Creativity and...Improv?

Missy Tippens

I’m fascinated by the brain and creativity. I read the most amazing article recently in the May 2017 issue of National Geographic Magazine. It was titled “What Makes a Genius?” by Claudia Kalb with photography by Paolo Woods. (Links to all articles will be included at the end). This article blew me away.

What sucked me in was how researchers have looked at slides of Albert Einstein’s brain tissue trying to figure out if it’s different from other brains. This led me to some really interesting ideas about creativity and writing.

A few things from Kalb’s article that stood out to me about genius:

--Geniuses are nurtured.

--Lone geniuses are rare (they’re usually seen in a network).

--Even with natural gifts and a nurturing environment, genius still requires motivation and tenacity (so personality plays a role).

--Angela Duckworth believes that a combination of passion and perseverance—what she calls “grit”—drives people to achieve. 

--Dean Keith Simonton says, “The number one predictor of impact is productivity.” (He uses the example of Thomas Edison having 2000+ patents.)

--Scott Barry Kaufman says, “Great ideas don’t tend to come when you’re narrowly focusing on them.” He talks about information coming in consciously but being processed unconsciously so that we sometimes get unexpected “aha” moments. (Yes! I love those!)

--Rex Jung says research shows that thought processes like daydreaming and imagining take place in the middle part of our prefrontal cortex across both hemispheres.

--Andrew Newberg’s research shows that the genius brain has an area that is twice the size of control brains (the corpus callosum, a centrally located bundle of more than 200 million nerve fibers that joins the two hemispheres of the brain and facilitates connectivity between them).

So, you and I may not be geniuses, but we can learn to nurture creativity, we can stimulate our brains, and we can hang around other people who are creative—those who challenge us, support us and inspire us. We can learn to increase productivity and to persevere.

The “What Makes a Genius?” article also sent me searching for more from Charles Limb. I watched a TED Talk called “Your Brain on Improv.” It’s based on Creativity and the Brain by Dr. Charles Limb and his collaborator Allen R. Braun.

Basically, they used a functional MRI (fMRI) to look at the brain activity of a jazz musician and a freestyle rapper in action (they developed a keyboard that they could put inside the machine). The experiment asked: What happens in the brain when doing something that is memorized and over-learned vs what happens in the brain when doing something that is spontaneously generated or improvised?

They found in the brain during improvisation:

--Lateral prefrontal deactivation (a decrease in self-monitoring)

--Medial prefrontal activation (an increase in self-expression)

With the jazz pianist, they also found that during improv, his language areas lit up, an area associated with expressive communication.

With the freestyle rapper, major visual areas lit up—even with his eyes closed. He also had major cerebellar activity (associated with motor activities). So, he had heightened activity in multiple areas of the brain.

In another article about Limb's research found in Peabody Magazine by Nick Zagorski and Keith Weller titled “The Science of Improv," they pointed out that during improvisation, the brain regions involved with all the senses lit up, showing a heightened state of awareness. The researchers said the people being tested “literally taste, smell, and feel the air around them.” They described a strange similarity to brain wave patterns that can be seen during REM sleep. So maybe there’s a connection between improv and dreaming.

What does this mean for us as writers?

The first thing that struck me (a plotter/planner), is that I’d like to try doing more “improv.” I’m sure I’ll still want to do my pre-planning. But I’d like to jump in on the first draft and write so that my brain’s self-monitoring turns off and self-expression turns on.

I’d like to try writing with my eyes closed (I do this sometimes already).

I’d like to let go of some of my writing methods that have become learned and practiced and let my brain go wild while creating.

I’d like to continue interacting with all of you who participate in the blog to inspire me and support me. To push me when I need it. You’re my genius network! :)

What about you? Who wants to try doing a little improv the next time you’re working on a new story? Have you had success trying this method already? I'd love to hear what you think!

If you’d like to be entered to win a fun improv mug, please let me know in the comments (U.S. addresses only this time).

Here are the links I promised. Enjoy the articles and video, but please come back to chat with us!

What Makes a Genius? (National Geographic)

Your Brain on Improv (TED Talk)

The Science of Improv (Peabody Magazine)

Missy Tippens, a pastor’s wife and mom of three from near Atlanta, Georgia, has always been a bit of a science geek. Before staying home with her kids, she worked as a clinical microbiologist. Then the writing bug bit. After over ten years of pursuing her dream, she finally made her first sale to Harlequin Love Inspired in 2007. Her books have since been nominated for the Booksellers Best, Holt Medallion, ACFW Carol Award, Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence, Maggie Award, Beacon Contest and a 2013 RT Reviewer’s Choice Award. A House Full of Hope was a Romance Writers of America 2013 RITA^® Nominee. Visit Missy at www.missytippens.com, https://twitter.com/MissyTippens and http://www.facebook.com/missy.tippens.readers.

