We were talking in a recent class about accessing the different parts of the brain in order to enhance creativity. I’m fascinated by neuropsychology and how the brain makes neural connections during the creative process.
When kids take part in playing, their neural connections expand and strengthen. Dreams are known to activate the optical centres of the brain while we are asleep.
Try playing a bit yourself by linking your right brain where your optical centres lie with your front left brain where your language centres are, so that new neural connections happen:
Close your eyes and describe out loud in as much sensory detail as you can the stream of consciousness running constantly through your mind. You can record yourself if you like or touch type fast.
Before ideas of cross linking brain hemispheres, or ‘image streaming’ (Win Wenger) existed, Joyce, Woolf and Faulkner wrote their ‘stream of consciousness’ works representing the continuous flow of sense perceptions, thoughts, feelings and memories in the human mind.
You might be surprised at the electric fizzes of creativity that happen!
Another way to link your right and left brain hemispheres is to use images for inspiration.
You could try this writing competition. The above image is from a selection of beautiful water themed images to use as triggers. You could even do it for yourself if the entry fee is too steep. Details of a similar competition here
Eric Earwig said:
I’ve been using art pictures (image steaming as you say) for inspiration for a while now. But be careful what type of art picture you use though, because apparently, you could go blind.
Seriously though, the competition you mention in the Irish Writers centre has some brilliant pieces to get you going. I find the more abstract the picture, the better, “the continuous flow of sense perceptions, thoughts, feelings and memories in the human mind,” coming from my every orifice. Won’t be more specific. Ahem. In conclusion, up pictures!
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Valerie said:
Thanks for the warning! I agree about the abstract ones
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Brigid said:
Interesting post. I love visual prompts and have entered the Irish Writers Centre competition myself. I used some of the other images to prompt some story ideas. I always find the visual images produce a story I would not normally ‘think’ up.
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Valerie said:
Glad you enjoyed it, Brigid and David. Using images certainly stimulates my own writing and the stream of consciousness writing brings up surprising content!
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dublindave said:
Interesting exercise Val – must try it out. That photography comp looks interesting – I like image based competitions.
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Valerie said:
oops! wrong place, see above!
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Eric Earwig said:
If they say a picture paints a thousand words (which they do), then why is the Irish Writers Centre’s competition limiting entrants to 500 words per picture? With this logic, you’ll only be able to cram in half a picture each time – not the whole story! What does this mean? Subliminal message? I demand answers! – and try to keep them under 50 words please.
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Valerie said:
I’d say they’re looking for impressionistic flash pieces rather than a story with a plot which would require more words. Maybe write your 1,000 words according to Telly Savalas’s dictum and then cut it. Mind you, it is possible to write narrative flash, or at least try to create a sense of movement where something has changed by the end. Enjoy!
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Valerie said:
btw, these 500 word flashes are worth a look
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