February 1, 2012
Achieving Synthesis, Part Three: Why Letting Go Works
Recent cello practice sessions have begun with my realization that the best way to activate my right brain is to forget about what I’m doing while I’m doing it. “Forget about it” seems to deactivate the linear, literal left brain and encourage my intuition and imagination.
Before I know it, sensations of prior excellent playing come flooding back, and I float into the music and beyond. Totally immersed, I stay in that magic spot and play better yet.
Writers can do the same if they learn to trust the right brain. Why focus on one character, plot line, sentence, or paragraph, when the sensation of flowing words will automatically improve all these elements? The struggle for the right word or the perfect twist of plot vanishes as you quit trying to make anything work at all, and instead just write.
