Me x
Exactly, Mex! We read to be surprised (because it's a safe way to probe the world). If everything happens as expected, then there's really not even a story.
"a safe way to probe the world" Well said. Another interesting post. Thanks. Vive Le unexpected humour and Les story twists!
Emma :^)
Indeed, Emma! And vive all of us armchair adventurers!
Nice. I love that old argument--nature or nurture. I suppose what makes us human is our free will to be surprised or not. Why else have all those dozens of facial muscles?
Different and thought provoking...thanks!
All those facial muscles! Exactly. Thanks, Jacqui and Rouille.