The Will, the Wit, the Judgement: The importance of an early start in productive and successful creative writing

Abstract

Most traditional concepts about creative writers include the idea that creative talent is evident early - that productive and talented writers began their careers at a young age. Yet few empirical studies have actually examined this supposition. A study of 986 creative writers from the twentieth century investigated the relationship between the age at first publication and measures of productivity (numbers of works produced) and success (winning a Nobel or Pulitzer prize). While significant relationships were found between an early debut and increased productivity in poetry and total number of works, it is more noteworthy that a writer's age at first publication was not significantly related to total productivity in fiction or success. Implications for creative writers and teachers of creative writing are discussed, along with how these findings might be incorporated into the current standards-based reform efforts.