I spoke at a session of the Women In Periodical Publishing annual meeting on Friday, in San Francisco, and one of the women in the session (on surviving as a “solopreneur,” which I guess is the current euphemism for a self-employed entrepreneur who has, ummm … no employees) asked how to deal with the loneliness of working and writing alone.
Without question, it’s harder to be creative in a vacuum. And that goes for solving the problems of a start-up, as well as writing the Great American Novel. That’s why few start-ups are solo ventures, even though partnerships that don’t work out are one of the leading causes of start-up failures—a Catch-22 that’s worth discussion, but I’ll get into that another time.
But what do you do to stave off the loneliness, if you are, indeed, working alone? In my own case, I’ve put a lot more effort into creating an active social life outside of my home and office walls. And sometimes, it really has been effort. I also have a network of “thinking buddies” that spans the continent, whom I call when I get stuck on a problem.
But I told the woman in the session that I also had tried, for a short time a few years ago, a writers’ group in San Francisco. Called the San Francisco Writer’s Workshop, it’s the oldest writing group in the city, founded in 1946, and I was very impressed with the group’s leader, Tamin Ansary. I decided the group wasn’t quite right for me, but I promised to pass along contact information about the group. So for anyone in San Fran who’s looking for a writer’s group, for writing critique or just social contact and empathy, you can get more information at: www.sanfranciscowritersworkshop.com.
Lane Wallace is the Editor and Founder of No Map. No Guide. No Limits.
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Ha – solopreneur. Love that term. I am, for one, working on building “interdependence” rather than so much lonely independence these days, but it can be tough to reach out and ask for help.
i’ve been advocating lately that folks need a “third thing” — beyond work and the home, to connect to a larger community. The third thing could be skydiving, or volunteering, or going to yoga or the gym, but it’s getting out in the world and connecting. and i like the term “thinking buddies,” too. even working at home, we create connections in our profession, with editors, other writers, the people we write about, it’s great to maintain those relationships across time and space.