Which is more Productive, Writing in Binge Patterns of Creative Illness or in Moderation?

Written Communication Oct 1997

Which is more Productive, Writing in Binge Patterns of Creative Illness or in Moderation?

BOB BOICE

Abstract

The author reviews traditional beliefs about creative illness and suggests that their endorsement of euphoric bingeing misleads writers. Productive creativity seems to occur more reliably with moderation of work duration and of emotions, not with the fatigue and ensuing depression of binge writing. The author compares binge writers to a matched sample of novice professors who wrote in brief, daily sessions and with generally mild emotions. Binge writers (a) accomplished far less writing overall, (b) got fewer editorial acceptances, (c) scored higher on the Beck Depression Inventory, and (d) listed fewer creative ideas for writing. These data suggest that creative illness, defined by its common emotional state for binge writers (i.e., hypomania and its rushed euphoria brought on by long, intense sessions of working—followed by depression), offers more problems (e.g., working in an emotional, rushed, fatiguing fashion) than magic. The example of Joseph Conrad supports these findings.

Journal: Written Communication
Published: 1997-10-01
DOI: 10.1177/0741088397014004001
Open Access: Closed
Topics: multimodality

Citation Context

Cited by in this index (1)

HAYES et al. (1999)

Issues in Measuring Reliability

Written Communication

Cites in this index (2)

BOICE et al. (1986)

Two Parallel Traditions

Written Communication
Rose (1980)

Rigid Rules, Inflexible Plans, and the Stifling of Language: A Cognitivist Anal…

College Composition and Communication

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