How Writers Write: Exploring the Unconscious Fantasies of Writers

This study is an examination of unconscious fantasies related to writers as inferred through the analysis of in-depth interviews with a sample of productive fiction writers. The intention was to increase understanding of the psychodynamics associated with productivity among writers. Eleven published fiction writers were recruited primarily through a snowball sample, and consisted of men and women between their mid-30s and 60s. Data were collected through a 1-1.5-hr semistructured, tape-recorded interview with each participant. Participants were very forthcoming, resulting in rich data that lent itself to examination of symbolic meanings. Data were analyzed along 4 dimensions based on the literature and an initial examination of several interviews. There were 4 related findings. First, relationship to the work, which concerns investment of the work with fantasized powers of healing and self-sustenance, and experiencing the work as a created object. Second, relationship to readers involves the selection of readers, often a narcissistic twin, to help with completion of the work and separation from it. Third, the unique process, or method, developed by writers to help them write represents an external solution to internal challenges, such as stimulation management. Fourth, episodes of writing inhibition emerged primarily as a result of self-attack. Writers experienced both the desire to save and destroy their manuscripts, but usually acted to preserve them.