The Best of ‘The Writer’s Brain’ Part One: Creativity

Welcome back to a special edition of The Writer Files called “The Best of the Writer s Brain,” a series neuroscientist Michael Grybko and I started in 2015 where I enlisted his help to give us a tour of the inner workings of the writer’s process.

Q: Have you ever wondered how prolific writers summon vast stores of creativity without breaking a sweat?

As we take a short Summer hiatus to book new guests for the upcoming season, I thought I d put all of these enlightening episodes in one place, starting here …

In Part One of the series I invited my friend, research scientist Michael Grybko — of the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington — to come on the show and help pinpoint where exactly in the brain creativity lives.

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In this file Michael Grybko and I discuss:

• How science is expanding our definition of creativity
• Why memory plays such a big part in writing
• Where creative ideas come from
• Whether or not you can teach an old writer new tricks
• Why staying curious is so important to creativity
• How prolific writers are like pro athletes
• Why the adage “write what you know” is sound advice

The Show Notes:

• This Is Your Brain on Writing
• 8 Strange Rituals of Productive Writers
• Kelton Reid on Twitter

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