Weird thing about writing and creativity. Plus, a question.

Happy Friday,

22 years ago, two psychologists did an experiment in a California grocery store. You might know it as the jam study.

They set up a demo table for shoppers to sample jam flavors. Shoppers could taste as many as they wanted, and got a $1 off coupon.

First, they offered 24 different flavors and counted how many people bought jam. Then they did it again, but this time they only set out 6 flavors.

Know what the results were? When they offered 24 flavors, only 3% of the people who stopped at the table bought jam. When they offered 6 flavors, 30% bought.

It became known as the paradox of choice.

Turns out, the more choices there are, the harder it is to decide. No one wanted to think that hard about jam. Too much choice. lol. Walking away was easier.

Here’s the wild part. The same concept affects our creative output. Turns out, thinking kills creativity!

In 2015, researchers at Stanford were exploring the neural basis of creativity when they discovered an interesting thing.

They shoved a bunch of creative students into fMRI machines with nonmagnetic tablets and gave them prompts for what to sketch on the tablets. Then they watched what their brains were doing.

They discovered that when the test subjects had to think about the prompt they were given, creativity went down. If they didn’t have to think, creativity went up.

It showed right there on the scans. When the thinking part of the brain was active, the creativity part was quiet. And vice verse. Know what that means?

It means when writers, artists and creatives talk about getting into the flow state, that’s quite literal. You’re not thinking, you’re just doing. You’re in flow.

When you’re thinking, you’re not in the flow.

I saw the same when my daughter was in art school. If the teacher said draw a tree or draw a fruit or draw a human form, everyone got right to it. Every student created something totally unique. There were no two trees or fruit that were the same.

But if the teacher said “draw anything you want,” the kids stood staring at the blank canvas. Paralyzed by choice.

Weird thing about writing…

Writers experience the exact same thing every time they face down the blank page. What to write, what to write… it’s the paradox of choice. And the harder your brain tries to think, the less creative it’s able to be.

Creative people love to talk about thinking “outside the box” but the truth is we function better inside a box. Constraints reduce active thinking, which increases our ability to be creative in the first place.

I experienced that first hand this week.

I launched History of Women on Substack and I already have a list of story ideas for weeks to come. So many ideas. lol. I never struggle for ideas with that publication because there’s enough choice, but not an overwhelming amount.

It’s not “what should I write about” but “which woman should I write about.”

You know? 6 jars of jam not 24.

Which, I guess, is why so many people tell writers to pick a niche. And I don’t think we have to pick a niche necessarily. But I do think creating constraints for ourselves reduces how much we need to think, which allows us to be more creative.

Less thinking leads to more flow state and more creativity.

Which leads to a question…

The theme of this newsletter is much broader. Writing, marketing and Medium. And sometimes I do struggle with the blank page. Usually I resolve that by digging into the past week. Something I’ve read or something I’ve experienced.

I’ve been writing a lot about Medium lately because they’ve made some dreadful changes and a lot of writers are struggling and frustrated.

I know it’s not just me because the post I wrote about the changes at Medium has over 20K claps, which is just insane.

But, it made me wonder.

Are you tired of reading about Medium? lol. Do you want more, or less about Medium? Are there topics you wish I’d write more about? If I did an “ask me anything,” what would you ask?

I’d really appreciate your thoughts — and thank you!

:)

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History of Women is now on Substack!

If you enjoy my women’s stories, it comes out every Monday here on Substack. I have a strange one coming up this Monday since it’s Halloween. I think you’ll like!

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New on Medium…

• 10 Famous Writers Contradict Common Writing Advice

• If You Like My Women’s Stories, Can You Help?

• Stop Talking About What Rich People Do “Different.” You’re Wrong.

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If you enjoyed this, scroll down and click the heart, okay? It kind of makes my day when Substack emails to tell me you left a heart. lol. And thank you. :)

xo,
Linda