There have been some site changes. A newsletter tool was added, under the Stay Informed tab. You can click on the link to sign up and then respond to the auto-email to verify the address. After which you will be all registered to get an email notification whenever I have a new release.
The e-books and In Print pages were condensed into just Books, because it really made more sense that way. And the Home page now has two headers, new releases and coming soon. I think that covers all the major alterations.
On to the two sides of the brain. I’ve been re-reading Becoming A Writer because I think it’s the best thing I’ve ever seen that describes how to get the tool-using conscious brain working hand in hand with the idea-producing unconscious brain. This is handy for everybody, from engineers to teachers to artists of all types.
To put it in writer terms, the art comes from the unconcious part and the craft comes from the conscious part. Which is why if you only focus on craft, you will really limit your progress. It’s good to be an expert craftsman, but don’t forget to be an artist, too, or your craftsmanship will lack something vital.
The two sides are both important and they need to be in balance. Which is why Dorothea Brande is good to visit and revisit. Balance is something that has to be maintained continually. I maybe dwell more on the art than the craft side here in the blog, but that’s mainly a reaction to the fact that so many others are focused on craft.
I suspect this is a reaction to the general tendency to fear the unexplained. That side of the brain is mysterious, unpredictable, heretical. But it’s where all the good stuff is, believe me. It will get you further than logical analysis or studied technique if you give it a chance. Because while it may not make rational sense, it does produce sound results. Story lines that hold up, characters that are engaging and believable, plot twists that in retrospect were inevitable. It’s just that that part of the brain tends to produce the intuitive leap from point A to point B without the rational brain being able to understand how it got there. It’s the job of the rational brain to accept this and not discard the intuitive leaps.
Does this mean every idea will be a good one? Of course not. But far more of them will be the more you work with both sides of the brain and learn to trust the mysterious workings of the hidden mind. It’s amazing how often that part is absolutely correct while the thinking part of the brain is dead wrong.
And as a side note, I apologize if more spelling errors than usual are popping up. There’s no built-in spell checker and I’ve noticed that my dyslexia is worse now that I’m pregnant. I may have to switch to writing in Word, spell-checking, then transferring to the blog.
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