What would you write if no one would ever read it?

Welcome today's guest

Keely Brooke Keith

  First of all, I’m beyond thrilled to be on Seekerville today! I’m equal parts published fiction writer and fiction fangirl, so this is crazy fun!

I’m supposed to be promoting The Writer’s Book Launch Journal, one of the several resources I created for writers. So, the plan was to come here today with a beautifully crafted bullet point list of book promotion tips. But as I sat down to write, God reminded me

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of how and why I created these resources. So instead of telling you what the Guided Journals for Writers can do for you, let’s talk about what creating them did for me.

Last summer after completing my seventh novel, I felt depleted and lost as a writer. I had to force myself to write or check email or even look at a book. My fields needed to fallow. God said rest. I said but but but… oh, all right.

I spent weeks in prayerful introspection, journaling my feelings. Eventually, my thoughts cleared and my spirit calmed. Then something unexpected happened.

Questions began to pop into my mind, one by one. Questions I couldn’t ignore.

Why do you write?

What would you write if no one would ever read it?

I’d spend days contemplating and scribbling out the answers. Once answered, another question would come. Finally, one stumped me.

What is the core message God has given you to share and who needs to hear that message?

I’d never thought about my core message as an author. I first started writing stories for funsies. I wanted to craft uplifting, unique stories to encourage and entertain readers. Of course, I made sure every story had a solid theme, but I simply wrote what came out of my heart and let it fall where it fell. That couldn’t amount to something as weighty as a core message.

Or so I thought.

Keely Brooke Keith

During my time of prayerful introspection, the Lord led me to sift through each of my stories, searching for a core message. I felt silly analyzing my own books, but there it was in a mass of index cards and Post-It Notes. No matter the characters and the plot, my stories had a core message: You can trust God.

In The Land Uncharted, Lydia and Connor had to trust God’s sovereignty. In Uncharted Redemption, Levi and Mandy had to trust God’s forgiveness. In Uncharted Inheritance, Bethany and Everett had to trust God with their future. In Christmas with the Colburns, Lydia had to trust God with her family. When I went back in time to tell the history of the Land, the same theme flowed. In Aboard Providence, Jonah and Marian had to trust God’s unfailing provision.

Once He so graciously opened my eyes to the core message He gave me to share, I poured over a file of notes from readers with new clarity. Had others picked up on my core message when I’d been oblivious? I’d heard from readers in their eighties and in their late teens, but most were in their thirties and forties. Many seemed similar to me in temperament, ideals, and dreams. Soon, I began to see the running theme in their notes.

The commonalities in my readers were uncanny. I learned my average reader grew up reading or watching Little House on the Prairie. Though there was a 50/50 chance her parents had divorced, she dreamed of someday marrying a man like Charles Ingalls. She was raised in a Christian home or was around the Christian faith enough it affected her thoughts and conscience. She might be a devout Christian now, or she might be seeking God (whether she realizes it or not). She loves to learn but doesn’t want to be preached at. She enjoys American history and is enthralled by herbal remedies and organic gardening, even if she doesn’t have the time or skill to keep a houseplant alive.

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She wishes life were simpler and fantasizes about throwing her phone out the car window on the commute from work to her kid’s ballgame or her zillionth errand or a chemo appointment. In all of this yearning for a simple life, she curls up in bed at night with a book to escape the clutches of click bait and reality television. She might not be in her own bed. I’ve received enough letters from readers to know it’s likely she’s reading in a hospital bed or sitting beside a loved one who is ill.

The book she chose to read tonight probably has a sweeping landscape on the cover and maybe a woman in a dress from a bygone era. It’s usually a paperback, but it might be an ebook because she didn’t have the energy to get to the bookstore or library. If it is an ebook, she wishes it were a physical book for the feel of the paper and the smell of the ink. She imagines reading it by the light of an oil lamp with the thud of horse hooves stamping onto her property, announcing the return of her faithful husband from some noble and manly adventure.

She might have a husband who is truly noble and faithful, or he might have left her for a career or mistress or alcohol or Heaven, or he might not be in the picture yet or never will be. She might have regrets or she might be at peace with her relationships. Regardless, she believes people—men and women—can and should treat each other in a chaste, temperate, charitable, diligent, patient, kind, and humble way. She wants those qualities exemplified in the books she reads while she dreams of her own noble adventures.

