Why can't you practice writing? This has something to do with your brain!

Recently, I heard many friends complain: "It's too difficult to practice calligraphy. I bought a copybook and spent a lot of time, but I still can't write it well. " In fact, this problem is too common! Although I have studied calligraphy since I was a child, I still have some experiences on the way to learn calligraphy. But I found it difficult to explain such a problem in one or two sentences, so I looked up some books and materials. I want to know what prevents people from practicing bad calligraphy. Finally, I found that it is closely related to our brains.

In the field of brain neuroscience, the brain is divided into three levels:

The first layer is the primitive brain, also called reptile brain, which was developed in the era of reptiles;

The second layer is the mammalian brain that we slowly developed on the basis of reptile brain;

The third layer is the new cerebral cortex, also known as cortical brain, which has evolved for tens of thousands of years.

In teacher Peng Xiaoliu's book Reading Onions, the three levels of the brain are compared to turtles, tigers and Einstein.

Tortoise is a reptile, with a very quiet personality, stable mood and no love for activities.

A tiger is a mammal. It will growl, fight back and show its teeth when threatened.

The third cortex is mainly responsible for our rational decision-making, and we compare it to Einstein.

When we get here, some students will ask, "How can knowing this help us?"

For example, if you want to write a good hand and plan to start practicing, think about it. How do the turtles and tigers in your head react?

When you haven't practiced calligraphy or seldom practice calligraphy, the tiger will say, "Little turtle, what's your purpose?" Why do you want me to practice calligraphy? It's so difficult to practice calligraphy! I feel that I can't write well! "The tiger is nervous at this time and will fight back. So you will find that when we are practicing calligraphy, if both the tortoise and the tiger (reptile brain and mammal brain) feel very uneasy, it is basically difficult for you to calm down. This is not your fault, because it is your brain's instinct.

In retrospect, when you were a child, your parents wanted you to write well and always forced you to practice, but if you were completely uninterested in practicing or felt useless, you would actually feel very painful. Even if you are forced to practice calligraphy every time, it will take a long time, but it seems to have no effect. In fact, this is because your reptile brain and mammalian brain have filtered out most of the information (knowledge) obtained in practicing Chinese characters for you. Because they think it is useless, they will not transmit information to your cortex-neocortex. You practiced for nothing, because you have no heart!

If you really want to practice calligraphy, you must know what your purpose is and find your interest before practicing calligraphy. Do you practice calligraphy to become a calligraphy teacher/calligrapher, for entrance examination, or for practical work and life ..... You must think clearly.

The concept of "interest pyramid" is mentioned in two books, The Onion Reading Method and What's Possible in Your Life. Interest is divided into three levels: sensory interest, learning interest and professional interest.

Sensory interest is actually easy to understand, that is, the interest we generate through intuitive sensory stimulation. For example, you like calligraphy because you see the words written by others or the words written on copybooks look good. This is interest. If you like calligraphy, learn it and practice it with a pen. At this time, you will become interested in learning. If you reach a certain level by practicing calligraphy, then you can become a calligraphy teacher or calligrapher, which is the top professional interest.

We are interested in one thing at first, which belongs to sensory interest, and then we need to explore, try and practice deliberately to gradually improve our interest level. Of course, we don't all practice calligraphy to become calligraphy teachers or calligraphers, but to give ourselves one more skill.

We have learned the characteristics of reptile brain, mammal brain and cortical brain and their relationship. We will find that the brain prefers simplicity to complexity. Therefore, for beginners of calligraphy, we should start with the simplest and most basic strokes and learn step by step.

For example, for beginners, everyone needs to have three actions: starting, walking and closing. You should pause when you start and close the pen, write strokes, write thickness changes that are thick at both ends and slightly thin in the middle, and "shoulder resistance" (low left and high right).

But for beginners, it is very difficult to change the stroke and thickness. After practicing for a while, I still want to give up because my brain thinks it's too difficult. Why don't you go shopping and watch movies with your friends?

However, it will be easier if you start writing without stopping, slide directly into the paper, from light to heavy, and finally stop writing. The most important thing is that the writing speed is obviously accelerated. This horizontal brushing method originated in Wen Zhiming. Because the frequency of horizontal painting in words is the highest, basically every word has horizontal painting. As long as the writing speed of horizontal painting is improved, the writing speed of the whole word will naturally be improved.

Of course, if you think it is difficult to slide the pen into the paper and write the thickness change from light to heavy, then you can reduce the difficulty again. At the beginning, you can put the pen directly on the paper, and the lines will keep the same thickness. Finally, you can pause for a while.

In this way, beginners can master it quickly, gain learning effect and sense of accomplishment, and then they will be interested in continuing their studies.

Personally, I think there are three main reasons:

1, although there is a copybook, I still don't know how to practice calligraphy. In fact, I haven't mastered the correct learning method (copy method)

Without the teacher's guidance, I don't know if I wrote correctly.

3. I don't have time and self-discipline, so I can't persist.

Is there a solution?

If you still insist on self-study, you should pay attention when buying copybooks. It is best to buy copybooks with video explanations. You can combine video learning, which is equivalent to giving yourself a teacher.

If you really want to practice calligraphy well and study calligraphy systematically, I suggest you find a good teacher to follow, so that your study will be more efficient under the guidance of the teacher, and the teacher can point out the problems to you in time to avoid detours. Learning from teachers can be divided into online and offline.

Offline learning: There are many calligraphy training institutions. You can search on the public comment first, and choose one according to the introduction of the organization, the introduction of the teacher and the evaluation of the students. Then you can actually go and have a look, listen to a class and choose the one that suits you. Of course, it would be better if you have a familiar teacher or friend to recommend you. You can go directly to the teacher to learn.

Online learning: online live/video courses. I think both live broadcast and recorded broadcast are ok, mainly depending on your own schedule. Students who have plenty of free time can choose to broadcast live, and students who are busy at work can choose to record and broadcast courses. No matter what kind of class, it is recommended to choose an online course that provides homework review and answering services.

We often say that "interest is the best teacher", and interest is our own internal motivation. So besides interest, what else can help us keep practicing Chinese?

Three external driving forces that motivate you to keep practicing Chinese characters well:

1, money: spend money to study, only what costs money can make you know how to cherish. For example, if you want to lose weight, you can exercise at home by yourself, or you can choose to pay for a personal trainer in the gym. Which one do you think will be better in the end and can persist?

2. Time: there is a time limit for course study and a deadline for handing in homework, which gives you a sense of urgency.

3. Teacher &; Friend: The teacher can give you comments and answer questions. Friends can supervise your study and remind you not to be lazy.

Actually, it's not that difficult to write a good hand. As long as we start with regular script, practice strokes first, then master the frame structure and practice more, everyone can write well. I believe that "nothing is difficult in the world, I am afraid that there is a will!"