The Artist: On Solitude, Creativity, and the Writer's Life

Why We Write in Public

What comes to mind is an image of writers of old. They're sitting at a café, or a bar, exchanging intellectual and philosophical banter with their writer/philosopher friends. They leave these gatherings infused with renewed inspiration and energy. This reaching out and taking in of thoughts and ideas is food for a writer's soul. They go back to their solitude and divine works of literature are born.

The Modern Writer's Dilemma

Which brings me to the here and now. I am a literary entrepreneur, a mother, podcaster, and writer.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh, who wrote Gift From the Sea, understood what it meant to be torn between nurturing your family and your art. She understood too the needs of the creative soul.

"The artist knows he must be alone to create; the writer, to work out his thoughts; the musician, to compose; the saint, to pray. But women need solitude in order to find again the true essence of themselves: that firm strand which will be the indispensable center of a whole web of human relationships."

The Stolen Moments

This blog, like my writing, is something that I must nurture alone and in silence. When the happy chaos of my current life grants me a few stolen moments, I need to reach out the only way I can, via blogging.

This is where solitude meets community. Where the private work of writing becomes public conversation.

What This Teaches Us About the Writing Life

Nearly a decade after I first explored these ideas, I understand even more deeply what I was trying to articulate then:

Writers Need Both Solitude and Connection

We need the café conversations—the exchange of ideas, the intellectual banter, the community. But we also need the quiet room where we do the actual work. Both feed the creative soul.

Women Writers Navigate Multiple Identities

Writer. Mother. Podcaster. Literary entrepreneur. Each role demands attention. Anne Morrow Lindbergh understood this tension—the need to be fully present for family while also protecting the solitude that creativity requires.

Blogging Is Part of the Writing Studio

"This blog is part of my writing studio. This is where I can invite others to share their perspective and to consider where my views on humanity meets theirs."

A blog isn't separate from your writing practice—it's an extension of it. It's where you think out loud, test ideas, and connect with readers who will eventually find your books.

Stolen Moments Are Enough

You don't need hours of uninterrupted time. "A few stolen moments" can be enough to reach out, to write, to maintain the thread of your creative practice.

The Writer's Studio Today

Looking back at this post, I see a writer trying to claim space for her work amid the "happy chaos" of life. That tension hasn't disappeared—it's just evolved.

Now, my blog serves multiple purposes:

• A place to think through memoir craft and share what I've learned

• A way to connect with other writers navigating similar challenges

• A platform to build my author presence before my memoir's second edition

• A writing practice that keeps me connected to my creative work

  
  

Permission to Write in the Margins

If you're a writer trying to balance multiple roles and responsibilities, I want you to know: stolen moments count. The blog post you write during naptime or before dawn—that counts too.

You don't need the café in Paris or the cabin in the woods. You need the willingness to claim whatever solitude you can find and use it to do your work.

Your Writing Studio

Whether it's a blog, a journal, morning pages, or voice memos in your car—find your writing studio. The place where you can "invite others to share their perspective and to consider where your views on humanity meet theirs."

That's what writers do. We reach out from our solitude and invite connection.