“The act of writing turns out to be its own reward.” –Anne Lamott
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Simply put, writing is good for you. Just as physical exercise enhances your muscles, writing is strength training for your brain. And the more you practice, the better your brain adapts to writing.
In a September 2021 article on writingcooperative.com, Kristina Segarra addresses the effects of writing. She indicates our brains are fully engaged when we write. The more you write, the more neural connections are created within your brain. The brain actually grows, adapts, and makes continued writing easier. I think it’s similar to playing the piano. The more the student practices, the stronger and more nimble his/her fingers become. Musical pieces that were difficult to master at first become easy as the student progresses.
Ms. Segarra goes on to list other benefits of writing:
- You develop organizational skills — from crafting and sequencing your thoughts and ideas
- You boost your reasoning and problem-solving skills
- You integrate a wide range of vocabulary words and grow your word bank
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Even more encouraging is a July 2021 article by Annie Lennon on medicalnewstoday.com showing research that indicates a cognitively rich lifestyle of reading, writing, and playing games can delay the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders.
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And there’s more! A February 2017 article by Erika Rasso at craftyourcontent.com describes an interesting experiment conducted by researcher Martin Lotze of the University of Greifswald in Germany.
Using MRI data, Lotze analyzed the brain activity of 28 writers. First they were asked to brainstorm ideas and then write their own stories. He found the occipital lobe of the brain was more active during the brainstorming session, possibly indicating the writers were visualizing their ideas.
On the other hand, the hippocampus became more active in the actual writing session, possibly meaning the subjects were gathering the information they wanted to use and organizing it into a story format.
Ms. Rasso lists specific suggestions of things you can do to keep your brain in shape:
Free write every day for at least two minutes a day. You can write whatever you want in those two plus minutes. You could write a haiku, a diary entry, or something a little more ambitious. (That isn’t to say haikus aren’t ambitious.) The goal is to get used to the act of writing and coming up with content as you go.
Read your #writinggoals. If you’re a writer, you’re a reader, and all readers have their idols. Read the kind of content you aspire to write, and read a lot of it. Your brain will absorb the vocabulary, syntax, and general style of the writing you’re reading and naturally incorporate it into your own work.
Look things up. Artists, athletes, and even scientists are always learning new techniques to help them get better. Writers can do the same. Expand your vocabulary by flipping through a thesaurus or a dictionary, study grammar books, and definitely look something up if you don’t know it. Push yourself to learn more about your craft, and you’ll grow because of it.
Overwhelm your brain. The brain is pretty damn powerful. If you push it, chances are it will rise to the occasion. Test your limits by writing for an hour longer than you think you can. Read Derrida. Write a haiku! Treat your brain like a muscle and do reps until you just can’t do it anymore. Just like a muscle, your brain will grow.
Don’t think about it too much. If you put in the work, your brain will grow on its own. Your subconscious will pick up on what you are doing and adjust accordingly. Trust your brain. It’s gotten you this far, hasn’t it?
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So TKZers: How do you keep your brain in shape? Do you practice specific writing exercises? Do you have favorite word games you play?
The Watch Mysteries. Three thought-provoking novels to exercise your brain.
❖ How do you keep your brain in shape?
❦ I put it on a leash and run it around the block once a day. I brainstorm replies to writers on Twitter, such as how many old radio programs can I name (15).
❖ Do you practice specific writing exercises?
❦ I sometimes respond to the writing prompts on Twitter, such as:
❖ ❖ “Hey #writers. A young woman, hooded with glowing yellow eyes, approaches your MC. She asks for help with a monster who lurks in the mists of a nearby forest. How does your MC respond?”
❦ ❦ “And, forsooth, what be the name of yonder monster? How big is he? Hath he a blue check? Is he of murderous mind? Doth he have armor? Weapons? A steel jock-strap? Halitosis? Can he climb oaks? I prithee, tell me all these things, then shalt assist thee in finding someone else.”
❖ Do you have favorite word games you play?
❦ Wordle. I have 12 twoples, 84 threeples, 347 wins out of 350 games. I also do the NYT crossword, using a ball point pen, whilst standing on a bowling ball.
Delightful, JG. I can see by your response that you’re keeping your brain in tip-top shape.
