CRIME SCENE SKILLS

by Deborah Elliott-Upton

“Brain tip: Read Books! This teaches your brain to quickly absorb lots of information. Books boost your vocabulary and critical thinking skills, and help with memorization skills.”

—Games for the Brain: CRIME SCENE

This week, I was busily writing a short story that was literally being dictated by my Muse. I promise, I had no idea past the main character where the story would end. I started typing and the Muse took over. I found myself quite engaged in this dance where I was not leading when she stopped communicating with me. Okay, so it was my turn. Not a problem, except my mind kept wandering from one thing to another and the next thing I knew, I was playing on the Internet.

In a search engine, I typed the words CRIME SCENE and found a great web site at Games for the Brain. Rather tricky on the first challenge as I wasn’t really paying attention when the question popped up. I missed the answer because I didn’t reply with my initial gut feeling. I hesitated and lost. By the second time around, I knew I needed to pay more attention. After that, I continuously scored well. This isn’t a hard “game,” but is one that hones your skills in being observant — something all of us could use in everyday life.

Other games on this web site help us improve or memory and attention, reaction time and think outside the box. Some of my favorites are Speed Match, Memory Matrix and Lost In Migration, although the Word Bubble probably was the one I spent more time playing. I did steadily get better with that one, but at first, I was frustrated that I could always find answers for a minimum of five or six words that began with the same three letters, but after that I may sit and watch the time clock count down with my fingers sitting numbly on the keypad. This is another game that I received better scores the more I played.

Did I waste valuable writing time playing games? I think not. By the time I returned to my story, it was my mind that was leaping ahead figuring out where I wanted the story to go without relying on a Muse to force my thoughts. Perhaps my finding the web site playground was a diabolical plan set in place by her forcing me think on my own. I understand. She probably needed a rest. I’ve been working her much too hard lately. Or maybe I’ve just been blaming my not writing enough pages on her. Either way, I think my skills have been sharpened. It’s so easy to let them get rusty when they are taken for granted.

Sometimes, it takes playtime to make Jill a better writer. Try it and tell me what you think.