The document discusses the differences between left brain and right brain thinking and how they relate to writing. The left brain is logical, analytical, and focuses on details, while the right brain thinks more holistically and creatively through patterns and images. Natural writing allows one to tap into right brain thinking by emerging from within through melodies and feelings rather than following strict rules, resulting in writing that is richer, deeper, and more original.

1. Right Brain/Left Brain

2. William Stafford said: Writing is one of the great, free human activities. There is scope for individuality, and elation, and discovery.

3. In writing, for the person who follows with trust and forgiveness what occurs to him or her, the world remains always ready and deep, an inexhaustible environment, with the combined vividness of an actuality and flexibility of dream. (Writing the Australian Crawl, Stafford)

4. Left Brain Hemisphere Associated with: Rational Logical representation of reality Parts and logical sequences

5. The Left Brain has the capacity of ordering thought into communicable syntactic form—the way words are put together to form sentences. It acts as critic, censor, and error corrector.

6. The left brain splits the world into clearly definable units and classifies them by giving them clear cut definitions—such as “woman: a female human being”—composed of unambiguous words used to denote meaning.

7. Narrow Scope Words used as signs have a precise and narrow scope. “Woman,” for example, is a linguistic sign designating a particular kind of human being that none of us confuses with children or men.

8. The Right Hemisphere Constantly thinks in complex images; it seeks patterns to make designs of whatever it encounters, including language, which, instead of clear-cut signs, become designs of nonliteral meaning.

9. If the Left Hemisphere mind defines the term ‘woman’, the Right Hemisphere gives us a ‘feel’ of womanness through patterning.

10. Although each is a distinct way of expressing the same idea, only one has richness, depth, and originality, the qualities that permit us to understand something profound.

11. The Beauty of Natural Writing Allows us to tap the Right Brain Hemisphere—the melody of life. The key to natural writing is that the ‘melodies’ must be tapped first.

12. Unfortunately, most of us have learned to write not in a state of releases but by rule, with the result generally being flat, dull, turgid—most certainly not original, natural and free.

13. The most fundamental difference between writing by rule and natural writing is that the former is imposed from without, whereas natural writing emerges from within.

14. Much of the excitement of tapping your inner writer comes from restoring it to full function. Get ready for the ride.