(And please post a video to Twitter of that NYT crossword solving exercise. 🙂 )
As of today, 13 twoples.
I do most of these things as a matter of routine, never thinking of them as brain exercises. Wordle, Phrazle (thanks, JSB). Mini Cross (the big one M-W), Words With Friends. Then there are the mindless games that still require a little brain interaction like Tiles, Candy Crush, Solitaire, Mahjong. Blog posts, writing, writing research. Doesn’t take much to overwhelm my brain these days.
Physical exercise is good at keeping dementia at bay as well, and our dog makes sure we get our steps in.
Good morning, Terry.
That’s a good list of word games and others to keep us in neurological order. I’ve never played Phrazle, but I’ll give it a try.
I second the notion of physical exercise. Keep the blood pumping and the ideas flowing.
Great post, Kay.
In addition to the beneficial mental exercises that you have listed for keeping our brains in shape, I would add the care and feeding of our brain: healthy diet rich in vitamins, fruits, and vegetables; and low in animal fats. Exercise – vigorous aerobic exercise to keep atherosclerosis at bay. Monitoring/screening for diseases that slow down mental function, ex. diabetes and hypothyroidism. Getting adequate sleep.
And then, just as important, avoidance of habits that directly harm the brain or plug up the supply vessels – tobacco, excessive alcohol, etc.
In addition to writing exercises and word games, other creative activities outside of writing can put us on the constant search for analogies and plot variations that enrich our writing and load our brain with ammunition for our next writing session.
Thanks, Kay. Have a brain-healthy day.
Good morning, Steve!
I thought you might have some good advice for keeping our brains and the rest of our bodies in shape. Thank you!
“…creative activities outside of writing can put us on the constant search for analogies and plot variations that enrich our writing and load our brain with ammunition for our next writing session.” Well put. I’m thinking of that morning cup of coffee as ammunition.
Have a wonderful week.
Good addition with the physical side of the equation, Steve. Totally agree. + good post, Kay!
Thanks, Harald.
Spot on, Kay. This is the reason I’m skeptical of handing over the majority of the creative process to AI. I don’t want that part of my brain to slowly atrophy.
As Terry mentioned, I do Phrazle every day, and morning pages often.
Good morning, Jim.
Great point about AI. Like paying a robot to do your training for a marathon.
I hadn’t heard about Phrazle before today, but I’ll give it a try.
Have a great week.
Wonderful and timely subject for the start of the work week, Kay! Keeping our writing brains in shape is so important. For a few years, I would do daily writing exercises around a set of three prompts and a single point of writing craft I wanted to practice for example conflict, or a scene arc, or emotion, or tension etc. and would write for fifteen minutes. I’ve done some sentence crafting exercises but not recently. Lots of journaling. I’m going to give your question about writing exercises some thought and see about doing either some old ones or some new ones.
I played Words with Friends devotedly for several years but it’s been a long time. I will check out Phrazle that Terry mentioned courtesy of JSB. I’m a big believer in exercise and in eating well. Getting enough sleep is so important, too, as Steve noted. It can be challenging, but worth making a priority.
Have a wonderful week!
Sue’s comment reminded me–stargazing and studying astronomy is helps keep my brain learning, and being outside as often as the weather permits, contemplating the majesty of the universe is so goo for mind, body and soul.
“contemplating the majesty of the universe” — I’m with you, Dale. Wonder for the mind and balm for the soul.
Good morning, Dale!
Your writing exercises sound like a good way to engage the brain. I like the idea of targeting a single point of writing craft.
I love word games, but I’ve never played Words With Friends. I have to look that up today. (Right after I try out Phrazle.)
Have a wonderful writing week!
Excellent, Kay. I don’t play games but I do write every day. I’ll add admiring nature to the list. For those of us with an overactive brain that doesn’t seem to have an off switch, allowing the brain to rest is also important. What better way than spending time reveling in the beauty of wildlife, sunrises, sunsets, moon, and stars? There’s no substitute for silent contemplation, IMO.
Good morning, Sue.
“allowing the brain to rest is also important.” So true. In our 24/7 society, we often feel like we have to keep working hard or we’ll fall behind. But that attitude can actually slow us down. Thanks for pointing it out.
