tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5455277388900637928.post5071570067649310567..comments2024-03-19T02:14:31.704-04:00Comments on <center>OnFiction</center>: Book Review: The Psychology of Creative WritingKeith Oatleyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16419339550879570935noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5455277388900637928.post-59246044561479616222010-07-23T00:05:30.175-04:002010-07-23T00:05:30.175-04:00Thanks for the reply Rebecca!
The empathy angle ...Thanks for the reply Rebecca! <br /><br />The empathy angle is interesting, thank you for pointing that out. I suppose empathy would be incompatible with narcissism and antisocial personality disorders. Although "self report" of empathy is a funny test for it, no? Creative writers *think of themselves* as more empathetic on average...<br /><br />Empathy may be incompatible with narcissism, but inflated self-estimation in positive traits is not. Come to think of it, I'm far and away the *most* empathic person I know. :) <br /><br />Anyway, thanks for the reply, and the blog. Fantastic insights and leads here.<br /><br />I'll dig deeper into that empathy research.Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13735133022938688016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5455277388900637928.post-35413010931903533752010-07-22T23:35:57.160-04:002010-07-22T23:35:57.160-04:00Thank you both for your comments, and my apologies...Thank you both for your comments, and my apologies for a late response. James, I am not aware of research on the question of a relationship between anti-social or narcissistic tendencies and creative writing. It is definitely an avenue to be explored. It could be that narcissism would be less in creative writers, in as much as creative writers have been shown to exhibit greater levels of empathy on a self-report measure than non creative writers (See the post of August 12, 2008 for details on this study). On the other hand, it has still not been demonstrated that the empathy precedes the creative writing. It could be that practicing creative writing enhances empathy. <br /><br />Your questions concerning the "genius" myth are quite important ones, I think. To my knowledge, there is a real lack of empirical work comparing creative writers of differing levels of publishing accomplishment on psychological factors. This is a very important next step in research on the psychology of creative writing.Rebecca Wells Joplinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09485890436841556217noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5455277388900637928.post-17433599383453056072010-06-17T00:02:29.506-04:002010-06-17T00:02:29.506-04:00Great post. Just read the book on your recommendat...Great post. Just read the book on your recommendation. Or most of it.<br /><br />Really helpful to me, especially in terms of thinking about the creative writing process, something I haven't studied in detail yet.<br /><br />I'd like to see someone test us CW folk for levels of anti-social and narcissism. <br /><br />Even though writing may be a social act, as some of the articles suggested, it still frequently involves spending a great of time alone. Sometimes, apparently, alone in self-focused dysphoric rumination. So are creative writers more prone to being anti-social and/or self-absorbed or is there some other explanation for why we would want to hole-up in this way?<br /><br />Waitman and Plucker find that the "genius" myth creates problems for novice writers. It complicates their writing process by leading them to believe the locus of control over their process lies beyond them. Might this same myth lead accomplished writers to overestimate their level of control? Or apply the genius myth to themselves? Leading to higher scores on a narcissism scale?<br /><br />On the other hand, it would be a relief to find that we creative writers are NOT more narcissistic or anti-social than the norm. We already suffer from mood disorder more frequently, shockingly more frequently.<br /><br />On the other-other hand, I may not understand those disorders very well. I'm a writing guy. Not a psych guy. Am I way off base with these questions?<br /><br />Anyway, thank you for your blog and your recommendation. :)Jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13735133022938688016noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5455277388900637928.post-24718643072863748172010-06-11T16:11:30.304-04:002010-06-11T16:11:30.304-04:00Fascinating post.
Think I'm getting that book...Fascinating post.<br /><br />Think I'm getting that bookno_slappzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04207475509053402475noreply@blogger.com