According to a BBC article, recent research has confirmed that alone time is good for your concentration, health, and creativity. Is anyone else not remotely surprised? Any introvert can tell you that spending time on your own is a necessity, particularly when it comes to creative pursuits.
As much as I enjoy spending time with friends, I seem to never be able to get any writing done when I do. Even if it’s only for a couple of hours, socializing drains me, leaving no energy to think, let alone create. I’m not advocating for isolation (unless that’s your thing), but the more time I spend being social, the more appealing the hermit lifestyle starts to look.
I’m always a little skeptical of people in creative fields who are extroverts. The extroverts I know are constantly on the run, always social, always busy. When do they find time to create? How do they focus? I’m not saying it’s impossible, but it’s difficult to picture someone coming home from a party and feeling inspired to do anything other than sleep it off.
I’m still trying to find a balance between spending time with the people I care about and getting the necessary solitude I need to create. Sometimes I wish texting counted as socializing, or that I could carry on a conversation while mentally working on a chapter or two. How about you–are you an introvert or extrovert? What helps or hinders your creativity? Share in the comments.
Aspasía S. Bissas 
As an extrovert-ish, I can say writing is a ridiculous profession for me and I’ve been doing it for twenty years. It explains, at least partially why the last edit on my novel hasn’t been finished. I will say this, however, my current life makes me want to barricade myself somewhere and just write for weeks and months on end. If I can find a way to do it, I will. Just give me a little room somewhere and leave me alone for awhile.
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Extrovert-ish lol. I hope you get your room-barricading time so that you can finish your novel–I know the frustration of wanting to work and not being able to.
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There has to be a way….
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Introvert here. I’m also shocked when I come across the occasional extroverted writer, haha. I think there’s something about going into your cave and creating something that attracts mainly introverts.
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Writing is definitely an introvert’s ideal profession. Except it seems to involve a lot of socializing lol I guess we need to leave our caves once in a while 🙂
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LOL I often wonder if extroverts would have more interesting characters and stories to tell since they spend more time outside the cave instead of being an anti-social vampire like me!
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