I caught three minutes of a radio documentary exploring the concept that to foster creativity, a person needs both time space and physical space. The time space seems obvious – the freedom to allow a mind to wander and explore— would help any creative spirit. Who doesn’t need more time to allow themself to write, paint or basketweave with pine needles?
But in the few minutes I heard of the documentary, it also discussed the idea that a person would be more creative working in an open air or high vaulted room. Is this true?
Time for research!
This lead me to a book by the architect, Donald M. Rattner, My Creative Space: How to Design Your Home to Stimulate Ideas and Spark Innovation. His thesis is that you can design your home to maximum your creative powers. He reviewed psychological research and case studies to back up his claim and then offers strategies to boost your creativity in how you design your space. I was totally intrigued!
As an example, researchers found that individuals in a room with ten-foot ceilings scored higher on creativity assessment tests than people who perform the same tests in a room with 8 foot ceilings. This phenomenon even has a name: “The Cathedral Effect”. Researchers have found the opposite to be true as well. When you want to do more analytical work, lower ceilings help the brain focus.
Rooms with high ceilings appears to allow our brain more freedom for creative thought; conversely, lower ceilings allow our brain to focus on more detail and analytical work.
Would being outside foster even more creativity than a high ceiling? After all, what is higher than the vast sky above us?
My google research suggests that being outside and especially, walking outside, boosts creativity. My favourite study showed that backpackers after a 4 day hike scored higher in “creativity” tests than other people stuck in their offices. Duh… Kind of obvious but I love that someone went ahead and actually did the scientific work to prove this correct!
Studies have also shown that when a person’s mind is allowed to wander — daydream— may also boost creative thought and behaviour. Oh yes, this is our permission “to waste time” and daydream!
“Letting yourself daydream with a purpose, on a regular basis, might allow brain networks that don’t usually cooperate to literally form stronger connections,” Adam Green, PhD, a cognitive neuroscientist at Georgetown University and founder of the Society for the Neuroscience of Creativity. (Check out their website and twitter for more resources).
End result: Being outside in nature allows your brain to wander more and that can spark creative ideas. Daydreaming is a form of brain wandering; combine physical wandering (walking) with giving your mind permission to fantastical thinking, might produce a great work of fiction. Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Henry David Thoreau and William Wordsworth were all avid walker-writers!
What does all of this mean for writers? When working on that first draft, is it better to write in a large vaulted spaces or outside but conversely, when you are ready for some nit-picking editing requiring more detail oriented thought, should you squeeze into a closet with a flashlight?
Well, time for some old-fashion home-grown pseudo science experimenting! And you can play along at home.
For this experiment, you will need:
- Access to outside space surrounded by trees and grass.
- Access to a regular ceiling height in a medium size space inside— around 8 feet high (I chose my living room)
- Access to a low ceiling heigh / smaller space (I chose my Quill trailer)
- Writing Material
Ideally, none of the spaces should be a place where you regularly write. This may be pseudo science but we have some standards.
Here’s the experiment: Set a timer for 15 minutes on your phone. At the same time every day, write in each of the locations. This should be NEW WORDS (no editing). It can be from a work in progress or something new. It could be as simple as journalling. I scored the work on word count and on my made-up and completely subjective (this is after all pseudo science) “creativity scale” from 1 to 10 (10 being high creativity). I re-read what I wrote a week later and decided how creative was the work. I looked at word choices (for example, more specific nouns ie. cardinal vs bird), adverb use (lower the score), out-of-box thinking, etc.
The following week, I did the same exercise but focused on the editing process, using a work in progress. Instead of creativity scale, I reviewed what I had edited and scored on an arbitrary “effective editing” scale.
I know you are anxious for the results! You will have to wait for my next blog (on July 25) to find out. I challenge you to try this experiment and to let me know what you discover.
Happy writing and creative thought!
Sources:
I reviewed many online articles and information for this blog; here are some of the main ones. Check them out for more information:
Jaffe, Eric. “Why Our Brains Love High Ceilings.” Co.Design (website). May 5, 2015. goo.gl/6xoPjP
https://www.apa.org/monitor/2022/04/cover-science-creativity
Great blog, Seana! I have heard of this… AND, I know it to be true. This is why I have several offices in my house. The room with 24’ high ceilings is my favourite spot, with the exception of outdoors. Being outside, brings my creativity to the highest level. It might have something to do with the birds singing or the breeze whipping through my hair? However, my tiny basement office with no windows is the perfect place to delete words and edit like a rockstar. I can’t wait to hear about your results.