The left side of our brain is always working away. It interferes with almost all our daily thoughts. That’s where our logical thinking exists. It’s where most writers spend the majority of their time. Particularly if they are in the editing mode. In fact, without the critical thinking of our left brains, we’d never be able to edit our work.
But, what about that other quieter hemisphere? How do we tap into the right side of our brain and release our subconscious? 
We don’t have to do anything to release the left side, but the right side gets overwhelmed by the dominant left. Even if you are primarily a right thinking person, you may have trouble with that loud, annoying left side.
If you happen to be a left dominant person, it is trickier. I tend to be left dominant. For me, releasing the right side of the brain takes courage as well as determination. The left side is so loud. It screams at me. I hear things like “You need to know where this story is going.” Or “How can your character take that action when you haven’t planned for it.” Or “Who is her aunt anyway, you never introduced her properly.” OMG. The screaming left side can drive a writer crazy.
Does your left brain say, “You need to Google that place and learn where it is or how to spell the name.” Indeed, the left is a perfectionist. It wants everything right the first time.
The right, on the other hand, is a free thinker. The right thinker is fine with misspellings and new characters who haven’t been properly introduced. The right thinker doesn’t mind going off on a tangent to see where it will lead. There is no screaming to come back to reality. The right thinker allows you to let go and experience something new, unexpected. But, how can you do that with the left constantly screaming?
Here are some tips I’ve created to quiet my left side while my right side explores:
- Distract yourself. If the left brain is yelling at you, go take a walk or swim a mile. Get away from your story for just a short time. That will often help you clearly see what you can do and enable you to explore right-brain activities. When I’m stumped while trying to solve a crossword puzzle, if I do something totally different, the answer will appear.
- Left brains love deadlines. They will keep you right on track. Right brains tend to take the long way around. If you are facing a deadline, you must put that out of your mind, to release the right brain. Eliminate self-imposed deadlines (I must write 1000 words today).
- Meditate. Some people like to meditate with music; others prefer quiet. When you mediate, you give your mind a chance to explore the unknown. The trick with meditation (and one reason it’s so hard) is you must quiet the loud thinking part of your mind.
- If you hear a quiet noise in your mind more than once, pay attention. The quiet voice is likely the right side trying to get a word in. This happened to me in the writing of The Clock Strikes Midnight. As I wrote the book, I kept hearing one of my characters asking to tell her story. I ignored it several times. When I finally heard the quiet voice, I listened and responded.
- Don’t let the left brain push you to edit too soon. I fall into this trap often. After I’ve written 10,000 or so words, I want to go back and polish them up. As soon as I do that, I’ve lost the creative path the right brain had me on. Beware of the desire to edit before a work is finished.
Writers are artists in their own right. They may never pick up a paintbrush, but they create with words. Artists learn to look at the world through the lens of their right brains. That’s the challenge of good writing.
Yvonne Oswald’s book, Every Word Has Power, describes the features of the conscious and unconscious mind. As writers we must cultivate both sides of our brain. Our conscious mind and our unconscious mind work together.
This post was part of the #AuthorToolBoxBlogHop. Take a look at the tips and good information from other authors in the hop. They talk about everything from the craft of fiction writing to how to market your book in today’s world of social media. Enjoy!
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It took me years to wrangle the left side of my brain and make it hush, but I managed to do it. Now the right is usually in charge, until we begin the editing/revision process, when I let left brain back in. It wasn’t easy–and it took a lot of self-training!
Hey Megan, Do you have other tips that might help writers do what you did–hush that annoying left brain during the creations process? Thanks for stopping by today!
Enjoyed your post. I’m very left brained. I sometimes wonder if I’m related to Mr. Spock. Your advice on not editing too soon applies to me. It seems I can’t finish a chapter without immediately going back and brushing it up.
Oh, I strongly believe all creativity is a form of art. Tapping into something that may not be logical but draws out a reaction is how I define art. Sharing it does take bravery. This we agree on. 🙂
Anna from elements of emaginette
Hi Anna! Thanks for stopping by on today’s hop. Sharing art takes bravery. I hadn’t thought about that. I guess one reason many of us ignore that little quiet right brain voice is we fear that it might take us the wrong way (as if there’s a right way!). So, yes, bravery. Thanks for pointing that out.
I’m definitely a left sided. lol I love to take walks. They really do help to relieve stress and get you out of your head. Great tips!
Thanks Chrys! Walks do help. I just wish the weather would cooperate. 🙂
Great tips on bring your right brain to the fore. I take walks and loosen deadlines when I am struggling for a solution, but the shower is my last ditch effort to find a creative solution. It is the only place always shut off the thinking part of my brain and just relax.
Hahaha! I love the ideas that come to me in the shower. You’re right. I guess the left brain is busy with other matters and lets the right brain flow. Thanks for sharing. Joan
Creativity is definitely an art, Joan. And writers paint with words. Editing while I write is a tough one for me to turn off. I take walks, too, but I’m usually thinking about story or problems. I try talking to the Lord to quiet my mind and sometimes ask for help.
Thanks for a great post!
http://victoriamarielees.blogspot.com
Some people find meditation a good technique. We are grateful to have active, talkative minds, but sometimes we need to turn off the chatter! Thanks for stopping by!
After (mumble-mumble) years of writing, I think I’ve found a balance. While the left brain wants a mega outline, I settle on brief synopses of the scenes. Then I let the right brain take over by mindmapping. Very messy, with arrows and circles and clouds. Both sides are satisfied, I have the basics down, and my writing time is much smoother.
Dear Cheryl
Thanks for sharing! I’d love to see all those arrows, circles and clouds 🙂
I’ve never thought about it like that before (surprising, because my left side is very annoying.) Yes! My left side is always yelling at me! “You haven’t perfected this technique yet. Read more blogs. Learn more. Then I’ll let you write.” That’s what it’s been saying for the past few weeks. 🙂 Great post!
Very funny! Once we recognize the annoying left-side, the battle is won!
Excellent post. I loved reading the comments on who is left and who is right brained. I think I’m left brained – but maybe that’s my brain tricking me 🙂