How to Improve Your Writing and Stop Writer’s Block

Cross Crawl to Engage Your Whole Brain

If you’re an engineer, you’re probably left-brain dominant. But if you’re a poet, your right-brain is in charge. Nothing wrong with this simple explanation . . . except that it’s too simple.

To simplify even further, the right side of your brain is the creative part of your brain; the left side the analytical. Several years ago, a popular “parlor game,” was labeling our own brains and the brains of our friends as either left-brain or right-brain. Kind of a stupid game and happily appears to have gone out of fashion.

By the way, nobody is 100 percent right brain or left brain.

But as with every simplification there is some truth. Take writing, for example: the left-side of your brain knows the rules of grammar and probably so well that you rarely make a grammatical mistake when writing for Medium.

The right-side of your brain helps you create interesting stories that folks want to read. Maybe it’s something fun? Something unusual? Or has an emotional impact?

If you’re stuck in the left side of your brain, what you’ve written is probably boring. Think a computer manual for writing html code. If you’re stuck in the right side of your brain, there’s a good chance, unless you’re writing poetry, your writing won’t make sense.

Whole-brain writing is the answer. Huh? Whole-brain writing? It’s nothing more than getting the grammar, sentence structure, and paragraph order correct while creating writing that tells a story, solves a problem, or teaches a concept. The right side of your brain tells the story, the left side takes care of the rules of writing.

How to Tell the Story with Your Right Brain and Stick to the Rules with Your Left Brain

Using both sides of your brain is easy. Just cross the center midline of your body. For example, could be as simple as crossing your ankles. Or crossing your arms across your chest.

The best way is an exercise called “cross-crawl.” It’s nothing more than marching in place while tapping your right knee with your left hand or left elbow and vice versa. If you’d like to watch someone doing it, take a look at the many YouTube videos of folks cross crawling.

How does Cross-crawl Work?

So you’re right-brain dominant and you could care less why it works. Fine. Stop reading (after you give me a clap or two or a comment) and cross-crawl to get your morning writing off to a great start.

But if you’re left-brain dominant, you’re not about to do this thing called “cross-crawl” unless you know how it works.

The right hemisphere and left hemisphere of your brain are connected by a fibrous band called the “corpus callosum” that sends signals between the two sides. The more cross-body activity you are doing, the more signals to your corpus callosum.

Want to improve your writing, do a bit of cross crawl before you start. Too lazy to get up and move, tap your right knee with your left hand and vice versa several times.

Now that you understand the difference between right-brain dominant and left-brain dominant: that computer programmers are left-brain dominant and poets are right-brain dominant, can you guess what profession requires the most whole-brain activity?

The answer is orchestra conductors and even more specifically opera conductors. Why? They have to use their left brain to read the music, their right brain to put the emotion into it. They cross the center of the body to bring in the string basses on one side of the orchestra and then the first violins on the other side. Not to mention directing the chorus on the stage while paying attention to the soloists.

In addition to cross crawling, the best way to work with both sides of your brain is through music: playing it, singing it, conducting it. (Sadly, children taking piano lessons has gone out of style. As has children singing in church choirs.)

Now, before you write your next story, stop and do a few cross crawls. It will improve your writing. And will get you going if you’re suffering from writer’s block.