Hurling Words into Darkness: A Book Doctor's Dose of Brain Science for Writers

Can learning how our minds work make you a better writer?

For thousands of years, writers in all media have been taught theories and rules about writing based on tradition, philosophy, esthetics, poetics, scholarship, mysticism, whim, pet peeves, and arbitrary dictates. Often they've been told how and what to write according to subjective preference rather than universal appeal, leaving them lost in a sea of conflicting advice.

Meanwhile, over the past few decades, cognitive science has di...