There’s a different repertoire of knowledge you get to when you write from your core. It will be reflected in all you do from your book to social media.

The mind, when solely engaged in writing, only has the facts at hand, the surface knowledge.

There’s a vast new understanding of the world and what you can say when discovering that which is deep within you.

The dilemma is that you can’t write from that place inside you when not connected to it. The only way to connect is to dive deep within you.

Dive Deep

There are ways to do this. Any technique where you make yourself still and listen will work. Some helpful words to describe this activity are Meditation, Mindfulness, Thinking, Contemplation, Pondering, Reflection, Rumination, Concentration, Cognition, and Speculation.

You get the idea.

Let’s look at where all this takes place.

A writer’s ability to create new solutions while constructing a story relies on their state of mind.

It all happens in your brain, the center of your unique creativity.

In the big picture, we have identified brain networks by their role and give us a useful, comprehensible context to understand cognition.

Moreover, different regions of the brain cooperate to perform the functions we require.

That said, there’s no one region of the brain where creativity resides. The process of creativity is shared across different areas, in self-organized alliances. It’s a brain-wide activity.

For writers, this allows for the free flow of information from all we have done, remembered, imagined, felt, heard, touched, and dreamed. It permits the experimentation to create a new concept in the story process.

There’s a network in the brain called the imagination network. It builds pictures related to previous experiences and helps to imagine alternative situations. Trying out things not tried before.

The imagination network is active during times of daydreaming when not focused on the outside world. It also helps us imagine what other individuals, our characters, could be thinking.

The brain is complex, and other regions are always vying for attention. That’s why, as part of the creative process, being able to switch between networks is vital.

Focus, But It’s Not Absolute

As you’re writing and creating, the brain is busy clearing out unrelated information. It keeps your attention focused on what you consider relevant. For instance, you could be listening to music as you begin to write. Eventually, the sound drifts into the background as you focus on your work.

This ability to ignore some of the information that bombards our senses take place at a subconscious level is essential. Without it, our world would be a brash visual, auditory, and sensory collection of commotion.

I’ll bet this ability to withdraw from the world has happened to you, but not entirely.

This aptitude to obscure the outside world is not absolute in creative people. The thinking is that more creative people are less likely to classify outside objects or sounds as being unimportant. This is an advantage to create original content as they have more material to pull from.

It’s part of the cost we pay to be creative.

Distractions will be something we’ll just need to live with.

Brainwaves

Now, let’s take a closer look at brainwaves that splash around inside our heads.

The brain is an electro-chemical organ. Brainwaves course their way through it, sometimes under our control and other times directed by our subconscious.

So far, we have identified five types of brainwaves: Infra low, Delta, Theta, Alpha, and Gamma.

While you’re creating, you utilize all the brain’s networks and brainwaves. But, four of them seem to come into play as we create. I’ll look into Theta waves, Alpha waves, Beta waves, and Gamma waves because I see them more related to creativity.

Theta waves (3 to 8 HZ) occur during deep meditation. Usually, if you don’t meditate, you experience Theta when you first drift off to sleep and when you wake up. Theta is a dreamy state with vivid imagery if you can hold on to it. It helps access information beyond your conscious control. This is why many creative people keep a notebook and pen at their bedside.

Alpha waves (8 to 12 HZ) happen during quiet flowing thoughts and in meditative states. It helps you focus on the present. These brainwaves aid in mental coordination and alertness. They selectively ratchet back brain activity to help problem solve. This is useful with creativity. In fact, a higher level of Alpha wave activity is strongly linked to higher creative states.

Beta waves (12 to 38 HZ) are part of the normal wakeful state. It helps when you focus your attention on a cognitive task. And when you figure something out and are assimilating novel incidents. It’s handy for problem-solving, judgment, and reflective mental pursuit.

Gamma waves (38 to 42 HZ), simultaneously handle information from various brain regions. They’re fast and process information quickly. This is the “ah-ha” moment when you arrive at an intuitive solution to a problem, you’re writing your way out of.

Notice how the frequencies flow from one to the next.

This suggests to me that as you meditate, as part of your writing practice, you open the door to your subconscious. This is where you can tap into the information you consciously don’t have access to.

