Left Brain/ Write Brain

This post was originally posted March 14, 2011, 
but I totally feel it all over again and so am reposting it for those who missed it

I've been researching a lot about the brain and how it works and about creativity for the story I'm writing. Norman Doidge (author of The Brain that Changes Itself) says that the brain is "the only organ that can be sharpened when all others deteriorate with age."  True dat Norman.

But what I've been pondering regarding the brain is the whole right brain/left brain thing.  Right brain being responsible for creativity.  Left brain for organization and processing.  Because, right now I feel that my writing is unfortunately stalled in my left brain.  My left hemisphere is telling me my story is stupid, to stop wasting my time, that it'll never get published.

This happens every time I write.  I start each story with right brain brimming with ideas, my fingers flying over the keyboard, my heart feeling alive with the knowledge that I'm doing what I'm made to do.  But then left hemisphere kicks in, crushing my creative flow.  Muse is no where to be seen.  And for weeks, sometimes even months I abandon my story until I can convince right hemisphere to keep going.

Left hemisphere is awesome for when the writing is down on paper and it's time to revise and edit.  But not during the writing.  Then it's more like the Sirens of Greek mythology, singing out lies that sound true and beautiful and drowning Muse and any creativity I may have.  

Whether you are a writer or not, I'm sure you can relate to the concept.

What do you do when your left hemisphere is singing louder than your right?

Phineas Gage

25 year old Phineas Gage worked for a railroad construction company.  Unfortunately, one day he made a mistake that caused an explosion, sending a 3 foot long, 75 pound iron rod shooting through his head.  It entered just under his left eye and exited out the middle of his head, landing 30 feet away.

You would think Phineas would be a goner.  But you'd be wrong.  The man sits up after the accident, talking about the explosion.  He's unaware of his injuries.  He chats with the doctor as if it was a normal day, nothing out of the ordinary.

You think this is a fictional tale?  Nope.  It's a true story and it happened in 1848.  In addition to losing the sight in his left eye, his personality changed.  Phineas became rude and easily angry.  He became compulsive, giving up his job to race stagecoaches.  He started having seizures.  Doctors and scientists began studying the brain, trying to figure out why the rod going through the portion of the brain it did would change him so greatly.  The field of neuroscience was born.  Check out the pic of the handsome fellow holding that rod that changed his life forever.

Why do I bring this up?  Because I want you to read this book!

Phineas Gage: A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science

By John Fleischman

Genre: Non-fiction

My Rating: 5 stars

My review: This book is fascinating!  Some of the pictures may be a little gruesome, but I found them rather interesting and helpful for understanding the accident and the brain.  John Fleischman writes in an engaging way that begs you to keep reading and turning the pages.  I found this to be a treasure trove of interesting information.  

I was a middle school English teacher for 3 years. Mention non-fiction to students and most will groan.  Enter this book.  My final year of teaching I taught this book during our non-fiction unit.   

The kiddos were fascinated!  They loved it!  They asked lots of thoughtful questions (and a few random ones too) about science, the brain, pain, medicine in the 1800s, etc.  Some even did more research on the guy.  

The only thing they didn't like was the fact that there's an entire chapter about neurons, cells, infection, etc that they found kind of boring, but applicable to what they were learning in their life science class.  If you get bored, skip it.  The fascination picks up after that chapter with how Gage was affected after the accident.