Enjoy your writing and your contemplation of the beauty of creation today!
Great post, Kay. Authors ought to be the healthiest folks on the block…
I have a huge DON’T: Don’t.Watch.Too.Much.News!
There was a study done in Somewhere, USA which concluded that News Intake is directly related to the death of creativity, peace, imagination, and energy. No, kidding! Not really, though, it just doesn’t take a study to figure that out.
I play some Word games, but I also routinely look up word and phrase history. It fascinates me to find out where our jargon comes from.
I read . . . lots!
And when I need fresh ideas, a fresh perspective, or if I don’t know what comes next, I go outside and look for critters and bugs. No lie there. Watching a mantis or ants, squirrels and birds, beetles and spiders do their thing somehow activates the Girls in the Basement to get some info to me. Maybe they’re afraid I don’t need them anymore, but it always works.
That’s my drill.
Have a great Monday!
Good morning, Deb.
You are so right about the news. We dropped our cable TV subscription a few years ago when we decided watching the news wasn’t good for us. It was the right decision and a *big* time saver.
I’m with you on the love of the history of words and phrases. (You just gave me an idea for a future post. Thanks!)
I’ve enjoyed the pictures you’ve posted to FB and Twitter with birds and bugs. A fascinating thing, this planet Earth.
Lots of high-quality, low-fat protein in this post, Kay!
Different types of writing develop different muscle groups in the brain. Nonfiction requires organization and logic. Fiction and poetry stretch imagination and creativity. Editing trains powers of concentration and analysis.
Perhaps the most challenging brain exercise is to teach. It’s hard but rewarding to find a clear way to explain complicated writing techniques to someone else so they understand. After speaking to students, I’m exhausted but it’s the best kind of tired.
Walking, hiking, and zumba are my favorites to counteract too much sitting in front of the computer.
Good morning, Debbie!
“Different types of writing develop different muscle groups in the brain.” Excellent observation! Add different types of writing to the routine to really give the brain a workout.
I’ve heard it said that the best way to learn a subject is to teach it. Kudos to you for speaking with students about writing.
Have a great week.
Daily freewriting: commenting on interesting blogs when I have something to add.
It also gets my mind thinking in new directions (always open to a new Idea I can use – my mind is a packrat).
But overloading the brain doesn’t work for some of us – damaged brains need to never be pushed beyond capacity, because the aftereffects (adrenaline) can take days to get over.
And I don’t ‘trust’ my brain – I micromanage my body to be able to think at all. Chronic illness requires SO much extra energy, often leaving NONE for anything else. Many of us live beyond the pale by necessity, not choice, but we’re going to write ANYWAY. For the long term. So we learn to be sneaky.
“Many of us live beyond the pale by necessity, not choice, but we’re going to write ANYWAY.” Bravo. This is where courage lives.
I like your comment about commenting on blogs. That is a form of freeewriting. Excellent point.
I don’t know that I do anything specific to keep my brain in the harness, it’s more or less a habit I’ve developed over a lifetime. If I’m not actively writing a story I’m thinking about what if’s or puzzling out ways of moving a story along, or jotting down something I heard somewhere that has potential or that moves me in some way.
I’ve got my spouse trained to spot these things and say “That sounds like a snappy line. You should use it.”
One of the most difficult things I’m working on right now is a character, a high functioning alcoholic who has absolutely no redeeming qualities that make him likable.
What am I going to do with him? Trying to figure that out has my mind in a ferment, so job done.
Thinking about what you will write must be as useful as writing itself, and having a spouse who helps with your writing is a wonderful gift.
Your new character sounds fascinating. Good luck with him.
Alcoholics have interesting brains: not defective, merely evolved to suit the world of 7,500 YBP, before the invention/discovery of beer and wine. They tend to be more creative than average, more athletic, with faster reflexes and slightly higher IQ. They are easily hypnotized. They have more frequent deja vu and sleepwalking episodes than most people. There is no behavior they can’t rationalize or deny. When drunk, they’re like a different person. They are very likely to have relatives who are also alcoholics. They gravitate slightly towards sports, law enforcement, and emergency response of various sorts, but can be found in any profession or craft. They plan their spare time, hobbies, and friendships around the availability of alcohol. Relapse is their middle name.