The Creative Writer's Mind

What goes on in creative writers’ heads when they write? What can cognitive psychology, neuroscience, literary studies and previous research in creative writing studies tell creative writers about the processes of their writing mind?

Creative writers have for centuries undertaken cognitive research. Some described cognition in vivid exegetical essays, but most investigated the mind in creative writing itself, in descriptions of the thinking of characters in fiction, poetry and plays. The inner voicings and inner visualising revealed in Greek choruses, in soliloquies, in stream-of-consciousness narratives are creative writers’ ‘research results’ from studying their own cognition, and the thinking of others. The Creative Writer’s Mind is a book for creative writers: it sets out to cross the gap between creative writing and science, between the creative arts and cognitive research.

Nigel Krauth is Professor of Creative Writing at Griffith University in Australia. He has published four novels and co-authored a number of books for young adults. He is General Editor of TEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses.