Cultivate the Muse Creative Writing Can Enrich Scientists’ Research

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Molecular biologist Gaia Bistulfi writes novels for young adults.

CULTURE Cultivate the muse Creative writing can enrich scientists’ research.

BY SUSAN MORAN grants,” Eagleman says. Sum: Forty Tales and books translate his scientific research for From the Afterlives (Pantheon, 2009), a col- a broader audience, his fiction takes him well riting fiction allows neuroscientist lection of stories that explore human iden- beyond the field of neuroscience. “To some David Eagleman to ask the big tity from the perspective of those who have degree, they’re really separate worlds — writ- questions that science can’t yet died, was translated into 29 languages and ing journal articles and writing fiction — and Wanswer. He had already written several turned into two operas. “I feel that fiction that’s fine with me.” He’s currently writing a non-fiction books about perception and picks up right where my science leaves off,” novel, Eon, about the cosmos that spans more cognition, and had scripted and presented a says Eagleman, who is at Stanford University, than 200 billion years. television series on the brain. These are ways California, and chief executive of Braincheck, Science is a creative process. Researchers to disseminate science to the broader pub- a company that uses technology to measure must be inventive and ingenious as they lic. But his more-recent fiction writing has brain function. “I can prove X, Y, Z in the design experiments, seek funding and try allowed him to explore and wrestle with the lab, but what happens beyond that? Fiction to publish results. But those who find time biggest ideas, he says. asks the big ‘what ifs’, which are the most to squeeze creative writing into their life at “These are the questions that live some powerful inroad into everything we’re doing.” the bench (and the laptop) report that there distance beyond the cycles of papers and Whereas Eagleman’s non-fiction articles is a pay-off. Whether they write poems,

