Themes in the lives of successful contemporary U.S. women creative writers

Abstract

The present study looked at the lifespan development of 80 women who are contemporary U.S. creative writers. Themes from surveys, autobiographical and biographical essays, published interviews, and reference books were analyzed. Themes in the women writers' lives were characterized by Developmental Events: (1) unconventional families and family traumas; (2) nurturing of talents by both male and female teachers and mentors; (3) extensive early reading and writing sometimes resulting in early publication; (4) viewing words as special ‐keeping journals, writing to make sense of things, using writing as communication and auto‐therapy; (5) residence in New York City at some point, especially among the most prominent; (6) attendance at prestigious colleges, majoring in English literature; (7) continued high achievement, many publications, many writing awards; Professional situations: (8) being in an occupation different from their parents; (9) conflict combining motherhood and careers in writing; (10)history of divorce; and Personality/personal attributes: (11) certain core personality attributes; (12) incidence of depression and/or self‐destructive acts; (13) feeling of being an outsider, of marginalization and a resulting need to have their group's story told (e.g. minorities, lesbians, regional writers, writers from lower socioeconomic class, writers of different immigration groups); (14) possession of tacit knowledge; (15) a personal and ritualized creative process often with spiritual overtones; and (16) societal expectations of femininity incongruent with their essential personalities.

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