The life of a writer is a lonely one. The life of a writing entrepreneur doubly so. To create a product many hours are spent typing away, organising thoughts, evaluating ideas, researching facts and so on. Then there is the little matter of promoting the product of this toil (because toil it is!). It is nice to write your pieces but if no one knows they are out there, they will never bring home the bacon. And as entrepreneur that must be one of the goals. This means that working hours are many, way above the norm, pecuniary reward is initially zero so frustration levels can be high and social interaction with the world is mostly done through the same computer you use to type on. You can only hope that the people you hardly see anymore understand and believe in you as much as you have to believe in yourself.
recognition
Having read many biographies I recognise one characteristic that seems to become an issue for many writers in the course of their life: isolation. It seems to be part and parcel for the métier. Writing and isolation go hand in hand. Some seek this isolation in solitude, other seek it in the opposite of solitude, surrounding themselves with many people, carefully selected to not become a burden on their intellectual pursuits. In any case, many writers barely have one or two people they are truly close to.
serendipity
As a writer it seems that you develop antennae for serendipity. Paradoxical as this sounds. Still, it often happens that my mind is working hard on an issue, trying to find words, sentences, structure, to describe a certain concept when an outside medium communicates its ideas on just that issue helping me along.
isolation
One such issue is this isolation thing. Recently I heard two programs discuss isolation. One, the BBC Forum program, discussed isolation with regard to writers. The other program, This week in tech, had Jason Calacanis mentioning that being an entrepreneur is a lonely business. The common message from both these discussions was that it is very hard to convey to society, that to write and to make that writing into a business (even a modest one) means that many mundane things take on less importance or even become of no importance at all. To put it bluntly: a writer has to partly withdraw from society. And society seems not to thank the writer for that.
classical times
This was not always the case. In classical times, withdrawal was seen as an inevitable part of an intellectual profession. A philosopher was almost expected to withdraw from society in one way or another. How can you take a thinker seriously if he or she is cavorting around? Quiet contemplation of the butterfly and its relation to the stars, far removed from the bustle of society, seemed a much better use of a thinker’s brain.
white robes
This changed once the white robes of the philosopher were no longer regarded with respect and even awe. Society demanded physical input, a tangible contribution to the common good. Philosophy, thinking, writing became much more suspect occupations. With that came the distrust for those who chose to withdraw from the bliss society had to offer. And this is still the case.
active participation
Society demands active participation of all. It will not, can not, allow for those who take a step back and observe from the side lines. Who knows what these thinkers will come up with? Also, a feeling of ingratitude seems to be projected upon the hermit. Are we not good enough? Do you think you are above us? Society demands that a value is put upon everything, even on ideas. Better or worse. More or less. What happened to equal but different?
the leash of society
To pull this piece back to a personal level: I have withdrawn as far as the leash of society will allow. And I will keep pulling on that leash to get even further away from it. I am not saying I am too good for my fellow members of the species, I am not saying society is not good enough for me, I am merely saying that after over 40 years of trying, employing various strategies and methods and failing miserably every time, I have to accept the fact that I just do not fit in to that which for the majority of people is obviously a comfortable life. The transformation is complete: I have become a thinker and a writer and as such, for better or for worse, I need a large amount of isolation. Isolation, the withdrawal from the mundane activities of every day life, has become as important for me as oxygen.
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Well written but a bit gloomy (like the current weather)..
My father was a writer and a lot of people think he was an utmost isolated writer. Although i was 4 when he passed away, having heard enough stories and read enough counts, i guess i have a pretty clear image of this writership and how he dealt with isolation vs society.
First you have to believe in your writing. You didn’r fail fail miserably everytime. WF Hermans, it is told, had to offer his first manuscript to 27 different persons. Nr 28 was bulls eye.
Second, you need to plan PR. If you write from march until november – you can use dec – jan for societal / pr visits, contacts etc etc. Writing is a seasonal work.
Third, as a writer I think you cannot get your work to the readers without a publishing house. I recommend to aspiring writers to find several ones. One for E-books, one for poetry, one for novels, one for essays – that would really spread your risks. And become a member of a society of colleagues, FNV, NML,