Writer’s Blog

Should Writing Be A Solitary Activity?

Most of the time we work alone… but should we?

Beth van der Pol
An Imposter’s Guide
4 min readMay 18, 2021

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I want to fully disclaim that I don’t know the answer to this.

Everyone has a slightly different way of writing and mine has always been… half social?

I usually write alone. I want to say that… If I’m not writing entirely alone it’s because my husband is hanging around the house but I still count it is alone because I don’t like people talking while I write.

This feels like a complex subject because so much of my writing and my schedule fluctuates. I’ve always enjoyed writing with other people. I often go on calls with my sister or mum and we have work sessions together. It feels nice to know that you are being productive at the same time as someone else. Sometimes I’ll put on a ‘write with me’ stream, even as I’m typing this I have a video on in the background just so I can listen to the sound of someone's voice.

At first, I wanted to brush this off as a Covid thing. Maybe it was just temporary loneliness but when I actively think back on my writing career I’ve always preferred writing when I feel as though someone else is in the room with me.

Writing alone is fair play, and it’s often how we are introduced to the act of…

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Beth van der Pol
An Imposter’s Guide

Writer and author with an MA in creative writing, sharing knowledge and teaching techniques to level up your writing! Find me at https://imposters-guide.com/