When we write literary texts such as fiction, poetry, autobiography, or memoir, we initiate performances of meaning that subjunctivize reality. Because the subjunctive traffics in human possibilities rather than settled certainties (Bruner, 1986), writing becomes a site of possibility, an “as if that works in multiple ways with, through, and beyond the text. What such contingency does is broaden the possibilities for experiencing, acting, understanding, and creating. If there is no “solid”; sense of self, but rather an ever evolving story of identity that is always in revision, then our stories about ourselves are fraught with possibility - the subjunctive possibility of writing. Women, using the fluidity of writing to express a variety of experiences, shape a story of subjectivity where they begin to see themselves as having multiple possibilities for understanding and acting. This article explores some of the possibilities of writing that the author realized from working with women writers and describes how, as a result of this work, she has revised her thinking about writing and the teaching of writing.
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