Thursday, May 23, 2013

Left-Brain Mode

I'm taking an on-line writing course called "Reading Fiction." The first lecture talks about a technique in which the main character is never seen - we only learn about her through the supporting characters.

One of the questions asked as part of the homework implies that I should have read the story.

So, I got to thinking. I'm taking an on-line writing course, the purpose of which is to read an analyze the work of other authors.

Well, that puts me squarely in left-brain mode. My left-brain mode is a very literal mode, which makes me really good at programming computers.

Unfortunately, my literal-minded left brain needs expects to be explicitly told what is expected. I don't recall from reading the lecture that the instructor asked us to read the story.

Now, the instructor may have asked us to read the story. To be honest, I didn't read the lecture very closely. You see, in left-brain mode my literal mind craves conciseness and brevity. The lecture was neither, though I'm sure if I read it in right-brain mode I'd find it very entertaining. At any rate, my literal mind skimmed through the lecture picking out what appeared to be the salient details.

I think I need a switch installed in my brain.



1 comment:

  1. I think I'm fairly right-brained, but the amount of time I spend on the internet skimming through posts and articles looking only for the salient bits has made me far less tolerant of unnecessary wordiness in my reading.

    Sadly, this hasn't impacted my writing. :)

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