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

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.

Values and Creativity

“…) Third, research on creative writers has produced the counterintuitive finding that ''creative inspiration is more likely to follow, than precede, productivity'' (Boice, 1983, p. 542), particularly when the antecedent productivity is motivated by one's own values. For example, those who wrote primarily when intrinsically motivated to write or in response to the external contingencies made salient by approaching deadlines produced fewer creative ideas, wrote fewer pages, completed fewer manuscripts, submitted fewer manuscripts for publication, and reported greater procrastination than did writers who typically began writing before they wanted to and wrote in regular sessions they had scheduled, apparently motivated by an internal sense of the importance of their work (Boice, 1997). The ironic finding that creative ideas strike more often when one begins working without feeling inspired is consistent with the work practices of many successful creators who, chronically lacking intrinsic motivation to get started, must instruct, encourage, or otherwise persuade themselves to begin working on each new project, expecting intrinsic motivation to follow.…”

Peer review as a strategy for improving students’ writing process

“…Procrastination is common, particularly on long writing assignments (Solomon and Rothblum, 1984). Students often begin writing these assignments close to the due date and engage in binge writing which can decrease both productivity and quality of writing (Boice, 1997; Fritzsche et al, 2003). To counter this problem, scheduling the peer review earlier in the semester can require student writers to begin first drafts earlier in the semester.…”

Improving the writing skills of college students

“…Such writing binges can cause anxiety, exhaustion, and writer's block (Boice, 1985(Boice, , 1997. Professional writers typically compose on a consistent schedule of a few hours per day at most (Kellogg, 2006).…”