Feature

Do You Have the Brain to Be a Writer?

by Peter Zvalo

Parents, teachers, and guidance counsellors sometimes tell children who are anxious about what they're going to do with their life, that they can pursue virtually any career they put their mind to. With determination and lots of hard work, anyone can become a future Prime Minister or President.

As reassuring as this sounds, recent findings in the field of brain research suggest that not all people (i.e., brains) are born equal. University of British Columbia psychologist Robert Hare, for example, has used radioactive tracers and scanned images to prove that the brains of psychopaths function in a dramatically different way than those of normal people. Similarly, McMaster University psychiatry professor Sandra Witelson's research uncovered that there are notable brain differences between men and women. In a study published in 1995, Witelson reported that in the part of the brain that processes language skills, typically women's brains contain up to 11 per cent more cells than men's brains.

Does this mean that some people are born to live out a life of crime, while others are born to become world leaders, artists, and writers? Scientific research such as that conducted by Hare, Witelson and others, suggests that our natural competencies and weaknesses are programmed into us from birth. If this is the case, then how do parents identify and nurture their child's in-born strengths, while working on improving areas where their child is deficient? Perhaps the answer lies in the concept of "flow".

Focus to create flow

In his book Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman describes "flow" as a state where one's emotions are completely focussed with the task at hand, usually occurring when one outdoes oneself in some favoured activity. Athletes often refer to this state as "the zone", where excellence becomes effortless, and where crowds and competitors disappear from one's consciousness. Interestingly, even though people who are in a state of flow are performing the task at their peak, they are unconcerned with how they are doing; thoughts of success or failure are notably absent—the sheer pleasure of the act itself is what motivates them. In fact, one important characteristic of someone who is in flow is that the person gives the impression that the difficult is easy; peak performance appears natural and ordinary. This impression, says Goleman, actually parallels with what is going on in the brain.

Oddly, the most challenging tasks during a state of flow are done with a minimum expenditure of mental energy. People's brains in this state actually "quiet down" in the sense that there is a lessening of cortical activity. The consequence of this phenomenon is that when people are in flow, even hard work can seem refreshing or replenishing rather than draining.

The good news is that flow is an experience that almost everyone enters from time to time. Goleman says that a state of flow can be achieved by one of two methods. One is to intentionally focus a sharp attention on the task at hand. Once focus starts to lock in, it takes on a force of its own, and in the process it offers a relief from emotional turbulence and makes the task effortless. The other way to enter flow is for people to find a task they are skilled at, and engage in it at a level that slightly taxes their ability. University of Chicago psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who has devoted two decades of study in this area, says that "People seem to concentrate best when the demands on them are a bit greater than usual, and they are able to give more than usual. If there is too little demand on them, people are bored. If there is too much for them to handle, they get anxious. Flow occurs in that delicate zone between boredom and anxiety."

Implications of flow

The flow concept has real-life implications for people contemplating a career that requires creativity or a high degree of mental concentration. In a study of 200 artists 18 years after they left art school, Csikszentmihalyi found that it was those who in their student days had savoured the sheer joy of painting itself who had become serious painters. Those who had been motivated in art school by dreams of fame and wealth for the most part drifted away from art after graduating.

Flow also has implications for the way we teach children. Harvard psychologist Howard Gardner sees flow as part of the healthiest way to teach children, motivating them from the inside rather than by threat or promise of reward. In Emotional Intelligence, he says "Flow is an internal state that signifies a kid is engaged in a task that's right. You have to find something you like and stick to it. You learn at your best when you have something you care about and you can get pleasure from being engaged in." In other words, the flow model suggests that achieving mastery of a skill or body of knowledge should ideally happen naturally, as the child is drawn to the areas that spontaneously engage him or her. That initial passion can be the seed for high levels of attainment, as the child comes to realize that pursuing the field is a source of the joy of flow.

As someone who is engaged in a career that requires considerable creativity and mental concentration, writing, I find that my best work is produced when I am in a state of flow. Such a state requires that I be focussed on the writing or editing task at hand. Frequent interruptions—whether they be telephone calls, or visits by staff to my office—or other mental distractions such as worrying whether I remembered to turn off the stove before I left home, break my concentration and therefore prevent me from entering into a state of flow.

Research not conclusive

Despite mounting scientific evidence that genetics play a major role in shaping our lives, the belief that environmental factors are also significant cannot be dismissed. How do we explain individual differences, or the fact that despite their brains differences, many men are talented writers while many women are skilled scientists? In my own case, the fact that my male brain has less language-processing cells than a typical woman may have proved insignificant when my upbringing is taken into account. Perhaps starting as early as infanthood, my parents may have given me clues that reading and writing were fun, easy, and praised me for any progress I may have made in this area. Similarly, they may have hinted that math and science were difficult and dull, and that it would be best to stay away from this area. Perhaps by the time I arrived in kindergarten, the environmental forces to which I had been exposed for five years had manifested themselves, and the strength that I displayed in reading was interpreted as a natural competency. The positive reinforcement that I received from my teachers and parents probably encouraged me to read and write more, and as I continued to get more practice, my skills in these areas were honed. Before long, I would read and write stories simply for the pleasure it gave me; no doubt in such times I was in flow.

Science is only now starting to grasp the complexities of the human brain. The riddle of what makes us who we are, is one that has long eluded scientists and academics. Are we just a collection of chemicals interacting with electrical impulses, or are we like sponges absorbing and imitating the many stimuli that surround us?

What is becoming clear is that it takes more than just dedication and hard work to achieve great things. The career path that a person eventually takes will, for most, not always be a smooth one. But the path will be easier if you chose a career that is right for you; one that will be able to sweep you along in a reassuring flow.