The only job where you can talk to yourself about dragons and people aren’t like “What’s wrong with Jim?”

 Writing is a lonely hobby/job/aspiration. Most of the time is spent (hopefully) writing without any knowledge of dividends of any sort until later. That could be through crit partners, beta readers, fans, or critics. Until then you are sitting there typing away, interacting with people you hope are interested in what you’re writing about, and trying to grasp on to your humanity while spending most of your time dealing with imaginary people. “But my characters are real!” you say. Well, maybe. In your head. Talking to real people is important now and again. Otherwise you’ll be sitting around speaking elvish to goldfish.

So it writing being lonely a bad thing? Not necessarily. It enables you to work out emotions that you may not be able to work out normally through talking to people. You can dabble with experiences you’ve never tried and travel to lands you’ve never been to before. It can be fun and liberating in many ways.

But if it gets too lonely, what to do?

1. Find a real person and talk to them. There are billions in the world. Fine one. Say hi. Eat ice cream together.

2. The internet is a writhing cesspool of grasping tentacles and horned, snarling beasts, but also has lots of great real people lurking behind all the mounds of shit. Seek these people out and befriend them. They may just be your saving grace when you least expect it.

3. Step away from writing and go outside. Outside is that place that existed before phones and internet. Yes, it exists and it’s beautiful.

What do you do if writing blues get you down? Do you wallow in it or reach out to someone?