How Fiction Authors Can Use Brain Science to Get into Writing Flow

Gina Kammer Author

The best way that we know of so far to experience more flow states and produce high-quality work is to practice the fundamentals of fiction writing.

How Fiction Authors Can Use Brain Science to Get into Writing Flow

As an author and creative, I bet you revel in the mystical flow state. The words were just there and everything connected and worked. Before you knew it, you had more than smashed any word count goals you set for yourself.

If you’re like me, you might chase after that seemingly elusive flow state. That state where time doesn’t exist, you tune everything else out, and your creativity and productivity is just on. You want to know what kind of magic it will take to make it happen that way again. 

To an unhealthy extent, I tend to tell myself all these “rules” for true writing productivity. Number one on that list is that I need an extended period of time to work. I have come to believe that without multiple uninterrupted hours—or at least a whole hour at a bare minimum—I’m not going to be capable of really “getting into” my story and writing.

I think this “rule” for my writing came about because I do like to delve deep, and that takes time. So I need multiple hours to get lost in my story without distractions—to reach that elusive flow. 

But distractions are also part of the reason for this rule. It often takes me hours because my brain tells me I need to get every other little task off my plate before I can allow myself the freedom and time for a potential flow state. 

So I give in to this kind of procrastination for a substantial amount of time before I can rein myself back in and get around to the task I really intended to do—and likely much preferred to do. Yet, creative work takes energy, and the piddly little tasks feel like easier, more mindless wins. So they routinely defeat the best of my intentions.

You too?

However, what if you could define what magic it takes to get into a flow state? Not just some nebulous idea about what it takes (like my distorted belief about needing ample hours to get there). What if you could foster ways to enter that desired state more often?

In a fascinating study on jazz musicians, neuroscientists measured brain activity associated with the flow state while the musicians jammed. These musicians had varying years of experience. You know which ones registered as getting more into a state of flow? 

The study’s abstract states, “These results are consistent with the idea that creative flow represents optimized domain-specific processing enabled by extensive practice paired with reduced cognitive control.”

Yeah, it was the musicians with more experience. But they also needed to let go of more conscious judgment in the process.

The authors cited other studies that showed “greater expertise has been associated with more frequent or intense flow states.” And the flow states they measured “significantly predicted greater improvisation creativity (as rated by experts).”

Out of the two prevailing theories on flow states, this study supported the process-optimization view of flow: “According to the process-optimization view, creative flow is a state of optimized, expert processing in domain-specific networks characterized by minimal interference from task-negative DMN activity.”

In a nutshell, that means the flow state occurs with expertise in the task but without a lot of conscious thought and judgment weighing in. It then makes sense why “flow is enabled by task-related experience.”

From consistent practice, these experienced musicians strengthened the brain pathways that could guide their creative process without so much thought. I think of it rather like muscle memory. When you do something over and over again like typing in a code on a keypad, your fingers automatically know what to do. But, if you’re like me, the moment you pause to think about it (basically at all) suddenly you can’t remember what that code sequence is. It’s like it jams up the muscle memory as the two conflict. Our brains are like that too when it comes to mastery in a task area. 

So if you want to set yourself up for having more frequent states of flow for your writing, it would stand to reason that it’s going to take practice. Let’s talk more about practice. Each time you do something, you get significantly more experience. This tapers off each time as you get significantly more experience, but regardless, more practice equals more experience. 

Write that second novel! And third! It’s true that your next novel should be better than your last. And you’ll start having more flow state experiences. 

But flow states may not predict quality. Flow states feel great! But that doesn’t mean you can’t also produce quality work while not in a flow state. For quality work, you still need solid foundational skills. 

One interesting point of this study regarding quality was that “judged quality significantly predicted flow only for low-experience musicians.” Expert musicians, it seemed, had the practiced skills to produce quality work regardless of their state of flow. But a flow state did seem to increase the judged creativity of their work.

Because “reduced cognitive control may contribute to high-flow creative production,” I recommend giving fast drafting a try to help you let go of control and enter more flow states. The fast-drafting method is one that helped me to quiet my own perfectionism in writing.

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You can get more details about fast drafting by signing up (FREE!) HERE for a micro course delivered via email. It’ll help you set up or finetune your story and then give you some fast drafting tips to make it all happen!

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But as I’ve noticed for myself, it’s the nearly muscle-memory foundations I have in writing craft that help me produce better work even in a fast draft in which my conscious effort and inhibitions are largely turned off.

Therefore, it’s absolutely worth it to take the courses and workshops in craft. Study with a book coach, and keep practicing basic things like structure, creating character arcs, and learning how to tie it all together for an immersive story. 

The lead researcher of the study was quoted in a PsyPost article as stating, “If you want to be able to stream ideas fluently, then keep working on those musical scales, physics problems or whatever else you want to do creatively—computer coding, fiction writing—you name it. But then, try letting go.”

So take it from the neuroscientists! The best way that we know of so far to experience more flow states and produce high-quality work is to practice the fundamentals of fiction writing. Keep working at it. Practice and learn and grow. Then, when you’ve gained more mastery, learn to release your judgey side and let your expertise do its thing. 

The best way you can take action to learn and practice your writing craft now is to enroll with a free student account in the Inky Bookwyrm Conservatory HERE. I’ll get you started with a micro course delivered via email that will help you set up your story with solid foundations followed up by some tips for drafting—including how to fast draft and let go of your perfectionism to let your creativity flow!

Bibliography

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0028393224000393

https://www.psypost.org/scientists-team-up-with-jazz-musicians-to-reveal-the-neuroscience-of-creative-flow/

https://drexel.edu/news/archive/2024/March/New-Neuroimaging-Study-Reveals-How-the-Brain-Achieves-a-Creative-Flow-State

https://neurosciencenews.com/jazz-music-improvisation-21896/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qY0JQaMaRlE

Categories: editing, manuscript stages, novel drafting, novel planning, writer mindset