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stories, blogposts or novels, the act of a hypothesis about the radiating filaments “Fortified by my writing experience, I gathered writing creatively can help to unleash the observed in the centre, and published his first the courage to express my thoughts in a format spark that fuels original research. paper on the subject in 1988. “Even today it that did not require standard deviations and Little information is available worldwide seems like a viable model,” he says. And it’s a graphs.” on the number of researchers who pursue two-way street. His 1980 time-travel novel Whereas writing fiction appeals to some creative writing informally or as a moon- Timescape (Simon & Schuster, 1980) was based scientists, others find non-fiction — such light gig. But, anecdotally, many scientists are on research for his PhD thesis, and imagines as blogs, essays or books — about their own drawn to pen creative work. Their interest an ecological disaster that takes place in 1998. research or research field to be the most acces- comes at an opportune time, when consumer His 1970 story, The Scarred Man, anticipates sible genre. Beth Shapiro, an evolutionary publications and platforms such as blogs are the computer virus. molecular biologist at the University of Cali- increasingly inviting researchers to write For many writer–scientists, creating poems, fornia, Santa Cruz, had been at the bench for about their work or their personal experi- song lyrics or fiction helps them to unwind 13 years before deciding to try her hand at ences as scientists. and to access and practice a different way of popular scientific non-fiction. She wrote her People can start writing creatively through thinking, even if they don’t deliberately try to first book, How to Clone a Mammoth: The a variety of routes. Some include writing for channel their muse into their academic think- Science of De-Extinction (Princeton Univ. Press, their institution’s website, joining a local ing and writing. “When molecular research 2015), because she wanted to communicate writers’ group or attending a university becomes frustrating, I can recharge my batter- to a non-scientific readership the differences course or an outside workshop on creative ies, giving free rein to my creativity,” says Gaia between the science fiction of de-extinction writing (see ‘Practice makes perfect’). Bistulfi, a molecular biologist at D’Youville and what was technically feasible — and what College in Buffalo, New York. She writes might become feasible in the future. Shapiro BREAK DOWN BARRIERS novels in the young- also wanted to show how emerging genetic Astrophysicist and author Gregory Benford adult genre and blogs “Once you do tools could be used to enhance beneficial traits launched his creative-writing career while for her young audi- something you in existing animals to help them survive in a a graduate student at the University of ence about social love, it doesn’t changing climate. “I enjoyed the freedom to California, San Diego, in the 1960s. Since issues and her life as write a popular book,” she says. “It was a relief then, he has published 31 science-fiction nov- a writer–scientist. feel like work.” from writing a journal article. And I think it els and 223 short stories. Now an emeritus fac- “Fiction writing has made me a better writer.” ulty member at the University of California, helped me reconnect with my community Penning the book helped her to write Irvine, he credits his fiction writing for some and find renewed purpose for my scientific manuscripts more clearly. “I had to be able to of the theories he has created as part of his research as well.” communicate complex ideas in a simple way, scientific research. “You can devise thought Bistulfi has published four novels (as Gaia but without cutting corners or leaving out experiments beyond the real and into the pos- B. Amman), which explore social issues such the important parts,” she says. “This trans- sible,” says Benford, who is now an adviser on as eating disorders, sexuality and drug abuse. lates to academic publishing. Nobody ever Breakthrough Starshot, a privately funded ini- For years, she wrote peer-reviewed papers on complained that a manuscript was too easy to tiative to develop a fly-by mission to the Alpha molecular biology, but she says that it wasn’t understand.” Another benefit is that research- Centauri star system. “Fiction aids scientific until she started writing novels that she gained ing the book deepened her understanding of discovery and thinking. It makes me a better the voice and courage to extend her neutral the field well beyond her specific research. “It scientist and researcher.” scientific writing to penning opinion pieces. forced me to dive into literature that is tan- Benford’s Galactic Center Saga, for instance, She sent a Correspondence article to Nature gential to my everyday research but critical a series about a galactic war between mechani- (G. Bistulfi Nature 502, 170; 2013) calling on to understanding different components of cal and biological life, led him to study radio scientists to reduce, reuse and recycle lab waste. de-extinction,” says Shapiro. maps of the real Galactic Centre, the rota- “I would have never thought to do that before tional centre of the Milky Way. He devised my experience as a novelist,” says Bistulfi. PERSONAL PERSPECTIVE For those who want more immediate reader interaction, blogging is popular. Hanneke GET STARTED Meijer, a palaeontologist at the University of Bergen in Norway, is one of a team of Practice makes perfect researchers that contributes to Lost Worlds Revisited, a palaeontology blog for The Guard- Here are some tips and resources for poetry. Private and non-profit organizations ian newspaper in London. “I enjoy telling launching into creative writing. also offer writing workshops, many led by people what my research is about,” she says. ●●Keep a daily journal. It can focus on your writers. One is the Iceland Writers Retreat “I like the exposure it gives my research, and research life or anything else. A popular tool in Reykjavik, an annual series of workshops it’s a way to highlight my field. Blogging is a for daily writing is Julia Cameron’s book The and panels over several days led by writers nice way of showing people there’s a lot more Artist’s Way (Putnam, 1992). Other books on from around the world. Another option to palaeontology than dinosaurs and mam- the craft include Anne Lamott’s Bird By Bird is the Freefall Writing Workshops held in moths.” Between researching for her blogposts (Anchor Books, 1980); Natalie Goldberg’s Europe, Australia, Canada and the United and writing them, Meijer says she has learnt to Writing Down the Bones (Shambhala, States, where seasoned writers teach multi- think more broadly as a scientist and to step 2010); Stephen King’s On Writing (Hodder, day and online workshops for beginning back and ask herself, partly for her readers, 2012); and Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic and experienced writers. why her research and the broader field are (Bloomsbury, 2015). ●●Form or join a writers’ group in your city. important to the public. ●●Take a workshop or course. Many Some public libraries and book stores offer Meijer likes to weave some of her own expe- universities offer one-off and semester- space and structure for such groups, and riences and perspectives into her posts, which long writing courses and programmes in groups can be found on Meetup.com and she cannot do in her papers. Personalizing specialities such as memoir-writing and other online connectors. S.M. them provides a ‘hook’ into the story, she says. She adds that it helps to make the post more

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Panagiotis Vagenas studied substance misuse and its effect on HIV transmission while he was a staff scientist at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, Connecticut. Now he works for the non-profit Project Concern International (PCI) in San Diego, California, where he helps scientists in the field to design and carry out their projects.