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Wherever she reclines and whatever pain she is in, she reads for comfort and encouragement. She reads to know she is not alone. She reads for someone to show her: you can trust God even with this—whatever her “this” might be.

I’ve heard writers muse about writing for an audience of one. While that sounds uber spiritual and famously singable, I don’t write for God. I pray I write for God’s glory, meaning what I write points the reader to God’s redemptive plan. But I write for the readers who need to hear the core message He has given me.

How about you? I know we have both writers and readers here. If you’re a writer, what is your core message? If you’re a reader, is there a certain message you hope to find while reading fiction?

Share your thoughts in the comments. I’m giving away a copy of The Writer’s Book Launch Journal if the winning commenter is a writer or paperback copy of The Land 
Uncharted if the winner is a reader. Or both if you’re like me: equal parts fiction writer and fiction fangirl.

~~~~~

Keely Brooke Keith is the author of the Uncharted series. Her novels are known for blending genres in unconventional ways. Keely also creates resources for writers, including The Writer’s Book Launch Guide and The Writer’s Purpose Journal. When she isn’t writing, Keely enjoys playing bass guitar, preparing homeschool lessons, and collecting antique textbooks. Keely resides with her husband and their daughter on a hilltop south of Nashville. She is a member of ACFW.

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Transforming an Ordinary Concept into an Extraordinary One

with Belle Calhoune.

Good morning, everyone.  Belle here.  I’ve brought along some pumpkin donuts and a mug filled with eggnog.  It’s never too early in the morning to have a little eggnog, especially at this time of the year.  Cheers!

In the competitive world of publishing, every author or aspiring author needs to write a book that shines.  In my humble opinion, one of the most effective ways of creating a compelling read is to take an ordinary premise and make it something extraordinary.  

 Unusual.  Different.  

Back in 2012 when I stumbled upon a Speed dating pitch on the Harlequin forums, I discovered an opportunity to become a published author with Harlequin Love Inspired.  When I began writing my book, which was titled “The Return of the Preacher’s Daughter,” (A title I still love) I knew two things.  One—I wanted it to be a reunion romance.  Two—I wanted the heroine to have really endured something profound that separated her from her hometown and the people she loved, including the hero.

Think about it.  When you read a book about a hero or heroine who hasn’t been back home in a long time, as an author you must create a compelling reason for this long-term absence. 

Let’s rewind to my childhood when I lived across the street from a public library and devoured Harlequin romances like nobody’s business.  Although I loved these novels it always bugged me to see the heroine doing a lot of hand-wringing over a situation that seemed fairly minor.  Even at the age of twelve, I knew it wasn’t that serious.  It made the heroine appear weak and it lessened the overall impact of the character arc.

I had a lightbulb moment while brainstorming my plot for the book I hoped would earn me a contract with Love Inspired.  My reunion romance story needed a shot of adrenaline.  It needed to be elevated.  After a lot of brainstorming, I came up with this:  Eight years earlier the heroine Cassidy had fled her hometown after being the driver in an accident that left her best friend a paraplegic.  Before she left town, Cassidy ditched her fiancé, who was the older brother of her best friend.  There’s also a plot twist about the accident.  BAM! I had a reunion romance-heroine coming home story with tension, conflict, secrets and twists.  

When I received “the call” from my editor, Emily Rodmell, she told me my book had a lot of hooks and Harlequin Love Inspired wanted to buy it.  Lots and lots of hooks, if I remember it correctly.  It was clear to me how important my hooks were to the sale of the book which ended up being titled, Reunited with the Sheriff.   

When you add hooks to your work, try to create something compelling and unique.  Put your own twist on it! Sell that book!  I took the simple idea of a reunion romance and turned it on its head.  There were many layers to the story, including a character who was a paraplegic.  One of the most challenging things I’ve ever done as an author is to create a story featuring this paraplegic character, Holly.  Heart of a Soldier was a tough book to write because it delved into areas that weren’t always comfortable.  Romance between a rugged, able-bodied man and a paraplegic woman confined to a wheelchair is a tricky road to navigate. 

However, it was a completely fresh approach and full of hooks.  The heroine Holly had met the soldier hero Dylan due to a pen pal and email correspondence so he had never seen her in person.  Again.  Turning a story on its head.  Readers loved this particular book, which showed me the rewards of digging deep and taking a romantic story and turning it upside down.  I was by no means an expert on paraplegia, but I did my research and created an accurate portrayal of a paraplegic.

