Adapted from John Medina‘s cool book, Brain Rules:
1. EXERCISE boosts brain power.
Moving around gets more blood and oxygen pumping to the brain, which gives you more ideas. (See Haruki Murakami’s essay on writing and running in the New Yorker.)
4. We don’t pay ATTENTION to boring things.
Elmore Leonard says, “Leave out the parts readers tend to skip.” Kurt Vonnegut called it “being a good date.”
7. SLEEP well, think well.
Get plenty of shut eye, and figure out when you’re most creative: it’s probably either early in the morning or late at night. NO ONE is creative during the mid-afternoon, and that’s why some of the greatest thinkers of all time were notorious for 3PM naps. (Salvador Dali napped with a spoon.) Hit a snag? Sleep on it: our brain is constantly working things out in our sleep. Keep a dream journal.
9. Stimulate more of THE SENSES.
Pictures and words belong together. Write by hand with a pen or paintbrush. Cut words out of magazines. Use a Sharpie and a newspaper….
10. VISION trumps all the other senses.
Words are seen, and stories are images.
12. We are powerful and natural EXPLORERS.
Even at an old age, our brain is still malleable. We can still learn new things and improve. It ain’t over ’til it’s over.
Links:
- Brain rules for PowerPoint & Keynote presenters
- Visit the Brain Rules Website
- Buy the book on Amazon
One of the many things I like doing about comics vs. other forms of storytelling is that it provides constraints to the narrative (in terms of verbosity, needing to convey action with things other than words, etc.) and by the same token it also really expands what can be expressed, since a picture may not actually be worth a thousand words but a drawing is a lot less boring than autistically relating how abstract and indescribable things look.
Forgot to post this drawing:
Our brain is really three brains. In order of evolution:
1. lizard
2. mammalian
3. human