How did you start out on this track? What’s always motivated me is trying to help people. So, in 2010, I did a master’s in public health after a postdoc in basic HIV research at Rockefeller University in New York City, Evolutionary biologist Beth Shapiro is a published science non-fiction author. and eventually joined Yale.

interesting and allows non-scientists to relate with feelings,” she says. “It has reminded me Why did you leave Yale? more closely to research and to palaeontol- how difficult it is to have weight issues. Now I didn’t get a grant I applied for, and thought ogy itself. I really feel for those patients in clinical trials it was time to move on. If all of this sounds as though it takes who have been trying to lose weight.” a lot of time, it does. “I work all the time,” Osmo Pekonen, a mathematician at the What do you do now? KRIS KRÜG/POPTECH says Bistulfi. And the time sink isn’t the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, finds I advise field teams at PCI on how to answer a only downside of moonlighting. Pub- a connection between maths and poetry. research question — from forming a hypoth- lished work, particularly if it is not con- “The art of poetry is a matter of condensing esis and helping to write the research protocol nected to one’s research, can raise eyebrows meaning into a single beautiful and striking to going through the ethics approval process. among colleagues and superiors. And, line, and a mathematical formula does the I make sure that everyone follows the same like many aspects of research itself, writ- same,” he says. Like poets or philosophers, standard of high-quality, rigorous research as ing can be a lonely pursuit. But many mathematicians explore the realm of the in academia. maintain that it becomes a compulsion. spirit, whereas physicists, chemists and others “Once you do something you love,” says deal with matter, adds Pekonen, who writes Why do you like the job? Bistulfi, “it doesn’t feel like work.” poems, reviews, essays, and books about I can clearly see the impact of my work. Last Some researchers weave their work into poetry and poets. summer, I went to Guatemala, and met some their writing. Clinical epidemiologist Anne He has organized an annual international people involved in PCI’s micro-financing pro- McTiernan co-wrote Breast Fitness (St. Mar- conference called Bridges on the link gramme for women. Many told me that the tin’s Press, 2000), which explores the con- between maths and poetry, and is book programme had helped them to find a social nection between exercise and a lowered risk reviews editor for The Mathematical Intel- network and become financially empowered. of breast cancer. She then started Grandma ligencer, a magazine published by Springer That experience made it all worth it. Doc, a blog that discusses health care that explores the human side of maths. “Like and her life as a researcher, physician and a new mathematical theory, creative poetry Do you have any regrets? grandmother. can encompass an entire world in a con- I made the right choice in leaving Yale. Three McTiernan decided to build the blogposts densed form,” he says. “Mathematical rigour months after starting this job, I found out I’d into a larger, more cohesive body of work. and poetical fantasy inform each other in my got my grant after all. It was a bittersweet Thus began her coming-of-age memoir thinking. Mathematics seems to represent moment — but I withdrew my application. Starved: A Nutrition Doctor’s Journey From structure while poetry carries the spirit.” Empty to Full (Central Recovery Press, 2016), Although creative writing poses its own What advice would you give anyone hoping which delves deeply into her childhood challenges, researchers who dive into it say to change careers? struggle with both anorexia and obesity, and that it makes their life, including their work, I had to soul search to work out what I her adult life as a medical practitioner and more rewarding and diverse. “My science- wanted to do. I was extremely proud to be a researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer fiction writing and my research continue to faculty member at Yale, but you need to think Research Center in Seattle, Washington. inform each other,” says Benford. “To me, it’s about who you want to be and make a bold McTiernan says that writing the book has absolutely essential to life balance that I have move when you feel that it is right. ■ helped her to excavate long-buried emo- writing on the side.” ■ tions that give her insight into her patients’ INTERVIEW BY JACK LEEMING struggles and improve her research. “When Susan Moran is a freelance writer in Boulder, This interview has been edited for length and clarity. you’re writing a memoir, it puts you in touch Colorado. See go.nature.com/2k2nh2n for more.

CORRECTION The Careers Feature ‘Cultivate the muse’ (Nature 542, 381–383; 2017) incorrectly described Gaia Bistulfi as a computational biologist. She is, in fact, a molecular biologist.