Creative Intuition: How Writers Trust Their Gut

Do you listen to your brain or your gut?

When I was reading the book The Luck Factor by Richard Wiseman, I found myself thinking how I was able to come up with the plot (and twists) for my debut novel The Last Guardians Of Atlantis. I then remembered the idea came to me while I was out walking my dog.

Have you ever experienced something like that? Where an idea strikes and your inner voice tells you “This is right”? Well according to Wiseman, it isn’t random chance (or the universe sending you messages) but a sophisticated, neural network of experience. You might know it as that ‘gut feeling. For writers and artists alike, this is known as creative intuition.

In this blog post, I’ll discuss ways to boost this trainable skill known as creative intuition. Using scientific research and insights from Wiseman’s book, I’ll go over practical strategies to help you trust your creative gut, transform your writing process and unlock possibilities you never knew existed. Understanding your creative intuition is the difference between having a story and possibly, a New York Times bestseller!

We’ll discuss:

1. Understanding Intuition

2. Boost your Creative Intuition

3. Trust your Instincts

1. Understanding Intuition

For most people, intuition is seen as a ‘sixth sense’—a sudden knowing/gut feeling of what is right or wrong. Before making a decision, people would get an visceral emotional response (think alarm bells) going off in their body.

According to Wiseman in his book The Luck Factor, intuition or rather instinct, is an elaborate cognitive process. He suggests our brains rapidly processes complex information from our experiences and environmental cues, to help spot patterns which can lead to insights about our future.

You hear this a lot about relationships. For example, many of Wiseman’s participants would say they ‘knew’ they met ‘the one’ on a chance meeting. That deep down, the participants were convinced their future partner whom they had just met, was their ‘one true love’.

Intuition and ‘hunches’ played a role in one entrepreneur’s decision, that he went against the opinions and advice of his colleagues regarding one customer. A client wanted some information and later made an unusual order but the entrepreneur did it anyways, citing “I’ve got to go with this customer.” His coworkers advised him he was wasting his time but eventually that customer turned out to be their business’s most lucrative and profitable client!

Wiseman urges readers to pay attention to physical and emotional responses when it comes to making a decision or navigating a situation you never been in before. Wiseman suggests everyone has this inner compass or GPS which guides them to make a decision.

For writer’s, the means developing a sensitivity to narrative patterns (plot points, prose) and emotional appeal. When writing, listen to what your gut tells you. Pay attention to unexpected emotional responses to potential story ideas. If you resonate with an idea, write it!

2. How to Boost your Creative Intuition

Writers can leverage their inner guidance system via a couple of ways:

• Read across Multiple Genres

  • Probably the most obvious tip for an aspiring writer is to read as much as you can. Consume books like there’s no tomorrow. And not just in a genre you like. Push your boundaries and read across a variety of genres. This creates a reservoir of story elements from which your creative intuition could craft a plot that resonates with you.

• Do Free-Writing Exercises

  • This technique comes from veteran authors like Dan Brown and Brandon Sanderson. The premise of the exercise is to write without stopping while you follow where your inner voice guides you. The technique asks you to ignore perfectionism, judgment and the need to constantly edit as you write. This helps strengthen your creative intuition muscles by trusting where your instincts leads you. Practice this technique by setting up a writing sprint of 30 minutes, take a break for 10 minutes then back to another 30 minute session. Push limits and see how many sprints you can do. But remember, keep writing and listen to your gut. Edit later.

• Reflect on Stories that Felt ‘Right’

  • Go back to your favorite stories whether it be from a book, short story, tv show or movie. Identify which parts of the story you remember and resonate with the most and analyze why they were powerful. What made them feel so visceral? What emotions did you feel? What made the the specific moment in the story stay with you? Just as you build a reservoir of stories from reading various books, you build another repository of emotional moments your creative intuition can use.

If you haven’t noticed yet, the gist of these tips are to help you develop an internal library of narratives, plots, and emotional key moments. With this, your brain synthesizes potential story elements which your intuitive sense will tell you if it feels right to write. Of course, none of this matters if you don’t trust your gut.

3. Trust your Creative Instincts

Wiseman’s research found that people who trusted their gut (or simply, trust in themselves) were more successful at reaching their goals. These people listened to their intuitive sense to guide them when making decisions. This can help tremendously as a writer. Here are a few how:

• Quiet the Inner Critic

  • Placing trust in yourself means silencing the inner critic. During your first drafts, you’ll be prone to self-judgment, which can block creative flow. Over-analyzing and consistently critiquing your work leads to perfectionism and this has no place while writing your drafts. How do you silence your inner critic? This leads us to the next point.

• Create a Safe Writing Space

  • Minimize judgment by creating a safe and quiet space for yourself. Choose a dedicated writing area like your room, an office space or the library and commit to writing distraction-free. Set a timer on for 30 minutes and write without any boundaries and critiques. Keep writing without the need to constantly stop and edit. With this open free-writing session, you begin to practice self-trust and allow your intuition to be creative.

Remember: your first draft doesn’t have to be perfect. Your ideas don’t need to be fully formed, and your creativity doesn’t need someone else’s opinion. What your creative intuition simply needs is space to breathe and explore!

What now?

Intuition in general, is not a mystical gift reserved for a select few. It’s a trainable skill borne from the many experiences we each have. As stated before, creative intuition is a sophisticated network of experiences and feelings. By tapping into this library of knowledge, you can craft stories that could resonate deeply with countless readers. Challenge yourself today and listen to your intuitive nudges. Let your inner voice guide you towards unexpected ideas!

Courtesy Rafi and Klee

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