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ENTRY
Theory of Satisfaction: Part 4
July 21, 2008
(This part discusses the final topic of the six introduced in Part 1.)
Sixth, satisfaction is addictive. When we feel satisfied, the brain and visceral nervous system change from one state to another. Neurotransmitters rush between synapses, activating pleasure circuits, deactivating the centers of problem-solving and discontent. The brain is no dummy - it feels good to be satisfied and wants to experience it again. Because satisfaction is short-lived and because our needs and expectations return, our nervous system continually seeks to achieve satisfaction.
Good fiction takes advantage of this needs-satisfaction cycle. The writer builds suspense and the reader needs to know what will happen. Delayed gratification increases the intensity of the satisfaction response, like getting real hungry before a meal. The food tastes better. And the more intense the satisfaction, the more we crave it.
The needs-satisfaction cycle drives me to write, to continue writing. The cycle overrides the difficulties of writing: the long hours of intensely focused effort, the solitary nature of the task, the rejections, the criticism, the vagaries of publishing, the relatively low financial rewards. It's setting up a character with complex troubles and figuring a way to work them out in a strong story. It's holding a copy of a book fresh from the printer. It's coming up with just the right word. It's getting an email from a satisfied reader of one of my books.
The trick for me is to keep the cycle going, not get bogged down in minutia and negativity, or in the expectations of others. I've been reading and re-reading some of Albert Camus's fiction and essays. In one of the entries in his "Notebooks" he reveals his dissatisfaction with Parisian literary critics, writers, and publications such as La Nouvelle Revue Fran?aise. "Curious milieu, whose function it is to create writers, and where, however, they lose the joy of writing and creating."
#
© 2013
July 21, 2008
(This part discusses the final topic of the six introduced in Part 1.)
Sixth, satisfaction is addictive. When we feel satisfied, the brain and visceral nervous system change from one state to another. Neurotransmitters rush between synapses, activating pleasure circuits, deactivating the centers of problem-solving and discontent. The brain is no dummy - it feels good to be satisfied and wants to experience it again. Because satisfaction is short-lived and because our needs and expectations return, our nervous system continually seeks to achieve satisfaction.
Good fiction takes advantage of this needs-satisfaction cycle. The writer builds suspense and the reader needs to know what will happen. Delayed gratification increases the intensity of the satisfaction response, like getting real hungry before a meal. The food tastes better. And the more intense the satisfaction, the more we crave it.
The needs-satisfaction cycle drives me to write, to continue writing. The cycle overrides the difficulties of writing: the long hours of intensely focused effort, the solitary nature of the task, the rejections, the criticism, the vagaries of publishing, the relatively low financial rewards. It's setting up a character with complex troubles and figuring a way to work them out in a strong story. It's holding a copy of a book fresh from the printer. It's coming up with just the right word. It's getting an email from a satisfied reader of one of my books.
The trick for me is to keep the cycle going, not get bogged down in minutia and negativity, or in the expectations of others. I've been reading and re-reading some of Albert Camus's fiction and essays. In one of the entries in his "Notebooks" he reveals his dissatisfaction with Parisian literary critics, writers, and publications such as La Nouvelle Revue Fran?aise. "Curious milieu, whose function it is to create writers, and where, however, they lose the joy of writing and creating."
#
© 2013
COMMENTS
Number of comments: 3
click here to add a comment
Lee Witte
Yes, that's why we never give up reading even after a bad book, or writing even after a bad critique.
Jo Reed
Camus was a weird one. Addiction to reading and writing? Kind of a stretch.
Lee Witte
The addiction reality makes sense to me.
click here to add a comment
Lee Witte
Yes, that's why we never give up reading even after a bad book, or writing even after a bad critique.
Jo Reed
Camus was a weird one. Addiction to reading and writing? Kind of a stretch.
Lee Witte
The addiction reality makes sense to me.
ARCHIVE
date (comments)
Review: Paprika
April 21, 2013 (3)
Review: A Straight Road With 99 Curves
March 30, 2013 (1)
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Feb. 28, 2013 (2)
Review: Salvation of a Saint
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Review: A Room Where the Star Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard
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Review: Plainsong
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July 30, 2011 (3)
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Review: Butterfly's Sisters
May 18, 2011 (1)
Review: Isle of Dreams
April 20, 2011 (2)
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2010 review
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October 7, 2010 (2)
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Review: Kissing the Mask
August 22, 2010 (1)
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July 12, 2010 (2)
Review: Love in Translation
June 22, 2010 (3)
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Upcoming Los Angeles events
April 7, 2010 (2)
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Review: Botchan
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2009 Reviewed
December 31, 2009 (5)
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Chaat and Chat event with OH!
