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.

Story: Your Brain on Drugs

with guest Mary Curry

Confession time: I'm a craft book junkie. More accurately, I'm addicted to buying craft books. I can't claim to have read all (or even most) of them, but I have A LOT. Over the years I've developed favorites. Anne Lamott's bird by bird gets credit for keeping me sane as a writer. Robert McKee's Story intimidates me simply by its size. Elizabeth Sinclair's The Dreaded Synopsis and Deb Dixon's GMC have held places of honor on my writing shelf for over a decade. There's Vogler and Swain, Maass and Bell,  Gardner and Snyder, Cameron and Hauge. Rebecca McClanahan teaches me to paint with words and Noah Lukeman offers advice on staying out of the rejection pile in The First Five Pages. The list goes on and on. King, Stein, Goldberg, etc., etc.

So seriously, is there any way to justify purchasing another craft book?

Can you see me cocking my head and giving you the evil eye?

One can never have too many craft books, right?

We could debate that, but today I just want to share with you my newest favorite.

Wired for Story:  The Writer's Guide to Using Brain Science to Hook Readers from the Very First Sentence. By Lisa Cron

How can a title like that not snag your interest?

The back cover blurb says:

Imagine knowing what the brain craves from every tale it encounters, what fuels the success of any great story, and what keeps readers transfixed. Wired for Story reveals these cognitive secrets - and it's a game changer for anyone who has ever set pen to paper.

That was enough to convince me to purchase a copy!  (Clearly Barnes & Noble has reason to love me!)

I'm really, really glad I did. I've learned so much about storytelling from this book. My copy is full of Post its and underlining and notes written in the margins. I read and thought about my stories, realized where I was going wrong, and got excited about new ways to do it right.  And I've learned to look at story in a whole new light.

The book is chock full of so many interesting points that I'd need a month of posts to do it justice. Rather than doing a poor job summarizing, I'm hoping to whet your appetite with some of the more intriguing thoughts, and prompt some discussion on your thoughts about neuroscience and writing.

I also want to use this study of brain science and story as a lens to look at our roles as writers of inspirational fiction.

Calgon Take me Away


Any of you who are a certain age may recall the Calgon ads - usually a harried housewife pleading, "Calgon, take me away."





Stories have always been my Calgon. The one reliable escape from madness.

But according to Lisa Cron, I've had it all wrong. Stories aren't about escape, but rather about survival.

 "Recent breakthroughs in neuroscience reveal that our brain is hardwired to respond to story; the pleasure we derive from a tale well old is nature's way of seducing us into paying attention to it." (p. 1)

And why do we have to pay attention? 

To survive.

Lisa Cron discussed her book on Writer Unboxed saying,

 "By letting us vicariously experience difficult situations and problems we haven’t actually lived through, story bestows upon us, risk free, a treasure trove of useful intel, just in case. And so back in the Stone Age, even though those shiny red berries looked delicious, we remembered the story of the Neanderthal next door who gobbled ‘em down and promptly keeled over, and made do with a couple of stale old beetles instead."

So story is essential to our survival.

What does that have to do with us as writers?

Because of the way our brains are wired, we respond in certain ways. According to Cron, this explains why some stories captivate us while others leave us cold.

She claims writers often mistakenly believe that beautiful prose and fascinating plots make good stories.

Wrong!

Have you ever read a beautifully crafted writing sample that left you feeling nothing? Or one that was so perfectly structured you were conscious of the craft? By contrast, books that are universally acknowledged as horribly written often become mega best sellers.

Why?

Because they appeal to our cravings for story.

What makes a story work is that inescapable need for the brain to know what is going to happen next. That's what keeps us awake at night reading. Curiosity is roused. Your survival instincts kick in. It's a drug - literally. A dopamine* rush. 

Sounds easy, right?

Apparently that's another way we go wrong.

Because stories engage our attention effortlessly, they seem easy to write. And that's where our job can become difficult.

"Not only do we crave story, but we have very specific hardwired expectations for every story we read." (p. 10)

For the remainder of the book, Cron goes through these expectations step by step, explaining how we can create our stories in a manner that gives readers that dopamine high.  Each section begins with a Cognitive Secret and a related Story Secret.


There's so much more information about mirror neurons, plot expectations, the protagonist as her own worst enemy, meeting reader expectations, etc.  So much  good stuff that not only do I seriously recommend this book for your own reading, but I'm going to give away a copy to one lucky commenter. More about that in a bit.

Now I'd like to shift the focus slightly. Seeing that this is Seekerville and most of us write inspirational fiction, I couldn't help but think of discussing this book with our particular writing in mind.

We're following in the footsteps of the greatest storyteller ever known. Jesus taught with stories to make lessons accessible and meaningful to his people.

As I read Wired for Story, I couldn't help but wonder, can we use the discoveries of neuroscience to help build the Kingdom of God?

Early in the book, Cron writes;

"Writers can change the way people think simply by giving them a glimpse of life through their characters' eyes. They can transport readers to places they've never been, catapult them into situations they've never dreamed of, and reveal subtle universal truths that just might alter their entire perception of reality." (p. 2)

That can be a powerful burden or an awesome opportunity.

There's so much wonderful information in this book about how to carefully craft your story to meet reader expectations. I think we could easily learn to adapt those techniques to subtly craft a message that inspires.

So what do you think?

Are you interested in learning more about how neuroscience can help you craft engaging stories?

Do you think we should use this knowledge and these skills to evangelize?

Did I thoroughly confuse you?

I can't really begin to do neuroscience credit in one blog post, so I'm offering a copy of Lisa Cron's book, Wired for Story (ebook or paper), as a prize. Please let us know in the comments if you want to be in the drawing. Winner announced in the Weekend Edition.

If you're interested in more information, Lisa Cron has a website here. 
and can be found on Writer Unboxed  


*According to Psychology Today, Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centers. Dopamine also helps regulate movement and emotional responses.



Mary Curry


Mary is a teacher, mother, wife and writer.  And a lifelong reader. That passion for reading transformed over time into a compulsion to create stories of her own. She’s been writing  and contesting for many years and along the way has garnered a few writing credits including being a three time Golden Heart finalist and the 2011 Genesis winner for Contemporary Romance. She has recently won Duel on the Delta, Touched by Love, and the Laurie.


Mary can be found on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/M.M.Curry

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/maryc2010

Her own blog can be found at My Place By the Sea