They say that writing is a solitary endeavor, but no one really ever says why.  I think that’s because there is actually a variety of reasons for it, and most of those reasons are probably highly individualized.

I know that some people like writing in public, in coffee shops for instance, but for me, I do better with silence and solitude.  It’s easier to hear the voices in my head when I don’t have outside voices to contend with, not to mention the risk of getting interrupted while in the middle of a scene and the words are flowing and your fingers and brain are communicating – I have a hard time getting back into that groove once I’ve been pulled out of it.

Then, of course, there’s the fact that I am far more interested and emotionally invested in my work than others are. I used to have a…