John Steinbeck on writing. The author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Grapes of Wrath (1939), said:
A writer out of loneliness is trying to communicate like a distant star sending signals. He isn’t telling or teaching or ordering. Rather he seeks to establish a relationship of meaning, of feeling, of observing. We are lonesome animals. We spend all life trying to be less lonesome.
I’d like to think a writer’s life is much less lonely these days. Because of the far reach of the internet and this blog, I have writer friends all over the world. Not to mention a wonderful local writer’s group that I attend on a regular basis. So I don’t often feel lonely.
On the other hand, I can relate to “trying to communicate like a distant star sending signals.” Part of the business of being a professional writer, in this modern era, is that I am charged with the responsibility of looking for readers who can resonate with my work and/or hoping they find me. So it does feel like I am a distant star sometimes, sending out my signals.
What about you? Even if you’re not a writer or another kind of artist, everyone is creative. Can you relate to the (sometimes) loneliness of living a creative life? As always, I’d love to hear from you.
P.S. I am an ex-shrink who writes novels. Check out my books here.
From one of our lovely email subscribers:
“I believe that most creative people are rather lonely by nature, regardless of their area of expertise. The creation is coming from within, and therefore can’t fully be comprehended by anyone else. Sometimes even the writer, musician, painter or poet doesn’t understand where it came from. There are no thoughts, words, actions or paintings, for that matter that are able to completly express what the creator was feeling at the time. I guess this is why I get so irritated with people who try to define or explain, “god” to me. (and this atheist won’t go off down that road…promise)”
I agree with your sentiments, to some degree. I have a group of writing friends that I spend time with regularly. We talk about writing on occasion, but usually just unwind–we are all doing the same thing: writing.
But there is something different inside of me that I rarely, if ever, express. It’s like a void or emptiness that I can’t really overcome. It’s the desire to create something, to express myself through words that I cannot seem to muster in person. I have two very different lives. I keep things for myself often, so I can use them later.
Maybe that’s just me.
Hi Aaron,
You’ve voiced very beautifully what I think Steinbeck was describing. To me, it is a separation between what we could be and what we are. A kind of longing for our own greatness, perhaps. Where people enter into that equation, I’m not really sure. Maybe that’s where the “loneliness” comes in.
Thanks for stopping by, Aaron. I hope you will again.
I completely relate. I often struggle with the feeling of loneliness. I think it’s because I’m inside my head a lot of the time and I cut out the rest of the world. And only I can experience the crazy world inside my head until I share pieces of it in a story.
Hi Ashley,
Thanks for your thoughtful comment. I wonder if it has anything with being an introvert. Lots of writers are, it seems. I know I am. I’ve always been able to entertain myself for long stretches of time with my own thoughts. It makes sense, I suppose, that I write mainly fiction.:) Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see you again!
Good article! David Foster Wallace wrote a lot about existential loneliness and how writing and reading was a like a good conversation with someone. One of his favorite quotes of mine is “good fictions job is to comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable.” I try to live by this.
I think you know where I’m going to come down on this. 🙂 I think introversion is good for an artist, as you may recall from my post a while ago about my idol Deborah Eisenberg and how she doesn’t have a TV, doesn’t do computers (no web page, though I’d be overjoyed to make her one) and rarely sees people. She just lives and observes. And she produces some of the best, most deeply-felt fiction today.
Then there are the self-promoters…I won’t name names, but you could probably guess a lot of the people I’m talking about. They are very popular now and they have legions of fans who follow their every bathroom break, but when I read their stuff I find they have very little to say that’s new and I doubt anyone will remember them in thirty or forty years.
Being lonely is good. We Americans especially should try it more often—we might learn how to think and reason instead of react and respond. I’d love to see people shut down their laptops, turn off their “smart”phones, and turn off their TVs for a whole day, or week, or month. You can be alone anywhere, though it’s harder these days. Everyone is trying to pump stimuli into you. I was in a shoe store the other day and finally had to leave because I could no longer tolerate the 70s and 80s muzak they were piping in, playing it so loud that people had to shout at each other to be heard. And the store pays for this privilege. What’s the point? I’d rather have a store where I can think and look and talk to people. If I want bad ABBA music, I’ll go see Mamma Mia.
Is it just me, or are these great comments. Keep them coming, dear writers and creative types. I am loving every minute. I have the best subscribers and guests in the world!
BTW, on a completely unrelated note, if you haven’t seen The Descendants yet, run, don’t walk. I just got my DVD copy today (thank you Amazon Prime) but I’d already seen it in the theaters. I’m glad it won best adapted screenplay. But I sure wish Shailene Woodley had gotten best supporting actress.