The Joy of Creative Solitude

Being surrounded by noise all day makes it challenging to be creative. By noise, I mean people talking, children crying, dogs barking, brakes screeching, horns honking, music blaring, cell phones ringing, notifications pinging… it never stops. Your heart beats faster and faster until your blood pressure is through the roof and your anxiety level is sitting at the maximum setting. 

As a writer, how can you find a quiet moment to squeeze out a line or two of a bestselling novel if you can’t even hear yourself think? Most of us can’t find large blocks of uninterrupted time to create, so finding creative solitude is essential. Everyone needs a little space and time to be in the moment, to find their happy place, where they can take a break from the chaos, close their eyes, be clear-headed, and wallow in the silence.

I finally found that perfect place of creative solitude, where you can be mindful and make intentional decisions to find the answers you didn’t even know you were asking the questions for. Let me tell you a little bit about it. 

If you follow our blog, you may have read the post, A Writer’s Dream: An Island of Uninterrupted Time, where I describe how to apply for the Halls Island Artist Residency, a place where you could go and create some art, no matter what discipline you are passionate about. They granted me a spot, allowing me to visit the island for a ten-day writing residency this summer. 

While there, I had more than a few moments of doubt, wondering about the artists who came before me and how I would measure up to their creative talents. As a writer, I wondered if I had anything to say on the page, that someone might want to read. I wondered if I could write anything at all, or would I just sit there, frozen, and stare at the ripples moving across the lake. My mind so silent that the blank page would just taunt me for ten days until the ferryman returned for me.

So, I started my first day by writing a Haiku poem for the artistic cork board hanging in the main cottage. I weaved words together to create a powerful image of my nervous energy:

Words swirl with the wind.
Dry pine needles and sad thoughts
Landing on the page.

~ Lori Twining, Novelist

I pinned the blue index card with my poem to the board alongside all the other creative artists. I sat at the kitchen table, pulled out my empty journal, and pressed my Sharpie S-Gel pen to the page. Before switching to my notebook, I wrote a few pages about how my day developed. Unfortunately, I abandoned my original novel outline within mere hours of being there. I quickly discovered an unexpected desire to take things in a completely different direction. Soon, I had some new characters and a tiny tale of betrayal that I could morph into a half-decent short story. I had three days to enter the short story contest, so I edited like a boss and aimed for that deadline. Of course, it was a long shot because most people spend months on a short story for a contest; three days would not make a prize-winning story. However, I hoped to hit the long list of 20 writers. That’s it. If I made the list, I could add it to my Literary Resume when I shopped for an agent.

After submitting my short story with a couple of hours to spare, I could not get the characters out of my mind. That night, my head the pillow in the Library Bunkie, and the dreams stretched throughout the night, waking me up at 4:30am with a few options for a bigger story. Once I threw in some major conflict, and a surprising thread that links the braided stories together, the absolute joy vibrated through my body like a defibrillator, shocking my heart. My hand held the pen tightly, and I just kept scribbling ideas, conversations, scenes, and situations into my notebook. 

I’m not sure why I worried about not writing anything, as I ended up with 82 handwritten pages of fabulous fiction (and yes, if you are wondering, I am old school and use a pen and notebook for all my first drafts). It is crazy, I know, but it is my creative process of digging deeper to find the most thought-provoking story that I can create. 

Not only did I write, but I ventured out on many soul-searching kayak trips, swam in the lake, walked the island from point to point, and side to side every day at least three times, read in a hammock, watched the foggy sunrises from Bedrock Beach, plus, I enjoyed eight (out of nine) sensational sunsets from the dock each night.

I had a few companions that kept a close eye on me: Hummingbirds, Dragonflies, Red Squirrels, Downy and Hairy Woodpeckers, and a paddleboarder that was hoovering on being a creepy stalker, who passed by four to six times a day (only ten feet off shore, while making eye contact with me). There was one night of glorious rain, thunder, and lightning that made my writing jump off the page, and two nights of cottagers/campers across Koshlong Lake setting off fireworks to celebrate the Labour Day weekend. Their conversations traveled easily across the water, making me feel a little awkward and embarrassed that I was listening and taking a few notes. Ha! Overall, my heart was joyful as I breathed in the smell of pine needles, wood smoke, Kicking Horse Kickass coffee, and freshly cooked bacon every morning. 

Life is good, sometimes even great, if you let yourself be brave and experience as many adventures as possible. I love being an advocate for encouraging others to explore the chance to listen to their gut, reflect on their decisions, and discover what makes them happy inside. 

Honestly, partaking in the Halls Island Artist Residency offered me one of the best writing vacations of my life (even if there was no running water and you had to use an outhouse). I am truly grateful to have been given the opportunity. I can’t stop thinking about these complex characters and where they might end up. My hope is to finish this novel, find someone to represent it and sell it so the whole world can read my story. I want to make the readers feel something (good, bad, or ugly), and then I want them to talk about it with others. Conversations that are loud and clear. That would make me incredibly pleased. Joyful, even.

I look forward to scheduling more time for creative solitude… It is obviously, so damn amazing for my mental health and well-being, not to mention, my stories become ten times more interesting. I wish you the same. If you have any questions, feel free to write them in the comments below, or send me a message, as I will be happy to answer them.

Keep writing, my friends.