As a wannabe writer, I’ve always considered safety and security a curse. I’ve grown up in a caring nurturing home with a loving family. My married life is settled and stable. Hardly the adventurous stuff made for novels. I haven’t lived through a war, personal violence or a debilitating illness. I’ve had a very boring life.
Right now, I’m on an autobiography kick. I’m into my third book written by a comedienne. These women write for a living. All three have written for successful television shows. All three raised in safe secure homes like mine. I found that interesting. What in their middleclass upbringing made them writers?
That got me thinking about the Hierarchy of Needs. As we get closer to the top do we have more freedom to engage our imagination? More time to play? J.K. Rowling lived in ‘relative poverty’, to quote Wikipedia, while she wrote the first Harry Potter so that doesn’t follow.
What about genetics? I come from parents who both come from creative families. Most art forms represented in my genealogy. I also remember solving math problems with my father and younger brother for fun. Is it left brain versus right brain or do logic and freethinking work together?
What makes a writer?