The Structure of Creativity
This chapter examines how Jarrettsville came to be, and how even its title was eventually derived, by tracing the social life of artistic creation within it. Between 1998 and 2004, Cornelia Nixon was working on a novel titled Martha's Version, the story of Jarrettsville based entirely from Martha Jane Cairnes's first-person perspective. Nixon was sixteen years old on a cross-country flight when her mother first told her the family story that would become her inspiration for writing Jarrettsville. The chapter first narrates the true events that Nixon fictionalized in Jarrettsville before discussing her education, writing style, and literary influences; her family and personal life as raw materials for the novel; and the research process for Jarrettsville. It also considers how the practice of writing is influenced by things such as background experiences and training, and the field of creation by social interactions. Finally, it explains how Jarrettsville came to be called Jarrettsville.