The “Creative High” is real!

25 Thursday Apr 2019

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Inspiration, Writing

Tags

Am Writing, Biomedical Engineering, brain chemistry, creative high, Creativity, dopamine, Goldsmiths University, London, Louis L'Amour, Medical Physics, neuroscience, Ray Bradbury, Vienna Center, writer's high, writer's life, Writing, Zen in the Art of Writing

Artists of all mediums have experienced the energetic bliss of the “creative high” at one time or another. I certainly did when painting and designing, as much as I have while writing. Maybe we didn’t talk about it, but we knew it was there. That it was real. Ray Bradbury, alluded to the creative high in his famous quote on writing:

You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you. —Ray Bradbury, Zen in the Art of Writing

In recent years, neuroscientists have conducted studies that scientifically prove what artists of all types have known all along.

The biology behind the magic of “Aha!”

Vienna’s Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering in collaboration with Goldsmiths University London discovered the secret of the “Aha!-moment”. When people have a flash of insight when solving a puzzle, the mood-enhancing substance dopamine is released. The same is true with artistic creation and insights.

And it just gets better! The initial release of dopamine from a creative endeavor generates continued creativity. L’Amour understood this, as shown in his well known quote on how to avoid writer’s block:

Start writing, no matter about what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on. You can sit and look at a page for a long time and nothing will happen. Start writing and it will. —Louis L’Amour

The creative two-step

According to science and world-renown authors, how to get and stay creative can be summed up in two steps:

Do (create), be (happy). Do, be, Do.
Keep on, keeping on.

Backed by science

If you want to learn more about creativity and the chemistry of your brain:

How to outsmart the traps of ‘Writer’s Time’

29 Tuesday Jan 2019

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Humor, Writing

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Albert Einstein, Elizabeth Fais, Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo, horrifically hard scenes, juggle, Kermit the Frog, Louis L'Amour, mire of the middle, Muppets, Ray Bradbury, Theory of Relativity, writer's life, writer's time, writing humor

Some days I wonder if Einstein set out to prove his theory of relativity after experiencing the phenomena of writer’s time:

Suspension in the blissful bubble of the sparkly new idea.
Trudging through horrifically hard scenes or the mire of the middle.
The End…that keeps slipping away.
The Wait after submission, when time freezes.

It took a couple of projects before I recognized the phenomena of writer’s time, and a few more before I learned how to sidestep the traps. The secret to managing writer’s time instead of being controlled by it is to juggle. Yes juggle.

1. Blissful Sparkly Idea Bubble

You’ve got a sparkly new idea and you’re glowing with inspiration and so caught up in the creative process you’re not aware of time passing. You dance through the prose, and the story all but writes itself. This phase must be what Ray Bradbury was referring to when he said, “You must stay drunk on writing…” because it feels GREAT. The trap is believing that writing will always be this way. If you do, when the euphoria fades and the real work begins, you’ll quit. The secret is to enjoy the blissful bubble while lasts and accomplish as much as possible. This will help you through the other phases of writer’s time.

2. Horrifically Hard Scenes and the Mire of the Middle

The blissful bubble popped and you’re face with writing horrifically hard scenes or the slogging through the mire of the middle, and time crawls at a painfully slow pace. Don’t dismay. Every project this phase, to one degree or another. Trust in the process and keep writing. If the muck starts to feel like quick sand, juggle. Pick up another project for a while and rekindle the spark of inspiration. Always remember the quote by Louis L’Amour: “Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.”

3. THE END is in Sight and Out of Reach

THE END is near, but as you type faster, time speeds up, flying by at a gale force velocity. It’s like being on a treadmill, running in place. Invigorating and infuriating.

You know exactly what needs to happen in your story and what to do to get there. You can taste victory, especially when chocolate is at the end of the deadline, but it’s perpetually out of reach. The secret to remember here is that time is an illusion, and in the end (pun intended) the writer always wins! Keep typing.

4. The Wait

You made your deadline with style and grace, but the excitement of sending off your ‘baby’ soon fades. You put your heart and soul into a story and now it’s gone. The Wait to hear back begins. The trap here is allowing yourself to indulge in feeling lost, or succumbing to insecurity and doubt. Don’t do it!

Instead, juggle. Start a new project, or pick up an old one you put on the shelf. Try a new genre. Write something totally different. Write anything. Keep the creativity flowing. If you don’t, you might find yourself in the same predicament as Han Solo, at the end of The Empire Strikes Back. Frozen. Insecurity, doubt, and fear are insidious. Don’t give them a chance to seep in. Keep writing. The secret to getting published (again and again) is to not give up!