Welcome back to a special edition of The Writer Files called “The Best of the Writer s Brain,” a series neuroscientist Michael Grybko and I started in 2015 where I enlisted his help to give us a tour of the inner workings of the writer’s process. Q: Have you ever wondered how prolific writers summon vast stores of creativity without breaking a sweat? As we take a short Summer hiatus to book new guests for the upcoming season, I thought I d put all of these enlightening episodes in one place, starting here … In Part One of the series I invited my friend, research scientist Michael Grybko — of the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington — to come on the show and help pinpoint where exactly in the brain creativity lives. If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews. In this file Michael Grybko and I discuss: How science is expanding our definition of creativity Why memory plays such a big part in writing Where creative ideas come from Whether or not you can teach an old writer new tricks Why staying curious is so important to creativity How prolific writers are like pro athletes Why the adage “write what you know” is sound advice The Show Notes: This Is Your Brain on Writing 8 Strange Rituals of Productive Writers Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to a special edition of The Writer Files called “The Best of the Writer s Brain,” a series neuroscientist Michael Grybko and I started in 2015 where I enlisted his help to give us a tour of the inner workings of the writer’s process. Q: Have you ever wondered how prolific writers summon vast stores of creativity without breaking a sweat? As we take a short Summer hiatus to book new guests for the upcoming season, I thought I d put all of these enlightening episodes in one place, starting here … In Part One of the series I invited my friend, research scientist Michael Grybko — of the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington — to come on the show and help pinpoint where exactly in the brain creativity lives. If you’re a fan of The Writer Files, please click subscribe to automatically see new interviews. In this file Michael Grybko and I discuss: How science is expanding our definition of creativity Why memory plays such a big part in writing Where creative ideas come from Whether or not you can teach an old writer new tricks Why staying curious is so important to creativity How prolific writers are like pro athletes Why the adage “write what you know” is sound advice The Show Notes: This Is Your Brain on Writing 8 Strange Rituals of Productive Writers Kelton Reid on Twitter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices