We review automaticity, effortless writing that comes with freedom from excessive conscious interference, in terms of its origins in automatic writing and its growth into contemporary techniques such as free writing. We characterize automaticity (a) as a form of dissociation from consciousness, (b) as an aid to spontaneity and creativity, and (c) as a key to understanding why some writers block more readily than others. Conclusion: All forms of automaticity resemble hypnosis and, so, should be used with carefully planned structures and cautions.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Barrington, M. R.
(1966). Swan on a black sea: How much could Miss Cummins have known?Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 43(728), 289-300.
2.
Boice, R.
(1983). Contingency management in writing and the appearance of creative ideas: Implications for the treatment of writing blocks. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 21, 537-543.
3.
Boice, R.
(1985a). Cognitive components of blocking. Written Communication, 2(1), 91-104.
4.
Boice, R.
(1985b). Psychotherapies for writing blocks. In M. Rose (Ed.), When a writer can't write. New York: Guilford.
5.
Boice, R.
(1985c). Writing without blocking: A self-help manual for academicians who want to write comfortably, productively, and successfully. Long Beach, CA: California State University, Long Beach, Center for Faculty Development.
6.
Bois, J.
(1907). Le miracle moderne. Paris: Ollendorf.
7.
Börne, L.
(1958). Gesammelte Schriften. Milwaukee: Bickler.
8.
Bowers, P.
(1979). Hypnosis and creativity: The search for the missing link. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 88(5), 564-572.
9.
Brande, D.
(1934). Becoming a writer. New York: Harcourt, Brace.
10.
Brandon, R.
(1983). The spiritualists. New York: Knopf.
11.
Britten, E. H.
(1870). Modern American spiritualism: A twenty years' record of the communion between earth and the world of spirits. New York: Author.
12.
Bruner, J.
(1962). On knowing: Essays for the left hand. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.
13.
Earle, B. V.
, & Theye, F. W. (1968). Automatic writing as a psychiatric problem. Psychiatric Quarterly, 42, 218-222.
14.
Edwards, B.
(1979). Drawing on the right side of the brain. Los Angeles: J. P. Tarcher.
15.
Elbow, P.
(1973). Writing without teachers. New York: Oxford University Press.
16.
Elbow, P.
(1981). Writing with power. New York: Oxford University Press.
17.
Ellenberger, H. F.
(1970). The discovery of the unconscious. New York: Basic Books.
18.
Erickson, M. H.
(1937). The experimental demonstration of unconscious mentation by automatic writing. Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 6, 513-529.
19.
Fromm, E. (personal communication, May 2, 1983).
20.
Gardiner, N. H.
(1908). The automatic writing of Mrs. Holland. Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research, 2, 595-626.
21.
Harriman, P. L.
(1951). Automatic writing as a means for investigating experimentally induced conflicts. Personality, 1, 264-271.
22.
Hilgard, E. R.
(1977). Divided consciousness: Multiple controls in human thought and action. New York: John Wiley.
23.
Hilgard, E. R.
(1979). Divided consciousness in hypnosis: The implications of the hidden observer. In E. Fromm and R. E. Shor (Eds.), Hyponosis: Developments in research and new perspectives. New York: Aldine.
24.
James, W.
(1885-1889). Notes on automatic writing. Proceedings of the American Society for Psychical Research, 1, 548-564.
25.
Janet, P.
(1899). L'Automatisme psychologique. Paris: Alcan.
26.
Jaynes, J.
(1977). The origin of consciousness in the breakdown of the bicameral mind. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
27.
Knox, V. J.
, Crutchfield, L., & Hilgard, E. R. (1975). The nature of task interference in hypnotic dissociation: An investigation of automatic behavior. International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis, 23, 305-323.
28.
Lambert, G. W.
(1965). Studies in the automatic writing of Mrs. Verall III: Some dwellers on the derwent. Journal of the Society for Psychical Research, 43(726), 169-180.
29.
LeCron, L. M.
(1956). Editor's note. In L. M. LeCron (Ed.), Experimental hypnosis. New York: Macmillan.
30.
Levy, J.
(1983). Right brain, left brain: Fact and fiction. Psychology Today, 19(5), pp. 38-42.
31.
Litvag, I.
(1972). Singer in the shadows: The strange case of Patience Worth. New York: Macmillan.
32.
Mandel, B. J.
(1980). The writer is not at home. College Composition and Communication, 31, 370-377.
33.
Martin, L. J.
(1917). An experimental study of the subconscious. In J. E. Coover (Ed.), Experiments in psychical research. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
34.
Meichenbaum, D.
, & Cameron, R. (1974). The clinical potential of modifying what clients say to themselves. In M. J. Mahoney & C. E. Thoreson (Eds.), Self-control. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
35.
Messerschmidt, R.
(1927-1928). A quantitative investigation of the alleged independent operation of conscious and subconscious processes. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 22, 325-340.
36.
Mühl, A. M.
(1930). Automatic writing. Dresden: Theodor Steinkopff.
37.
Mühl, A. M.
(1956). Automatic writing and hypnosis. In L. M. LeCron (Ed.), Experimental hypnosis. New York: MacMillan.
38.
Myers, F.W.H.
(1887). Automatic writing III. Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, 4, 209-261.
39.
Prince, M.
(1905). The dissociation of personality. New York and London: Longmans Green.
40.
Rainer, T.
(1978). The new diary. Los Angeles: J. P. Tarcher.
41.
Rico, G. L.
(1983). Writing the natural way. Los Angeles: J. P. Tarcher.
42.
Sargent, E.
(1869). Planchette; or, the despair of science. Boston: Roberts Brothers.
43.
Silverman, L. H.
(1976). Psychoanalytic theory: “The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.”American Psychologist, 31, 621-637.
44.
Skinner, B. F.
(1934, January). Has Gertrude Stein a secret?Atlantic Monthly, pp. 359-369.
45.
Solomons, L. M.
, & Stein, G. (1896). Normal motor automatism. Psychological Review, 3, 492-512.
46.
Stevenson, J. H.
(1976). The effect of posthypnotic dissociation on the performance of interfering tasks. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 85, 398-407.
47.
Wohlberg, L.
(1945). Hypnoanalysis. New York: Grune & Stratton.
48.
Worth, P.
(1917). A sorry tale: A story of the time of Christ. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