If you take your story concept and twist the screws a little bit, you’ll have a book that stands out from the rest.  Readers will love you for it.  Publishers and editors also.  If you’re trying to get a publisher to notice your work, I think it’s a great way to go about it.  

As a means to this end, brainstorming is a great tool for authors.  I highly recommend getting a huge storyboard and then start fooling around with a romance trope.  Think of ways to make it unique.  Out of the box.  Flip it upside down and twist it around.  Don’t be afraid to challenge yourself.  It’s difficult and sometimes uncomfortable to challenge the status quo, but in the end, you’ll reap the rewards.  And so will your readers.

Author Jolene Navarro shares some of her insights on this very subject.  “With The Soldier’s Surprise Family I started with the popular secret baby plot and thought about ways to make it different.  What if he didn’t know about his son?  His wife wouldn’t let go of her past so he left the drama behind and cut all contact with her.  Five years later she is killed by her boyfriend in a murder-suicide situation.  CPS shows up at his door.  Not only is his son traumatized, but he refuses to speak and needs a home.  There’s a baby girl too.”

Jolene elevated her secret baby story to include a traumatized child and an additional baby—a sibling of the hero’s own son.  Complex, huh?  She flipped the secret baby-child story on its head and created something highly original and poignant.

My December release for Love Inspired is entitled Reunited at Christmas.  I have a confession to make about this particular story.  I wrote it in part because I don’t particularly like amnesia stories.  I wanted to challenge myself to do the very thing I didn’t necessarily want to do.  

My heroine Ruby Prescott wasn’t just any amnesia victim.  She was a search and rescue worker who had been presumed dead after an avalanche in Colorado.  Her family in Love, Alaska has been grieving her loss for two years.  Add in the fact that Ruby and Liam are an interracial couple with a five-year-old son she can’t remember.  Oh, and her return is a few weeks before Christmas, the most blessed time of the year.  Plus, her husband is hiding a secret about their marriage.  

In celebration of my new release, I’m giving away ten copies of Reunited at Christmas.  Winners will be announced in the Weekend Edition.

Happy Holidays everyone! And remember—don’t be afraid to take your novel and make it a gem. It’s like polishing a diamond.  Make it shine!

So, my friends.  How are you challenging yourself in your writing? 

Reunited at Christmas. 

A Season to Remember 

Two years after the avalanche everyone thought had claimed her life, Ruby Prescott returns to the remote Alaskan town of Love. And no one is more ecstatic than her husband, Liam, and their young son. Even if amnesia has robbed Ruby of her memories, she's soon woven back into the fabric of their lives. As they celebrate the holiday season, Ruby is falling head over heels for the man she's told was the love of her life. But she can't escape the feeling that there's something Liam is keeping a secret. Will the return of her memories tear them apart for good—or will this be a Christmas she'll never forget?

Belle Calhoune grew up in a small town in Massachusetts as one of five children. Growing up across the street from a public library was a huge influence on her life and fueled her love of romance novels.  Belle is the author of seven Harlequin Love Inspired novels with two more contracted.  She has Indie published the popular and best-selling inspirational romance series, Seven Brides, Seven Brothers.  Her new indie series, the Secrets of Savannah is a spin-off of her debut series.  Belle loves writing romance and crafting happily ever afters.  When she’s not wrangling her two high maintenance dogs or spending time with her husband and two daughters, Belle enjoys travel and exploring new places.

Winning the Creative War

By Guest Connie Mann

In my head, I envision myself as this ethereal creative creature that floats through the mist, scooping up ideas in my pretty basket. The moment I alight at my desk, beautiful, perfect words pour from my fingertips like rain as a story magically appears.

Then I wake up and squint at the mess on my desk. I scowl at the big red due date on my wall calendar, slurp more coffee and panic.

For most writers I know, creating new characters, building a story world, and envisioning a juicy plot is the fun stuff of writing, the misty creative part. I can talk stories with you all day long and enjoy every minute of it. But tell me to spend the day at my desk writing? Hmm, I’m pretty sure I need to clean out the guestroom closet—right now. Can’t go another day without new curtains in the living room, either. And really, what was I thinking buying those socks?

In his book, The War of Art, Steven Pressfield says, “It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write.”

Pressfield calls what keeps us from doing it “resistance.” I call it a big sweaty battle against inertia. And fear. And insecurity. Whatever name you give it, the moment we set out to do something creative, a force pushes back just as hard to keep us from it. How do we break through? How do we get our stories down on paper?

