Refresh Your Storytelling Using the Y Factor by Martha Reed

(But first, congratulations to Katherine who is our winner of Edith Maxwell's Murder Uncorked from Sunday's giveaway! Katherine, please check your email!)

Mid-October I had the very great pleasure of attending a Writer’s Retreat in Somerset, Pennsylvania with members of the Mary Roberts Rinehart Pittsburgh Sisters in Crime.

The Laurel Highlands was ablaze with fall color. Since I was a carpool passenger, I was able to sit back, relax, and enjoy the rolling back road country view. The AirBnB log cabin we rented was way up ‘back of beyond,’ with no near neighbors. We nicknamed the cabin “Cracker Barrel” for an obvious reason, but you couldn’t beat the scenery from one of the many comfortable rockers on the porch.

During the retreat I shared a presentation using the attendees as test subjects (e.g., captive audience guinea pigs.) Since their response was positive, I’ve decided to share my premise with the Writers Who Kill.

Story Construction Using the Y Factor

I believe telling tales is as old as humanity. Storytelling reaches out from our prehistoric past before evolving into familiar myths, legends, and epics. Some stories – like the Great Flood are so ancient we hear echoes of them from multiple and unrelated cultural sources.

[Sidebar: As we learn more about the other human family branches we shared our prehistory with, I also wonder if the cross-cultural tales of Bigfoot (Neanderthals/Denisovans) or the Fairies/Little People (Hobbits) have some basis in truth, but I digress.]

Our human brains are hard-wired to consider and react to unseen possibilities as a survival mechanism. Imagine a group of early humans sitting around a fire on the savannah when they hear a rustling in the brush. Is it a harmless gazelle settling in for the night or a prowling lion? Is it something we can safely ignore, or should we grab the kids and flee? Nowadays, we use our creative imaginations to develop modern life problem-solving solutions. The result may not be as exciting as being the entrée on the lion’s dinner menu, but our ancient hard-wired brain function is still active and in place.

And I believe this pre-existing hard-wired brain function is why we continue to be fascinated by and involved in solving mysteries.

Exploring the Y Factor

The human brain is a super-computer composed of many parts.

• The left side takes hard data and thinks linearly – step by logical step to a solution. Think deduction, like Mr. Spock or Sherlock Holmes.
• The right side is used for imaginative thinking. The Y factor is housed here. Right-side thinking imagines a solution ahead of solid data. It makes an intuitive leap to a solution like Lord Peter Wimsey.
• Both sides are active and connected.
• The frontal lobe is our conscious personality. It interacts with reality and our day-to-day events. To engage our active imagination, we need to still this voice. The frontal lobe is the reason Virginia Wolfe and Stephen King said writers need a room with a door.
• The sub-cortex is the active subconscious that never sleeps. This is where the Y Factor magic happens. Have you ever gone to sleep facing a problem, and woke up with the right solution? Your sub-cortex kept working on it while you slept.
• By working on your novel for at least one hour a day, you can train your sub-cortex to stay actively engaged with your story and in calculating a long-term solution. Your sub-cortex will know what the solution is, and then use your imagination to guide you to it as you write. (Trust the process).

Why Using Both Sides of Your Brain Works Best

• A Plotter uses the left side of the brain to analyze the current existing situation to determine a solution.
• A Pantser uses the right side of the brain to imagine a solution.
• Alternating between linear structure and imaginative play will keep you engaged and your story lively.
• I believe this may be an especially effective tool for authors who may have fallen into a habit of only using one type of storytelling due to publishing deadlines or series constraints.

Ready to Test the Y Factor?

Take 2 minutes and outline two new characters.

• Imagine a conflict between your two characters.
• How does your protagonist response to the conflict? Do you naturally follow a linear or imaginative glide path?
• Now, instead of going with that initial response, pause and re-consider an alterative left brain/right brain suggestion. Even consider the opposite reaction.

Example: At a class reunion, your protagonist tenses up when she sees her old high school bully approaching.

Y Factor: Your protagonist was the high school bully.

Does your Y Factor alternative open new story possibilities and seem fresher?

As you draft your tale, pause, and consider using the Y Factor alternative at each key plot point. If you go with the new Y Factor suggestion, your sub-cortex will automatically recalculate the next plot point and the end solution. Surprising your readers with ongoing non-linear alternatives will refresh your imagination as the writer and hook your readers. It’s win-win.