Writing is a solitary sport. Nobody comes to watch you write and cheer you on. You sit alone in a room, just you and your head and your preferred method of writing.
To be honest, I find this extremely difficult sometimes. When I go too long without talking to another adult (outside my family) I find that my social skills become rather caveman-like. I forget how to be human and turn into some kind of yoga pant-wearing, coffee-swilling goblin who grunts out a few syllables at the UPS man. Sometimes I miss the companionship of a workplace, the enjoyment of building something as a team.
What if I told you it didn’t have to be like that? What if I told you that getting together with other writers, whether virtually or in life, could be just the thing to get your words flowing?
I’m reading Marie Mutsuki Mockett’s memoir about Japan and grief, Where the Dead Pause and the Japanese Say Good-bye. In one section, she does a group meditation. For three hours she and other people sit in the dark and meditate on a hard floor. The hours pass quickly, a surprise. The priest says they would have never been able to do this alone.
Writing with others can be a bit like that kind of meditation (disclaimer: I haven’t actually done that meditation so I’m sure there are also ways it’s different). Your energy gets exchanged with the rest of the group. Hours pass quickly. You feel the invisible energy of support. This is group writing.