Here are my best strategies. They may not work for you, but I hope you’ll give them a try.

1—Write early.

I know, I can hear some of you groaning from here. Last fall I sat between two writer friends at lunch and realized both of them had full-time jobs and families and were getting up at 4:00 am (yes, you read that right) every morning to get their writing done. I decided if I was going to take my writing to the next level, I needed to do the same. The next morning, I set my alarm so early I wasn’t sure God was up yet and got to work.

I don’t like 4:00 am much, and realized I can’t keep it up for long, but I can do 5:00 or 5:30. So I’ve been gradually resetting my internal clock to get up at that time, gulp coffee and head to my computer.

The added benefit: my internal editor isn’t awake then, either. Apparently that naggy voice in my head that tells me this is clearly not misty creative material doesn’t get up early. I can simply pour the story out on the page and tell my internal editor she can gripe at me later.

2—Make deadlines your friends

I like to think I’m organized and disciplined and all those lovely things that sound so good, but the reality is that without a deadline, nothing happens. Nada. If I have all day to write 1,000 words, they will get dumped on the page exactly 30 minutes before hubby gets home from work to ask if I got everything done.

If that sounds familiar, try word sprints with friends, set a timer, or whatever makes that deadline panic work for you.

When I write before my day job, I can’t weasel out. The deadline is real and I only have so much time. I am a boat captain (just like the heroine of Tangled Lies) and work out in the sun most days, so by the time I get home from work, my brain is mush. I’ve learned that if my writing doesn’t get done first, it won’t happen that day at all.

Connie Mann at work!

3 – Set small goals

It sounds completely counterintuitive, but it works. I’m an optimist, which means I’m always pretty sure I can write a novel in a month; six weeks, tops. Then reality slaps me upside the head and I notice my gut is clenched and my palms are sweating because I’ve set an impossible goal. I just can’t do it.

I’ve learned to do the opposite and set small goals. Instead of 10,000 words in one day, I’ll tell myself I just need to write 500 words in this one hour. That’s it. No more. Usually, when the timer rings, I’ve written far more than 500 words. But even on days I don’t, I’ve met my goal so I can feel good about my progress.

4 – Keep a record

Speaking of progress, several years ago, I discovered the beauty of a yearly wall calendar, the kind that lets you see the whole year at once. That’s been a huge help in planning projects, setting reasonable goals, and meeting deadlines. But it also lets me record the successes--the days I met my goal, submitted a project and especially those days when good news arrives--like the day I sold Tangled Lies!

Writing is often solitary and kudos are few and far between, so this visual reminder of my progress throughout the year helps me stay the course. And for seasons when life interferes—as it inevitably does—it helps me cut myself some slack when progress is measured in teeny tiny steps.

That’s my battle plan for winning the creative war. It starts with the ‘butt in chair’ adage--and prayer, too--but without goals, deadlines and a set time of day, I never get close to my ‘misty creative’ ideal.

What about you? How do you get the story down on paper? What strategies do you use?

Leave a comment letting us know you’d like to be entered to win a print copy (U.S. address) of the newly-released Tangled Lies, from Waterfall Press. Available now!

Tangled Lies

Some Family secrets are best left buried at sea…

Orphaned as a child in Russia, boat captain Sasha Petrov has spent most of her life adrift, anchored only by her loving foster family. So when they beg her to return to the family marina in Safe Harbor, Florida, for Mama’s sixtieth birthday, Sasha complies, hoping to put the past behind her. But Mama has other plans: she wants her three foster daughters to find Tony, the biological son who disappeared twenty years earlier.

Sasha agrees to try, but that’s easier said than done when bad boy Jesse Claybourne shows up, reigniting an old attraction. Back in Safe Harbor on a quest of his own, Jesse gets tangled up in Sasha’s search, and soon the two are close to uncovering an old town secret that some will stop at nothing to protect.

When Jesse is violently beaten and Sasha’s dog is poisoned, they realize the past is hiding something more sinister than they ever imagined. Can they uncover the truth without destroying Sasha’s family and breaking each other’s hearts, or are they sailing against the wind?

Bio

Connie Mann is a licensed boat captain and the author of romantic suspense novels Tangled Lies (May 2016) Angel Falls and Trapped! When she’s not dreaming up plotlines, you’ll find “Captain Connie” on Central Florida’s waterways, introducing boats full of schoolchildren to their first alligator. She is also passionate about helping women and children in developing countries follow their dreams and break the poverty cycle. You can visit Connie online at www.conniemann.com.