The New Social Writer

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I registered for an online course this year. It started with a 2 day virtual retreat since no one is meeting in person with the pandemic. I was apprehensive about spending two entire days on zoom and with a group of strangers. Craving to learn something new, I signed up. Thanks to the organizers, it turned out to be excellent complete with a scavenger hunt and learning how to make a new cocktail (neither actually related to the content of the course, but side benefits). And I realized how much I missed meeting new people during this past pandemic year. 

I would describe myself as an introvert. I need time by myself and when I don’t get it, I get grumpy. And miserable. Most likely this is my subconscious attempt to make people go away so I can get my alone time. I’ve always liked the vision of the solitude author, hidden in a cabin and surrounded by trees and rocks, ideally near a lake, and no one in sight or hearing distance. Somedays, I hold onto that mirage like a thirty person in the desert. 

But that doesn’t mean, I don’t need people too. 

People bring us stories. It could be something someone says and I jot it down as a great line. Or the way someone talks, and it inspires me for a character. Or snippet of a story told, my mind wanders, takes it in a new direction, adds in a dragon and poof–I have a new story simmering on the writing stove in my brain. During my new course, I filled 2 pages of my writing notebook on ideas generated from meeting new people. How I missed these types of interactions this past year! All of this lovely isolation and yet, as a writer, I realize that I need people too.

Humans are inherently social. Aristotle wrote:  ”Man is by nature a social animal.” Neuroscience has reinforced this theory that we are hard-wired for social interaction and this allows us to do things as a team that we would have more difficulty on our own. I understand this theory when thinking about complex achievements, like getting a rocket to the moon. However, I am beginning to think that this can apply to things that seem like more solitude pursuits, like writing. 

Think about a time when you wrote with energy and it felt like you were flowing out of the words faster than you could type or write. Do you remember a time when you wrote feeling super focused and charged with ideas? A time you wrote an amazing scene and it felt like flying, and it exhilarated you?

What was the context and setting for that writing experience? Was it after a phone call with another writer or friend? During a retreat?  In a cafe full of people? After exploring a market with your family?

I remembered being surprised by how well I wrote during a writing marathon and the creatively I felt at writing retreats. This was completely opposite to my vision of solitude, and yet, those writing moments were filled with energy.  Other people around inspired me; talking about writing and bouncing ideas off each other. After my new course retreat, even though it wasn’t about writing, I felt charged up to start writing again.

The pandemic will leave us with many lessons. One for me is that I need people and social interaction to help me in my craft of writing, even when they don’t know that they’re helping me! More than the trees and the rocks, social interaction is essential for my writing.

The pandemic has also taught me ways that I can have the best of both these worlds. It may take more conscious effort than before. For example, calling a friend for inspiration when you need it, signing up for online courses and taking full advantage of those opportunities. Sometime we need to find new ways to connect to people. Remember this next time you’re feeling stuck in your writing. Maybe you need some social interaction to restart the writing engine.  

Happy writing!