Are Writers Crazy?

"The good writing of any age has always been the product of someone's neurosis, and we'd have mighty dull literature if all the writers that came along were a bunch of happy chuckleheads" - William Styron

Have you ever heard this quote before? Maybe you've heard people talk about the starving artist or mention the common stereotype that all creative types are "crazy". I think that normal is a useless word. Mostly because, what is normal? What's normal to one person may be totally unnatural for someone else, so when I read this quote, I kind of wonder what Mr. Styron himself considered to be normal.

There's no question that writers often have distinct points of view, and almost always find some way to think outside of the box. Does that make them crazy? Is every story that a writer writes a product of this so called "neurosis"? No, I don't think so. While I agree that sometimes, as a writer, I've written some very good work when I am having a depressive episode, for instance, I wouldn't then make the assumption that all writing coming from a mental health crisis is good or worth reading.

However, when you look at writers such as William Shakespeare and Edgar Allan Poe, you find that "madness" is kind of what drives their creativity in the most interesting ways. Edgar Allan Poe was an alcoholic, and he had a certain fascination and love for the dark, strange, and terrifying. He made the horror genre what it is today, and, he is the one who really started using psychological terror as a way to captivate his audiences.

William Shakespeare was a rather interesting person, and he had a very busy life putting on performances at the Globe. Was he "mad"? I think Shakespeare may have come up with some of his best ideas late into the night when everyone else was asleep and all he could hear was the words in his head. Perhaps his ideas came to life and he went on a neurotic journey in the midst of putting idea to pen to paper. I highly doubt he was out of his mind every time he wrote, though. If you are a writer and you have a sudden spark of creativity, you are probably going to find something to write in and start writing. It doesn't mean you are having a psychotic episode, and it doesn't mean we should normalize insanity. Like Poe, Shakespeare was also known to be fascinated with the human psyche, and you can see that reflected in many of his plays, where some of his characters do become quite neurotic. I don't think all of Poe's or Shakespeare's ideas were a product of neurosis, however.

On one hand, yes, some of the best works from writers tend to be the ones in which they might have been almost driven mad before writing a masterpiece, but, this isn't always the case. It very much depends on a lot of different things. With that being said, I can still very much resonate with Styron's quote because there is something there that I think he does get right: writers have unique perspectives.

In order to be a writer, you have to think of things in different ways, from many different points of view. Sometimes, that requires us to get inside the minds of our characters, to really feel what they are feeling and experience what they are experiencing. This is one way that good writing has been created throughout history.

However, let's not forget about the writers who just kept writing, despite any mental health issues. The people who are organized and motivated and not "driven by madness". I guess what I'm trying to say here is you don't have to be mentally unstable to be a writer. I also don't believe that Styron's quote is meant to be taken so literally.

Styron is talking about those times when we see a writer overcome so many things by writing. Writing is a form of therapy for many people. It's only natural for us to gravitate towards it when we are feeling sad or angry, etc. Even if you'd like to be that person that says, "I don't know, one day, I just had a manic episode and couldn't stop writing", you know that is not the way it always happens.

Instead, if just focus on writing every day, anything you want, whatever first comes into your mind, you are bound to find some inspiration. The cool thing about writing in the first place is that whatever you are writing doesn't have to make sense. It doesn't have to have a plot, and it doesn't have to be shared if you don't want to. While I agree that some writers get a true spark of artistic genius when they are mentally ill and writing, I don't believe that accounts for the majority of writers out there.

To end this post, I want to leave you with a quote from a new favorite movie of mine called "Throw Mama From The Train". This 1987 film, starring Billy Crystal and Danny DeVito, is a story about two writers; one, a writing professor at a community college (Billy Crystal) and one is his student (Danny DeVito). In the movie, they end up becoming close and bonding over their experiences, which take them on a few crazy twists and turns, but I think what captivated me the most about this film was what the professor would tell everyone and was repeated throughout the film by Danny DeVito and Billy Crystal. They simply say: "A writer writes".

There is no other perfect way to describe it than that, I think. If you want to write, you will write. It doesn't matter if it's a masterpiece or not. So, if you keep thinking you have writer's block because you aren't inspired or driven to madness, don't worry, you don't have to be mentally unstable to write a story, you just need to be brave, and bold, and most importantly, you have to write.