As you come near the end of your meditation, you move from Theta to the Alpha state. It’s still a meditative state, but you are focused on the present in a mindful way. It helps you integrate new information from the conscious and subconscious.

Beta picks up as you begin to write. Again, this helps assimilate the new and novel concepts you acquired from Theta to Alpha. It enables you to put things in an order that makes sense.

Gamma can come forward at any time, providing a burst of insights and solutions.

I can see how my meditation-writing process plays out in the framework of this information.

My Practice

You may have your own favorite method of getting inside your mind, and that’s great. Just so long as you’re sitting with yourself quietly, eyes closed if you want, and breathe comfortably. There are plenty of guided meditation resources online.

This is my meditation practice each morning and before I write. Try it. You can add to it and make it your own. I spend ten to twenty minutes at this.

I take a deep breath. Filling my lungs with air.

Then I hold my breath (without closing my throat) for a moment.

Then let my breath out naturally, without forcing it.

I repeat this a few times while I recall why I write, my core values.

And pull on my inner vision of the question at hand. I let the mental pictures flow through me.

I let my breath out naturally and observe the inner pictures without judgment.

Inhale again, holding my breath momentarily, the visions flowing through my mind freely, and breath out.

I repeat this, breathing in and out, as long as the pictures continue to drift into and out of my awareness.

Almost lastly, I inhale deeply and prepare to write.

As I let my breath out, I lift my hands and let my fingers brush the keyboard.

And taking another breath in and holding it for another moment.

I let my breath out and take a moment to be aware of how the keys feel.

Then, I push the first key down and feel the slight pressure it provides.

Then I go onto the next key and the next to and enjoy the feel of each key.

And continue with my writing.

During this practice, I don’t feel myself moving through the different brain wave levels or networks that are in play. Instead, I notice the results. I let this experience flow through me unhindered. There isn’t a wrong way to do this.

As I begin to write, my immediate world, my first goal, is to push a single key on the keyboard. The reward is the slight pressure of this key. Each key, as it’s pushed down, provides the same reward. Then I just keep going and enjoy the sensation of each pushed key as I write.

These small increments, touching each key, provide satisfaction while writing, confident that I am moving towards my goal, to finish this book, and many more.

Thus, and I think this is important, the project of writing a book reduces from being a huge task to the satisfying feel of pushing each key down.

It’s now a small rewarding aim.

That’s the goal now, that’s the reward, and it’s the daily habit.

The Pep Talk

When you merge your writing life and your core, you live and write in alignment with who you are. It will show up in all you do in your daily writing. From you book to your social media, they will contain your true voice and speak to that inner space within your reader.

When you write from your core, writing from the inside out, it gives your writing a purpose and passion.

People who read your writing will notice this, but it will be on a subconscious level. As you write from your deep place, it speaks to something within the reader. They will notice that your writing has a distinct revelation to it.

Admit it, some books have done this to you. They become a part of you, and you can recall specific scenes you still carry within.

All you create, each word, any social media post, and each image or video you share need to be aligned with you at your core.

When you understand yourself better, as you write and create, understanding will come and grow. It will become second nature to you.

Another way to describe this is the flow state.

The flow state is where the need to write, your will to write, and your craft overlap.

This overlap is at the deepest part of your being where your core values reside.

I’ll bet there’ve been times when writing you’ve hit the flow. All writers do at times.

Nothing mattered but the writing. No outside concerns. The flow state even removes time. I’ll bet you never thought about your word count during this.

The only thing that mattered was the writing, and it was effortless.

Wouldn’t it be nice to visit this state more often? Well, you will.

Practice getting in touch with your core when you first wake up and before you write. The more you do this, the flow state will arrive sooner and linger longer.

You’ll find that in time, because you are a creative, that you’ll become especially adept at this.

You’ll train yourself fully to utilize your creative brain with its various networks and brain waves. You’ll be conscious of your inner workings. At least the results of those workings.

You’ll simultaneously be aware of the outside concerns and draw on your internal resources. Eventually, you’ll exercise great flexibility with your creativity as you move between these two realms.