Not As Special As We Thought

So, while at work, I stumbled upon a book called "My teeming brain": Understanding Creative Writers by Jane Piirto. The book is basically a study of the lives of writers, looking at recurring themes. Piirto is a professor--which is made obvious by the way in which she presents the book. It reads almost like a dissertation--a formal study, complete with quotes, footnotes, and appendices. The type of writing one only reads when one is in school.

Needless to say, I skimmed the book. But what I found was quite interesting. Basically, we writers have a lot in common. Our backgrounds, our psychology--it turns out that we're not as special or individual as we like to think.

Some of the themes that seem to recur in the lives of writers:

1. We read a lot as children and showed an early interest in writing. For as far back as I can remember, I loved to read. I tried my hand at writing at age 9 and never put the pen down.

2. We often felt like an outsider. Starting in high school, I always felt different from most of my peers. I always attributed it to the fact that I lived in a small town while having a big city mentality.

3. Academic achievement. Many writers excelled in school. Many also went on to get college degrees in English Lit. I was always the "A" student. My undergraduate degree is in English.

Other themes include military service (male writers) and high incidence of divorce (female). Late career recognition. Residence in NYC. Issues with society's expectations of their gender (I minored in Women's Studies in college and a lot of my writing deals with gender). Unconventional families and family trauma.

Piirto also writes briefly about personality traits common in writers, including: independence, nonconformity, drive, resiliency, courage, androgyny (as in writers are able to get into the minds of both men and women), perfectionism, introversion, and intensity.

I don't know about you, but the realization that we're not so unique is both depressing and uplifting. On the one hand, it's always a blow to your ego when you find out that you're not as special as you once thought. But on the other hand, it's comforting to know that you're not alone, that all your struggles and faults are similar to others'.

Piirto goes into far more depth in her book. If you're a writer or just someone interested in the study of creativity, check out her book.