The glorious power of extended solitude
I've always been a professional writer with a day job. Once, I gave myself a whole month of nothing but writing - and the experience by far surpassed my expectations.
This was a first for me. I’ve been writing professionally for going on thirty years now and have never taking a time-out to focus on just the story for an extended period of time. When I finally did spend a whole month in Ireland’s remote Connemara (the setting of John Ford’s The Quiet Man), I discovered a time of pure writer’s bliss.
I’ve always had a day job and it’s always worked out well for me. I can write anytime, anywhere. It’s a muscle I’ve trained for a long, long time. Because of multiple responsibilities, writing’s always been early mornings, late nights, parts of weekends... and in all the years I’ve never neglected a deadline. I learned to make the most of the time I had and was always as fast in delivering as my full-time writer colleagues.
The past few years were tough with my dad’s passing, then my mom’s dementia, then my brother’s suicide. With every bit of strain on the heart and the mind, it wasn’t easy to step into that creative room we writers need, that mental place where we roam free with our characters, where we live and die and love and hate as we try out a million and one ‘what ifs’. When good fortune provided the opportunity, I rented a cottage in remote and rugged Connemara. I was there for four weeks and barely talked to anyone. I arrived without characters and without a plot. Basically, I had nothing but a general idea of what I wanted the novel to be about. When I left the cottage a month later, I had a finished novel in my bag (a fairy tale for adults, entirely inspired by my surroundings, entitled “The Sweet-Maker of Connemara”)
I would wake up and start writing. I would walk and drive (without the distraction of radio) and always have characters and story flowing across my mind. I would take breaks when it felt right and I would just go on writing if that’s what I wanted to do. Some days I wrote half a day, others I didn’t leave the cottage once for fresh air. I’d look at progress before hitting the sack and I’d voice-record ideas if they hit my while in bed. I’d wake in the middle of the night, record something, mostly asleep - then use it first thing the next morning. That singular focus... just imagine what we writers could achieve if we were giving that luxury all the time. In my case, that may happen one day should one of my novels or screenplays propel me into a financially sound place where I could comfortably go full-time. But that’s beyond my control - if it happens, it happens. Actually, I’d likely find myself other occupations again, to keep my mind on its toes beyond the craft of writing and to keep valuing the time I take to write as much as I value it now.
My way has worked wonderfully well these past two decades - and the gift of that one month out there on my own will always remain with me as an out-of-this-world incredibly rewarding and deeply fulfilling experience. If you’ve done this yourself, you’ll know exactly how I’ve felt. And if you haven’t, then my wish for you is that you’ll be able to take such an opportunity at some point. Key then is to go into it with no attachment to outcome. Just go... and allow things to happen.
PS: And, of course, it helps if there’s no internet connectivity - then ‘remote’ really does become remote and giving characters and story full attention becomes ever so much easier.
"Just Go". simple yet hard to execute. in my case, it is something i think I will eventually try. thanks for sharing!