Writing Tips — Right and Left
In this week’s Story Club, we investigated right vs left hands, and whether they ‘speak’ differently.
In the past, it was generally thought that the left brain (right hand) was more involved with logic and equation-solving skills, and the right brain (left hand) dwelled in the emotional and creative realm. Recent studies are questioning these differences and of course both hemispheres work together as we approach things.
However, I find that writing with my non-dominant hand (left) tends to bring up different words and styles than my dominant hand does! If I feel stuck while writing I often let my non-dominant hand have a go. I thought it would be fun and even useful to try a Story Club with both hands …
We described an object using first the right, then the left hand. (Never have I enjoyed hearing about a humidifier so much — the talented Mine brought one to life!) Ignoring the messiness and frustration (or fun?) of trying to write with a non-dominant hand, we found some differences.
The right hand did seem to describe things in a factual way. Coco’s right-handed description of her miniature library read in a precise and academic way. When she switched to her left hand, words like ‘amazing’ appeared and I felt emotionally drawn to the miniature library and the enthusiastic description.
My own efforts at describing a chocolate cake are here. (I did this at a cafe this morning, while waiting for … well, I was being virtuous, a corn chowder … but dreaming of said cake).
I’ll type the descriptions rather than subjecting anyone to my messy left-hand writing (as I’m right-handed). But one thing I’ll mention is my left hand did not want to write in lines. It made kind of a crossword puzzle of words, instead.
Right-hand:
Dark and delicious
tasty
chocolatey
calories
spongy
dessert
good with coffee
Left-hand:
Evil
chocolate
delicious
calorific
sensuous
love
cake
Yum!
So next time you are writing and feel stuck, let your non-dominant hand have a go. You may be surprised what it has to say!
