Confirmation Bias

I started this magazine and writing this column many years ago because I became mildly obsessed with the idea that writing teaches us how to create on purpose, whether it’s the story we’re telling or the life we’re living. We are all, I decided, the authors of our lives. I say “decided” because, of course, I had lived the large part of my life believing otherwise. Or, I should say, not really believing anything, simply knowing there were things that happened that I liked and things that happened that I didn’t like. Did I play a role in any of those things? I didn’t know. I just knew I wanted more good stuff and less bad stuff.

Though I was an artist by nature, I wasn’t opposed to a scientific view of life. If you want to understand why things are happening, look for evidence. Be a detective! This I did in my own casual way, but evidence can be misleading. Miss a few clues, and you can draw some pretty screwy conclusions – like everything is random, the successful are just lucky, and the happy are clueless. Also, the results of my investigations varied from day to day.

Until, that is, I heard someone talking about life as a creative act. I liked this. This person hadn’t proved anything to me. They just said it, and I preferred this view to some of the others I had held from time to time. So, I decided I would live my life as if I were creating it the way I wrote my stories. If it was all bunk, so be it. Better to see the world as friendly than unfriendly; better to see myself as the source of my suffering and joy rather than a consequence of forces outside of my control.

So far, I have enjoyed this experiment and have seen no reason to abandon it. Though there are certainly days when I feel less than creative, when I feel out of control, and a victim of circumstance. When I do, all the evidence I see confirms my misery. Once again, I must decide. It’s okay to make a choice that seems to contradict the evidence if that choice feels better. Once you do, the evidence will change. I know this is called confirmation bias, but I have always been biased toward happiness, creativity, and enthusiasm, and, as long as I continue this experiment, always will be.

Check out Fearless Writing with Bill Kenower on YouTube or your favorite podcast app.

Everyone Has What It Takes: A Writer’s Guide to the End of Self-Doubt
You can find William at: williamkenower.com