i don’t believe in the notion of either “left brained” or “right brained” people. never mind actual science, it’s just another way to say “us and them.” and why be divisive? besides, the brain can’t function as separate hemispheres. of course we know this. but the idea is a tantalizing one and, depending on how you view it, there’s a kernel of truth in the blah blah blah of the creative vs. non-creative paradigm. keep reading…
consider me in a creative, cozy mood today. amid a snowstorm, all one can do is contemplate his station in the world and, of course, what it all means to him. between this video from Ji Lee, creative director of Google Creative Lab, and my earlier test results, you now have a clear view of the puzzle in my head (its a picture of Brian Griffin burning his novel, by the way). enjoy and comment.
Blizzards make people do unusual things—like drive in a foot of snow for a cup of coffee or, in my case, take a “Right Brain/Left Brain” quiz. For the unfamiliar, “left-brained” people are your logical, analytical individuals—they’re the ones who rock the flip phones in leather cases clipped to their belts. Meanwhile, “right-brained” people tend to be your creatives—they like guitar-tuning apps on their smartphones.
Anyway, as I read my results, I was neither surprised nor particularly pleased…at first. What you’re about to see, in all of its unscientific, yet strangely accurate glory, is a snippet of how I perceive the world, how I process things and how I always seem unsettled. Though I skew slightly more toward one hemisphere than the other, the chasm between the two is small…nearly negligible. Gotta love those shades of gray. More thoughts on this later. See the results…
Memoirist Sue William Silverman: "It is voice, then, in all its manifestations, that examines multiple and mysterious facets of a persona: the real 'you' deepened into a character."More @ creativenonfiction.org
“In the past thirteen years since my novel has been published, I have talked to thousands of women who have been sexually abused… I’m not a social worker but an artist. I have took, and will continue to take, the stories of women I have listened to and turn them into fiction.”More at UWM.
"[Ralph]Ellison lived in the midst of his own success and sat down to write with, one imagines, something like the weight of the literary world on his shoulders." More @ Salt Lake Tribune.
Ras @ 317am.net offers some thoughts on the idea of "idea" and theme in fiction. Parts One & Two.
"Most of us do think of character, plot, point of view, voice, and setting before we think of ideas when beginning to work on a story. [...] But there is something about ideas that seems alien to the unspoken assumptions of realism that underlie the mainstream of contemporary fiction."
