Loneliness expresses the pain of being alone and solitude expresses the glory of being alone. ~ Paul Tillich

Books take many hours to write, which gives the public the impression that writers are lonely, solitary creatures. The average person cannot stand being alone. However, it’s next to impossible to be alone anymore.

I’m not talking about people interference, though that is an issue. How often do you write without access to the internet? Your phone? Earbuds or background music? Most writers aren’t solitary. On the contrary they usually cannot stand not to be connected. And maintaining that connection means you are not completely alone which could be impacting your writing.

You may think you need the noise, connection, or music because your brain cannot take the concept of being totally shut off from it. You’ve convinced yourself you need that accompaniment. Truth is, being focused on one, intense thing like creative writing is a challenge.

We multi-task so much these days that we have lost touch with single-tasking. If we are too long silent online, or do not answer our phone, other people worry. Actually, when people are able to slide away into solitary mode and remain there a while, other people become concerned about broken, abnormal behavior. “You aren’t depressed, are you?” In reality, all the stimuli we can’t keep up with might be more the cause of said depression.

Suzanne Degges-White, a psychology professor at Northern Illinois University, says: “You can’t make good decisions if you don’t ever give yourself time to reflect.” And “if you’re constantly engaged in the world, it’s harder to make space for those moments of genius.”

Resource: https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/sc-fam-need-for-alone-time-1225-story.html

Gaming on your phone is not alone time. Background music is not alone time. Anything conflicting with alone time saps brain function. Find time where nothing is required of you. Absolutely nothing.

Regenerate with alone time, then try writing with nothing else active around you. Attempt pure, unadulterated thinking about your story. This allows your writing to pour instead of fighting its way around the distractions.

BIO: C. Hope Clark is founder of FundsforWriters.com and author of two mystery series. www.chopeclark.com