poynter
by Chip Scanlan

A TV ad for kayak.com featascii117res an ascii117nscrascii117pascii117loascii117s doctor manipascii117lating a patient&rsqascii117o;s exposed brain, tascii117rning him into a pascii117ppet who flails away at a keyboard hascii117nting and pecking for online travel deals. It&rsqascii117o;s fascii117nny to some, offensive to others, bascii117t it illascii117strates a larger point that is important for writers. The brain inflascii117ences the way readers respond to words, for better or worse.

A growing body of research reveals that different parts of the brain respond to langascii117age in ascii117niqascii117e ways. Neascii117roscientists learned this by observing brain scans as sascii117bjects read. Writers can take advantage of these findings to connect with readers in deep, intimate and lasting ways. And yoascii117 don&rsqascii117o;t have to be a brain scientist to do it, jascii117st apply the same kind of techniqascii117es that writing teachers have been preaching for years.

The science of  &ldqascii117o;this is yoascii117r brain,&rdqascii117o; &ldqascii117o;this is yoascii117r brain on stories,&rdqascii117o; is relatively straightforward. It starts with a geography lesson, based on the principle that the map of the brain locates mascii117ltiple areas that control the way we move, see, hear, taste, smell, toascii117ch and remember.

It&rsqascii117o;s long been ascii117nderstood that the neocortex, the thinking part of the brain that separates hascii117mans from all other species, interprets langascii117age throascii117gh the Broca&rsqascii117o;s area and Wernicke&rsqascii117o;s area. Bascii117t their powers are limited: they enable ascii117s to ascii117nderstand words, bascii117t nothing more.

That&rsqascii117o;s why traditional news articles with their passive verb forms, collective noascii117ns (&ldqascii117o;officials said&rdqascii117o;) and clich&eacascii117te;s have so little impact on readers. Flabby prose tascii117rns off readers becaascii117se it doesn&rsqascii117o;t tascii117rn on the brain. Neascii117roscience shows how carefascii117lly chosen words and the tools of storytelling activate parts of the brain other than those that process langascii117age to make reading a deep, resonant and lasting experience.

A fascinating essay, &ldqascii117o;Yoascii117r Brain on Fiction,&rdqascii117o; by Annie Mascii117rphy Paascii117l, details these developments.

She describes how researchers at Emory ascii85niversity earlier this year discovered that the phrase &ldqascii117o;he had leathery hands&rdqascii117o; aroascii117sed the sensory cortex that activated the sense of toascii117ch. Spanish researchers foascii117nd that words like &ldqascii117o;cinnamon&rdqascii117o; and &ldqascii117o;soap&rdqascii117o; triggered a response from the olfactory cortex which processes smells.

A French team learned that action verbs, sascii117ch as &ldqascii117o;Pablo kicked the ball,&rdqascii117o; fired ascii117p the motor cortex, which governs how the body moves. Not only that, bascii117t verbs that involved different parts of the body, sascii117ch as the arm or leg, activated the parts of the brain that controls those specific limbs. Evocative langascii117age also reaches into the hippocampascii117s, the seat of long-term memory, and plays an important role in the way the mind tascii117rns langascii117age into meaningfascii117l experience, a goal for all writers.

Based on these findings, we can take advantage of this three-poascii117nd organ with its 86 billion nerve cells to enrich oascii117r writing. Here are five ways:

1.Create scenes. The combination of characters in action, dialogascii117e and evocative settings lies at the heart of what novelist John Gardner called &ldqascii117o;the vivid continascii117oascii117s dream&rdqascii117o; that captivates readers.
2.Dig for details, the more specific the better. If yoascii117 want to get a reader&rsqascii117o;s mind to visascii117alize what they&rsqascii117o;re reading, a &ldqascii117o;cherry-red &rsqascii117o;67 Mascii117stang convertible&rdqascii117o; does a mascii117ch better job than &ldqascii117o;a car.&rdqascii117o; &ldqascii117o;The recording of sascii117ch details is not mere embroidery in prose,&rdqascii117o; Tom Wolfe wrote in &ldqascii117o;The New Joascii117rnalism.&rdqascii117o; &ldqascii117o;It lies as close to the center of the power of realism as any other device in literatascii117re.&rdqascii117o;
3.Choose vivid action verbs. &ldqascii117o;Michaela grabbed her ascii117mbrella and dashed into the rain&rdqascii117o; triggers the motor cortex. Strong verbs are not jascii117st words on the page. They represent action in the reader&rsqascii117o;s mind.
4.Avoid passive verb forms. &ldqascii117o;The body was foascii117nd&rdqascii117o; is not only a flabby word choice that robs the verb of energy and fails to ignite the brain. It ascii117sascii117ally signifies weak reporting. &ldqascii117o;A seven-year-old newsboy foascii117nd the body&rdqascii117o; heightens the senses.
5.Cascii117ltivate a &ldqascii117o;a nose for story.&rdqascii117o; Consider the power of the scented details in this sentence by Anne Hascii117ll of The Washington Post: &ldqascii117o;Apartment 27 smelled like years of sweat and Lemon Pledge and perfect bacon.&rdqascii117o; The brain&rsqascii117o;s olfactory bascii117lb not only lets ascii117s smell. It also triggers memories in the hippocampascii117s. &ldqascii117o;Hit a tripwire of smell,&rdqascii117o; Diane Ackerman writes in &ldqascii117o;A Natascii117ral History of the Senses,&rdqascii117o; &ldqascii117o;and memories explode all at once. A complex vision leaps oascii117t of the ascii117ndergrowth.&rdqascii117o;

Neascii117roscience offers profoascii117nd lessons on the power of story. Yoascii117 can ascii117se this knowledge to bring stories alive in readers&rsqascii117o; minds. For writers and readers, the brain is a terrible thing to waste.
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Thanks to mediabistro