November 6, 2009 (2)
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November 2, 2009 (2)
Los Angeles events
October 17, 2009 (1)
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October 7, 2009 (1)
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September 24, 2009 (1)
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September 23, 2009 (1)
October book tour
September 6, 2009 (1)
Blogging at Powell's Books
August 28, 2009 (2)
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August 3, 2009 (1)
The Poetics of Motoori Norinaga: A Hermeneutical Journey
July 9, 2009 (2)
Tour debrief
July 2, 2009 (3)
Book tour events
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Simply in the mood
April 24, 2009 (2)
Book tour
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March 2, 2009 (2)
"Murder Makes the Magazine"
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John Updike
January 27, 2009 (2)
2008 misc. (good news, bad news)
January 1, 2009 (3)
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October 10, 2008 (2)
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September 12, 2008 (2)
The mystery of plotting, the plotting of mysteries
August 29, 2008 (3)
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August 20, 2008 (3)
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Theory of Satisfaction: Part 4
July 21, 2008 (3)
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Theory of Satisfaction: Part 3
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June 30, 2008 (6)
Theory of Satisfaction: Part 2
June 18, 2008 (3)
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Theory of Satisfaction: Part 1
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Virtual unreality
May 31, 2008 (4)
The purpose of this blog
May 21, 2008 (5)
Review: Paprika
April 21, 2013 (3)
Review: A Straight Road With 99 Curves
March 30, 2013 (1)
Gripping writing
Feb. 28, 2013 (2)
Review: Salvation of a Saint
January 19, 2013 (2)
2012 in review
December 30, 2012 (2)
Review: Ninja
September 30, 2012 (2)
Review: My Postwar Life
August 21, 2012 (1)
New interview with Colin Marshall
July 15, 2012 (3)
Book events
April 25, 2012 (2)
Subduction
March 14, 2012 (8)
Review: A Room Where the Star Spangled Banner Cannot Be Heard
January 14, 2012 (1)
Review: Plainsong
December 20, 2011 (3)
Review: The Devil's Disciple
November 29, 2011 (2)
Haruki Murakami
October 5, 2011 (2)
Busyness and demons
September 25, 2011 (2)
Characters: The Bully
July 30, 2011 (3)
Review: Manazuru
June 28, 2011 (2)
Deadlines!
June 24, 2011 (2)
Review: Butterfly's Sisters
May 18, 2011 (1)
Review: Isle of Dreams
April 20, 2011 (2)
Cades Award for Literature press release
April 12, 2011 (2)
Japan and other news
March 29, 2011 (1)
Borders bankruptcy
February 17, 2011 (2)
2010 review
December 17, 2010 (6)
Congratulations Mario Vargas Llosa
October 7, 2010 (2)
OH! wins best book award
September 23, 2010 (2)
Review: Kissing the Mask
August 22, 2010 (1)
Jonathan Lethem: Writing at the margins
July 12, 2010 (2)
Review: Love in Translation
June 22, 2010 (3)
Jose Saramago
June 18, 2010 (0)
Marketplace of Ideas interview
June 11, 2010 (2)
Imagining Memory
May 6, 2010 (1)
Upcoming Los Angeles events
April 7, 2010 (2)
Time and energy
March 30, 2010 (2)
Review: Botchan
February 28, 2010 (2)
J.D. Salinger
January 28, 2010 (1)
2009 Reviewed
December 31, 2009 (5)
Review: The Word Book
December 12, 2009 (1)
Chaat and Chat event with OH!
November 6, 2009 (2)
Home at last
November 2, 2009 (2)
Los Angeles events
October 17, 2009 (1)
Poets and poetry
October 7, 2009 (1)
Time + place
September 24, 2009 (1)
The future of books
September 23, 2009 (1)
October book tour
September 6, 2009 (1)
Blogging at Powell's Books
August 28, 2009 (2)
The evolution of an idea
August 3, 2009 (1)
The Poetics of Motoori Norinaga: A Hermeneutical Journey
July 9, 2009 (2)
Tour debrief
July 2, 2009 (3)
Book tour events
May 18, 2009 (3)
Simply in the mood
April 24, 2009 (2)
Book tour
April 8, 2009 (6)
The Necessary Book
March 2, 2009 (2)
"Murder Makes the Magazine"
February 7, 2009 (3)
John Updike
January 27, 2009 (2)
2008 misc. (good news, bad news)
January 1, 2009 (3)
Publishing woes and query letters
December 13, 2008 (4)
Punctuation compunction
November 16, 2008 (3)
The Fountain of Youth (and other Ideas)
October 10, 2008 (2)
David Foster Wallace
September 14, 2008 (2)
Ending it all
September 12, 2008 (2)
The mystery of plotting, the plotting of mysteries
August 29, 2008 (3)
Blocking out the block
August 20, 2008 (3)
"What kind of books do you write?"
August 8, 2008 (2)
Theory of Satisfaction: Part 4
July 21, 2008 (3)
Show and tell
July 14, 2008 (3)
Theory of Satisfaction: Part 3
July 7, 2008 (7)
Advice for first-time writers (Barry Gifford and me)
June 30, 2008 (6)
Theory of Satisfaction: Part 2
June 18, 2008 (3)
To be or not to be
June 10, 2008 (6)
Theory of Satisfaction: Part 1
June 3, 2008 (6)
Virtual unreality
May 31, 2008 (4)
The purpose of this blog
May 21, 2008 (5)