Neural Coupling: Our Brains on Stories

In my latest, and still being shopped SciFi novel, I play with the idea of a cognitive link between my two protagonists. It starts out with randomly transmitted thoughts, proceeds to visual images, emotions and even smells that slip into each other’s brains. As it turns out, a type of a mind connection happens more than we realize and it’s called neural coupling. Think Spock and the Vulcan mind meld. Think of every story you’ve ever read involving telepathy and now transfer that idea to writer and reader.

Reading and writing are two different activities, but there are times the writer and reader are on the same wavelength. Why? Because something peculiar happens in the brain when a reader is engaged in a compelling story. The reader’s brain registers the same emotions that the writer is creating with words on the page. This connection can be observed using MRI technology, which is exactly what neuroscientist Uri Hasson from Princeton did. “The brains of the person telling a story and listening to it can synchronize.” And this connection doesn’t stop with emotions. When reading about taste or smell, think of those feasts in Game of Thrones, the part of the brain that engages with taste and smell lights up. The same response occurs when we are immersed in a movie. Have you ever noticed how many people move their lips when watching a scene that involves a kiss?

And here’s an interesting tidbit for writers. Cliché phrases don’t activate the brain in the same way. They don’t activate the frontal cortex. This means that not all stories are equally effective at creating neural coupling. Because I’m a writer, I can’t help asking what stories create the most powerful c. Because that’s the kind of story I want to write. I’m guessing they are the stories that explore universal human emotions. No matter how intricate the plot, how beautiful the prose, how high the concept, if the story isn’t one the reader can relate to on an emotional level the coupling isn’t as strong. And as writer’s we want the strongest connection we can forge with our readers. But there’s still a bit of a mystery here. Why do I connect more strongly with one person than with another or with one particular author?  There must be something similar in our mental make-up or existing experiences that makes us resonate.

We think in narratives. We remember in narratives. We use stories to connect with other people, to explain events in our lives, and to explain our own behavior to ourselves. Stories are the cosmic glue that connects us all.

You Are a Writer

By Dan Haring

Raise your hand if you're an aspiring writer.

I'm sorry, but you're wrong. You're not an aspiring writer. You are a writer.

What does aspire mean? "To seek to attain or accomplish a particular goal. From Latin aspirare, literally, to breathe upon."

I see you over there, in the corner, breathing onto your laptop.

"Shhh...I'm aspiring over here."

No you're not. You're writing. 

If you have, at one point, put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and written something - a poem, a short story, a screenplay, the first chapter to the next great American novel, you are, in fact, a writer.

Now, if you haven't, if you're still just breathing on the paper, but not putting anything on it, then, I guess, technically you're an aspiring writer. But that's okay. The great thing about writing is all you need is that pen and paper or that keyboard. There should be very little, if anything, physically holding you back.

Now, you might say that I'm stupid for that whole breathing thing. You might be thinking "I really AM an aspiring writer. I want to write the next Harry Potter or Twilight or On the Road or Catcher in the Rye."

And that's great. It's great to have those goals. But let's go back to the definition of aspire. To seek to accomplish a particular goal. You are an aspiring best-selling author, which is something altogether different.

It means you're serious about this whole writing thing. It means that you're not just going to mess around, but that you're going to take your craft and make it into something people will pay you money to read.

And that's awesome. You need to have goals, whatever they may be. But that's just it, The goals are the finish line, and you're never going to reach them if you don't pick up that pen.

So just write.

Some of you might be rolling your eyes and saying "Ok, we get it, can you move on to the next visual?"

The answer is yes.

This is me and my two sons at the 2010 San Diego Comic Con. The lady we're with is comic book writer Gail Simone, who has written tons of comics, including characters such as Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Deadpool, etc. (My kids are obviously impressed) And this is right before I turned to her and asked if she had any advice for an aspiring comic book writer.

I'm pretty sure I even used those exact words.

I'm not even going to make an excuse for myself. The point is, the second you make that effort and start writing, You've changed into a writer, so don't sell yourself short.

The reason I'm spending so much time on this is I've heard so many times from friends. "Oh, that's cool you wrote a book. I wish I could." Like it's some magical fairytale thing that I somehow managed to do and that they'd never be able to.

But it's not magic, it's just a matter of working hard.

So stop aspiring. Start writing. And if you've already started, keep writing.

I promise it's not as scary as it sounds. 

Interview with ENTWINED Author Heather Dixon

By Dan Haring



Me again. Ilsa is under some crazy deadlines, so she asked me to take her turn this week. A few months back I did an interview with author Heather Dixon, and I thought I'd share it here, as she offers some great advice and information.

 I've been lucky enough to know Heather for almost 10 years now. She was a year ahead of me in the BYU animation program, and it was a blast getting to know her and working with her. If you follow her Story Monster blog, which I suggest you do, you'll find she has a wonderfully dark sense of humor. It's even better because it's hidden beneath such a sweet exterior. Her debut novel ENTWINED is a fantastic read. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did! (It's pretty long, so make sure you click through)

I had to research the 12 Dancing Princesses because I'd never heard of the fairytale before. First off, I have to say that it's pretty rad that you're on the wikipedia entry for it. High five for that. What drew you to this fairytale originally, and how did the idea for the retelling come about?

Ooo, I scored on Wikipedia? Awesome ^_^ I'll have to check that out. I started the story back at the beginning of 2006, when I was taking a bunch of dance classes and majoring in animation. The story, with its silver forests and ballgowns and waltzes, is intensely visual and when it struck me, I couldn't get it out of my head. I had to write it down. (It helped, of course, that I grew up in a large family--with 10 brothers and sisters, I felt a special connection with a story about 12 sisters ^_^)

You're also a storyboard artist. How does boarding inform your writing? Do you ever board out scenes before you write them?

I often don't board out scenes I'm writing (it's often more time-consuming than the words), but I do like to draw beat boards to the chapters--quick sketches that mark the mood, staging, and tension of the piece. Strangely enough that's been helping me with pacing, because once I sort out which beat boards to draw, those are the marker points in the story that need the most focus.  

That's a really cool method. In my own writing, I sometimes sketch out maps or layouts of buildings to help me keep track of where things are taking place. Do you do anything like that?

You bet! It's especially helpful with staging, & world-building too I think. Right now I'm working on a story with a steampunk ship, which involves looking up a lot of airship & seaship diagrams, then mapping out what this certain ship would look like. It makes the story & scenes quite a bit more distinct I think.

Not Enough Hours in the Day

Well, sometimes timing sucks. Here it is my turn to post and wouldn’t you know it? I’m putting the final touches on my next novel because it has to get to my copy editor by the end of the day tomorrow.

So, yeah…I’m a bit swamped. Which means I need to put The Experiment on hold for a post or two. So, if you’ll excuse me, I'd like to throw out some questions to get a dialogue going, and get us all thinking today. Who knows, some of it may help me with the experiment, too!

Answer as many as you’d like, even if it’s just one.

What in a story will make you put a book down and never pick it up again?

Do you give authors second chances, or if they lose you in one book, that’s it?

What are some types of things that get you excited when you’re reading?

What are you looking for when you read a book, if anything at all?

Are there any books you’ve read that you went into with no particular expectations, but came away excited that you’d discovered it? If so, I loved to know titles!

Looking forward to your answers!