The Secret Sauce for Writers: Intuition

Today’s post is by author KimBoo York.

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What is intuition?

Specifically, what is creative intuition for writers?

The dictionary definition for “intuition” usually goes something like this: “the ability to understand something instinctively, without the need for conscious reasoning.”

But that does not lend itself it trustworthiness. If you can’t provide conscious reasoning for your understanding, do you understand it at all? Or is it a timing issue: you understand something before you can explain it? But then is that not just akin to justification?

As someone who often could answer a complex math problem as a kid but could not for the life of me memorize multiplication tables, intuition has not been my friend, historically speaking. Instead it was the thing that got me in trouble, even with my creative writing.

“Why is this character climbing up the mountain to talk to the old witch?” Dunno, feels right, I guess?

It took a long time for me to realize that I was not the problem. Becca Syme in her book Dear Writer: Are You Intuitive? describes intuition as a form of pattern recognition. It’s not a “gut feeling,” as it is so often described. In fact, it is not a feeling at all. It is your brain connecting dots so quickly that you are not aware of the connections until you look backward to figure out why you know what you know, or did what you did.

I think that is a good start for a definition of creative intuition, and I highly recommend that book for all writers, but I knew there was more to it.

When I was recording a recent episode of Around the Writer’s Table podcast, my co-hosts asked me what my definition of intuition is. I intuitively answered: “It is the combination of experience and imagination.”

I want to stress that experience isn’t just about how many books you’ve read or how long you’ve been writing. It’s about the depth of your engagement with stories, both as a reader and a writer. It’s about understanding narrative structures, character arcs, pacing, dialogue, and all the other elements that make up a good story. It’s about knowing the rules so well that you can break them effectively.

Imagination, meanwhile, is your unique perspective, your ability to make unexpected connections, to see the world in a way no one else does. It’s what allows you to take familiar concepts and combine them in new and exciting ways.

When these two elements come together, that’s when the magic, aka intuition, happens. That’s when you write a scene that surprises even you, or when you suddenly understand your character’s motivations in a way you never did before.

Intuition in practice

In my post What Is the Worst that Could Happen? I discuss how discovery writers can get ourselves out of a jam by imagining not what should happen next but the absolutely worst thing that could happen next. As an example, I used the tired old trope of a knight rescuing a princess/prince/princette from a dragon.

Our experience as readers and students of literature/writing tells us what is going on: the knight has ridden his warhorse up to the dragon’s lair to rescue the fair maiden princess from certain doom.

Creative intuition is knowing the trope (experience) and then subverting it or using it in an unexpected way (imagination).

Admittedly, subverting that trope is fairly easy and at this point has been done a lot (mix up the genders, turn the dragon into the hero and the knight into the villain, make the dragon and the knight friends, give the princess the agency to save herself, etc.). But that’s part of our intuition as well. Anyone who has been reading modern fairytale retellings will know what has been done, what has worked, and what hasn’t worked (and why). They have experience with that trope, which pushes their creativity even further out into unexpected territory.

In other words, experience counts and uninformed “intuition” is just guesswork.

This is why you hear me saying a lot that intuition (and discovery writing) can be developed, and that studying the craft of writing is critical. As writers, we must read widely as well as study our genre of choice; we must engage in critical analysis of texts; we must put in the time to improve our craft.

But knowledge alone does not create amazing stories. At some point, we have to learn to trust our intuition by allowing our imagination to engage with our experience.

Developing your creative intuition

So how can we develop this connection between experience and imagination? Here are a few ideas:

Read widely and deeply: Don’t just stick to your favorite genre. Read classics, contemporary works, experimental fiction, nonfiction. Analyze what works and what doesn’t in each book you read. Write regularly: Like any skill, writing improves with practice. The more you write, the more you’ll develop your intuitive sense of story. No, you don’t have to write every day, but you need to take time on the regular to practice your craft. Experiment: Try writing in different genres, styles, or points of view. This stretches your imagination and expands your experience. Analyze your own work: After you’ve finished a piece, take some time to reflect on why you made certain choices. This helps you understand your own intuitive process. I re-read my own work a lot to consider how I could do things differently, what worked, what didn’t. Every time I read an older story, I learn something new about my own process. Engage with other writers: Discuss craft, share work, give and receive feedback. This exposes you to different perspectives and approaches. (You could also listen to my podcasts!) Study craft: Read books on writing, attend workshops, watch lectures. The more you understand about the mechanics of good writing, the more your intuition has to work with. Live life: Experience is not just about books. Travel, meet new people, try new things. All of those experiences feed into your creativity!

Trusting your intuition

Developing your creative intuition is one thing; trusting it is another. Many writers, especially those just starting out, second-guess their intuitive choices. They worry that if they can’t explain why they made a certain decision, it must be wrong.

But remember, intuition is about pattern recognition happening faster than your conscious mind can process. Just because you can’t immediately explain why something feels right doesn’t mean it’s wrong.

That said, intuition isn’t infallible. It’s a tool, not a magic wand. Sometimes your intuition will lead you astray, and that’s okay. That’s part of the process. The key is to strike a balance between trusting your intuition and being willing to revise and rethink when necessary.

In the end, creative intuition is about developing a deep, almost subconscious understanding of storytelling. It’s about internalizing the rules and conventions of writing so thoroughly that you can play with them fearlessly. It’s about trusting yourself to make bold choices, even when you can’t immediately justify them.

Next time you’re writing and you make a choice that you can’t quite explain, don’t immediately dismiss it. Take a moment to explore it. You might just find that your intuition has led you somewhere amazing!