Logical vs. Intuitive Writing

For the record, I hate the left-brained/right-brained terminology. It’s not scientifically accurate. While there are some brain functions that are legitimately hosted in one hemisphere (language, for example), the pop culture tropes of left brained logic and right brain creativity have been greatly overstated. So I'll refer to these concepts going forward as intuitive vs. logical writing. 

When I first started writing, my writing process was quite intuitive. I'd daydream on my way to work about what happens next. Scenes would appear in my head and I’d write them down.  It was all very unstructured, free, and fun.

I soon found though, that intuitive writing couldn't get me to the finish line. To get past plot holes and the murky middle, I needed analytical writing techniques like outlining, plot structure, and analyzing other books for their component parts. As I became more experienced as professional writer, I got better deploying these tools, and I think mastering these tools made up much of my growth as a writer. It wasn't that I encountered fewer problems with my drafts as I gained experience, I just better knew the steps I could take to solve them.

Worth noting here: one thing that greatly developed my logical writing skills was working on IP projects like Feather and Flame. Instead of acting like an artist with a song to sing, I became a craftsman constructing a story for my client. Need romance? I know just the right swoony moments to add. Need tension? Here are five ways to raise the stakes.

Lately, though, I’ve found myself relying too much on these logical tools. For example, I was brainstorming a picture book a while back with a coauthor. Armed with a topic, I immediately jumped into generating story ideas. Once I had the story ideas, I built them out using my usual processes. The story ideas were fine, but they didn’t sparkle. Then my coauthor suggested a new story direction, and this one immediately spoke to me. It had heart in the way that the others didn't, and I immediately knew that was the way to go.

The same thing happened recently while brainstorming my adult fantasy. I started out with a few recycled plotlines from shelved manuscripts and dutifully started organizing it into a synopsis. But again, I didn’t feel that spark of excitement. It was only when I reread the shelved manuscript, that I rediscovered the missing element — a concept I had cut out to fit the new world building. I added the concept back in, adapted to fit the new world, and suddenly my muse returned.

These experiences remind me that I can’t ignore the intuitive, emotional part of my writing, especially at the beginning of the creative process. My stories work best when they start with a spark that excites me — an image, a concept, a plot twist, an emotion that sustains me and draws in my readers. Granted, the magic almost always fades halfway through writing, and then you have to muscle your way to the end. But I can’t use my ability to muscle through the doldrums as an excuse to start a project without a spark in the first place.

So how do I stay in touch with that creative, fun side of writing?  Dreams. Phone free time. Morning pages. Daydreaming in bed. Reading other books. Changing my surroundings. Freewriting. New experiences. Music. Paying attention to the things I love. Keeping inspiration lists. 

I need to make time in my creative and professional life for these practices.

Are you an intuitive or logical writer? At what stages do you tilt one way or the other?

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How I Prepared for My First Nationally Syndicated Radio Interview

You sounded so eloquent on NPR!

The text from an old high school classmate popped up during lunch. My Dreams to Ashes interview had just aired on NPR's Here and Now, and from the texts and emails coming in, I was getting some good insight into which of my friends were NPR fans.

Mostly, I reacted to the congratulatory notes with relief. I'm not a naturally good speaker, and I'd been quite nervous working up to the interview. Luckily, my friend and sometimes publicist Emily Terry from Open Book Publicity worked hard with me to prep. This was the first time I'd prepared systematically for an interview, and it was helpful enough that I'm planning on doing this for all my book publicity here on out. I thought I'd share our process, in case it's useful to other writers.

1. Prepare short answers beforehand

I didn't know what the host Scott Tong was going to ask, but based on previous interviews and the subject matter of the book, I had a pretty good idea of the themes they'd touch upon. Emily suggested that I prepare answers of about 2-3 sentences each for the themes I wanted to hit. Since the book was about the LA Chinatown Massacre, I made sure to prepare a short description of the event itself (although Scott ended up introducing the event for me). I also prepared answers about why I wrote this as a children's book, how I ended up deciding to write it , parallels I saw between the massacre and present day, and what I hoped people would take away from it. 

Emily also gave me some ideas for good talking points topics in general:

1. A-ha moments in the process

2. What inspired the book?

3. Anything that tripped you up.

4. Anything that surprised you.

5. Why is the topic relevant to present day?

6. It might help to have an excerpt picked out if they ask you to read.

7. Your research process.

9. Your personal connection to the subject matter.

10. What was easy or hard about the process?

2. If it helps, run the answers by a friend

I sent my notes to Emily, and she made some suggestions for other things I could touch on.

3. Practice the answers, but not too much

I worked my way through the answers while washing dishes at night. But I also made sure not to over-rehearse, so it would still sound natural. I tried to remember to talk slowly and get in the habit of not saying "um" when I needed to think.

4. Listen to other interviews from the outlet (but only if it helps, not if it makes you nervous)

This is self explanatory. It's nice to know what to expect, but not at the expense of nerves!

5. Have your notes in front of you for the interview!

That's the great thing about a radio interview, you have your cheat sheet. I personally like to have bullet points since I find them easier to skim on the fly. During the interview, there will be questions that you don't anticipate, but if you have these prepared points to return to, it frees up your brain space to handle the unexpected questions. And it's funny what one's brain comes up with on the spot. When Scott asked me why there was such anti-Chinese sentiment in the years before the massacre, my mind went straight to a Wicked (which my daughter has been obsessed with for the past few months). I ended up paraphrasing the wizard when he says that the best way to bring people together is a common enemy. I certainly hadn't expected to go that direction!

6. Make sure you're in a quiet spot for the interview. Try to eliminate interruptions.

Here and Now's sound engineers requested that I turn off my HVAC and put my cell on Do Not Disturb.  I also disconnected my landline, got rid of anything that rustled, and removed my earrings so they wouldn't bang against the phone. I'd learned the hard way about interruptions when a neighbor started using his leaf blower in the middle of another interview I did with Taiwan's Central News Agency.

7. Post production is your friend

This was a recorded interview, and I was pleasantly surprised at how much better I sounded here than in the recording session. They'd cut out places where I stumbled and also removed some questions that didn't have very interesting answers. Obviously, you can't control how the outlet edits you, but it's comforting to remember that those really polished voices you hear on the news are often the post-edit version, and you'll likely sound better too. (Unless it's a hostile outlet in which case, yikes!)

8. Build rapport and have fun! 

This may sound cliche, but the more relaxed you are, the more likely you are to build rapport with your interviewer, and the better it will flow.

Do you give interviews as part of your job? How do you prepare? (And if you're curious about the interview, should be embedded above. Or you can find it at WBUR's site)

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