The writing life is a lonely one. If you are working for yourself, whether that's in a freelance capacity or through publishing books, you are likely finding yourself spending long hours at your desk at home. And if you don't have a family that lives at home with you, that lack of interaction can really grate on you.
One of the downsides to becoming a fulltime author or writer is that, by its very nature, writing can be a very lonely business. Typically, it's just you and a computer, shut off from the rest of the world, all alone with your thoughts.
Studies of artists and writers collated in Scientific American confirm that artists and writers are up to 20 times more likely to suffer from bipolar disorder (also called manic depressive illness) and 10 times more likely to suffer from depression.
Do a video call with a friend. Create or support a cause. Engage in social media challenges. There is an endless list of ways you can meet new people and expand your circle to combat loneliness as a writer.
“Anxiety-free time spent in solitude may allow for, and foster, creative thinking and work,” the researchers wrote. In other words, if you spend time alone because you enjoy it, you shouldn't feel badly about it at all. It's probably good for you and your creative work.
Many writers have the tendency to procrastinate and overthink every detail of their article. They shy away from doing the actual work for longer than is necessary. Don't wait until you have that perfect idea before you write and publish.
Are Writers Loners? Despite rumors to the contrary, writers aren't necessarily loners. After all, many top screenwriters, like Vince Gilligan of Breaking Bad fame, spend hours in a room with other writers crafting screenplays. However, many writers need time and solitude to think and create.
More often than not, writing is an activity that requires solitude, which is why some of the world's best writers are also introverts. As famous YA author John Green once said, “Writing is something you do alone.
It's exciting. It's fun. When we're being creative, and especially when we're tapped into that magical kind of creativity, it's an extremely pleasurable experience. From the instant we start writing until our work is completed, we're on a wild ride, exciting but dangerous too.
Most writers are extremely insecure. Kafka didn't even want any of his books published, living with doubts about his own talents throughout his entire career. Orwell, Hemingway and Fitzgerald all despaired that their writing would never live up to their expectations (or the expectations of their readers).
Writer's fatigue and writer's block are similar concepts. Whereas blocks can happen at any point in the writing process, even before you've begun, fatigue normally occurs after extended periods of writing. The condition is frustrating, emotionally draining, and affects confidence.
Avoid archaeic spellings too. Don't repeat yourself, or say again what you have said before. Don't use commas, that, are not, necessary. Do not use hyperbole; not one in a million can do it effectively.
On average, Nobel Prize-winning writers produce their best work at age 45. Painters peak at age 42. And classical composers produce their most popular works at age 39.
The hardest part of being a writer (IMHO) is not coming up with ideas, or hitting your word count, or breathing life into your characters. It's trusting yourself. Believing in yourself. Being yourself, and being okay with that.
Having some level of anxiety associated with writing is normal, and often a sign that a writer cares about doing well. If this anxiety motivates the writer to devote thought and effort to their writing, this stress-induced attitude and mindset can have a certain positive value.
It's hard because doing it well matters, because stories matter, and the details matter, and there are often a lot of details. Sometimes they take years to organize. The feelings and ideas and memories that we put into the writing also matter, and are layered, and we can't force an understanding of them.
According to Grammarly's research, run-on sentences are among the top grammar mistakes made by writers worldwide. A run-on sentence contains two or more independent clauses (a group of words that contains a subject and a verb and that can stand alone as a sentence) that are not connected with correct punctuation.
Invention. Often the most difficult part of writing is starting to write. The process of choosing a broad topic and narrowing it down to a thesis can be both daunting and frustrating.
Intuitive personality types (58% agreeing) were by far the most likely to harbor dreams and ambitions of writing a book, agreeing at a rate 24% higher than their Observant counterparts.
Silence Reduces Stress
Many writers feel stressed now and then, particularly when launching a book or trying to overcome a sticky plot point. Periods of silence can help reduce that stress and benefit our overall health.
Compared to the novice brains, the brains of the expert writers showed additional activity in the caudate nucleus, which is responsible for automatic functions, and the Broca's and Wernicke's areas, which deal with language and word formation.
Introverts can also sometimes be considered loners. These are people who enjoy time alone, not necessarily because they don't like being around other people, but rather because they are more interested in their own inner thoughts and feelings. Spending quality time by themselves is how they are able to regain energy.
Introverts in general write to communicate. They prefer the written word over oral communication because they can both fact check their answers and can explain in depth without having to repeat themselves or deal with ambiguities of miscommunication. There is, to put it simply, thought put into the response.