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Story Ideas – Imagination’s Influence on Perception
By Deb Gallardo
It’s been said that perception is everything. I learned that the hard way, as I was going through my unwanted separation and divorce about eight years ago. Perception need not bear any resemblance to reality.
How we perceive the world around us, the people in it and our place / role therein, represents our reality.
As writers, our imaginations are an integral part of who we are and our creative process. So I admit to a fascination with the subject of imagination. A recent study I read about caught my attention because its significance is huge.
“46 golfers were asked to estimate the size of the hole after they played a round of golf… The golfers selected one of nine black holes from a poster that ranged in size from 9-13 centimeters. Those who selected larger holes were the same players who had better scores on the course that day. These findings matched up with previous research…which found that people who were successful at hitting a ball remembered it as larger.”
Another study found that our imaginations not only influence how we see something now, but how we will see it in the future.
“Participants imagined a pattern of either vertical or horizontal stripes. They were then presented with a horizontal pattern to one eye and a vertical pattern to the other eye. …Most people see the two patterns alternating. But subjects in this experiment were more likely to see the pattern they had been imagining.”
How does this apply to story ideas? One application would be to show two or more characters with different perceptions of the same events. Another could lead to greater insight into your characters’ motivations and actions. If they perceived things one way how would they react? If they perceive things another way, how would they behave differently?
Our job is always to ask ourselves questions. Answering them is what gives us a complete story from one humble story idea.
Better Golfers See Bigger Hole (opens in new window)
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