By examining the lives of successful women writers from South Georgia, I have been able to discover patterns in their lives that encouraged these women to become writers. By using life story interviews and narrative inquiry, I was able to determine specific implications for educational change. These factors can be examined at school and at home to encourage both girls and boys to become more confident in their writing ability. In addition, all three writers gave generous suggestions to help with the teaching of writing. Three life story interviews of published women writers from South Georgia were completed. The transcripts were examined and analyzed in order to discover patterns in the lives of these women. Narrative inquiry was used to interpret the findings. Narrative inquiry was used as an extension of the life story interviews because it allowed a closer inspection of each participants story and gave another lens with which to analyze the data that was gathered. From this study, I learned that it is crucial that we encourage our students, both girls and boys, to write in every subject area, and that we allow them to write creatively and without the restraint of formulaic writing or the pressure to write perfectly the first time they attempt to create. Further, we must enable our teachers to become more comfortable with the teaching of writing, including exploring less traditional approaches to teaching and evaluating writing. Finally, and most importantly, we must encourage each and every student. Every one of the published authors interviewed noted the encouragement of a single teacher as critical to her choice to make writing a profession.