Overcoming Loneliness in Writing

A Lonely Story

We all have a job. Maybe we have two or more. And we all like to write. It doesn’t seem like these two should be in conflict - but often they are. With maximum time given to working to pay the bills, and minimum time given to being creative and expressing ourselves in a truly satisfying way. 

With little time to dedicate to our passion, we talk about writing less and less with our friends. After all, we still haven’t finished that last blog post/short story/poem. It becomes a bit embarrassing to say we write. So we hide away our little secret. And become lonely in the process. 

Is it only me? Or does that sound like you?

Overcome Loneliness Offline

Let me make this clear - for sure there are people like us out there. We just need to seek them out. If you are looking to improve your writing skills, a really good place to start is by reading more. Not only can it be an entertaining way to pass the time, it can help you understand what you like and don’t like in terms of genre. It can help you know what you like and don’t like in terms of writing style. And it can expand and deepen your vocabulary. 

But reading is pretty darn lonely, isn’t it? Yes, but if you join a book club, it can help you connect with real people with similar interests to you. How many of you belong to a local book club? Book chains also tend to run book clubs. Have you tried MeetUp?

Similarly, if you want to be more active with your writing, you could join a writing club or even a poetry club. Poetry and spoken word seem to be gaining popularity all over the world, so I am sure there must be an event taking place near you soon. If not, why not start one?!

Overcome Loneliness Online

So you have a busy job, a family to take care of and no time to make it to your local book club. How about joining an online reading club? You can search via Google or Facebook. Indeed, I belong to an online club run by SYSWC member Trisha Traughber. They read a different book each month with a live session for Q&A, chat and time to get to know other book enthusiasts. If you are interested, check out her Vagabond English Book Club.

Finally, if you want to read more, write more, and think more positively about your writing, why not join our supportive online community – Share Your Story With Confidence Facebook group.  We share and comment on interesting articles, run reading and writing challenges to help you boost your confidence and organise activities that shine a spotlight on your creative work.

We are small, but we are fierce! 

So with so many options out there, I do hope you can take your first step towards overcoming loneliness and finding your tribe.

Photo by Matthew Henry on Unsplash