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Science reveals one thing full-time writers do, but amateurs don’t
Roughly half of participants were full-time writers, while the others wrote in their spare time
Erhard couldn’t allow participants to write on an electronic device, as it would have disturbed the
Instead, the team built a custom writing desk, which included a system of mirrors that enabled volunteers
Next, participants were given the opening line to a short story and asked to complete it
Erhard noticed a sharp contrast between the minds of professionals versus amateurs
Full-time writers demonstrated increased activation of the caudate nucleus — one of the brain’s centers for reward,
This is the first time scientists have quantified the difference between professional writers and hobbyists
It’s usually activated by food, water, sex, shelter, and social connection
It rewards you whenever you’ve eaten the proper amount, but it goes dormant if you over-indulge
And if you’re in the habit of going to the gym, the caudate nucleus will become
If you’re struggling to kickstart your writing career, I have excellent news
One of the primary reasons we never reach this positive feedback loop is because we trick our
Instead of writing more, you train yourself to keep daydreaming
Gabriele Oettingen from New York University discovered that people who fantasize about reaching their goals perform much
Fantasies allow you to skip over all the hard work and savor underserved feelings of accomplishment
Volunteers were asked to rate their chances of success and write a few sentences visualizing what they
But people who wrote the most detailed visions for the future were the least likely to succeed
I guess this means taking action is always superior to daydreaming
Sometimes, it takes sophisticated research to make us listen to what we already know to be true
Stop fantasizing about what it would be like to have millions of adoring fans around the globe
If you want to be a writer, there’s only one thing you need to do