The Loneliness Trap: How You Can Avoid It

Hi Reader,

I smoked 15 cigarettes a day for a few years.

You see…

At the time, I was writing by myself in the mornings and late at night.

I wasn’t making much progress either.

I didn’t know how to hold myself accountable.

I wrote and rewrote the same pieces for weeks on end.

I had no idea about how to build an audience.

I didn’t know anyone who could help me with these problems.

And worst of all, I wasn’t getting paid despite spending hours at my desk.

The experience was miserable, frustrating and lonely.

(A study in PLOS Medicine says feeling this way is as bad for your health as smoking up to 15 cigarettes.)

Here’s how I kicked my bad habit:

First up, I joined a non-fiction writing group in Dublin.

We met up once a week to talk about the craft.

And thanks to critiques from a cranky writing instructor from Texas, I figured out how to write non-fiction.

I also built a network of other writers I could talk to about creative problems like writer’s block.

Of course, they couldn’t help me get paid or build a business around writing.

So, I joined an online marketing group.

There, I discovered how to build an audience.

I honed my online writing chops.

And I figured out that full-time writers work as hard on their business as on their craft.

Now, writing today is still a solitary profession.

Writers spend hours working alone in a spare room, a coffee shop, or a library daily.

They must also contend with the latest tech like ChatGPT and shifting social media algos.

But that doesn’t mean writing part-time or full-time needs to feel lonely.

Wanting to write shouldn’t damage your health, like smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

That’s where a community of like-minded peers can help.

You can get feedback from other peers.

You can ask beginner and advanced questions about topics like books, writing online and building a writing business.

You can also share wins.

And you can find other creatives who can hold you accountable.

If you want all that, I’m considering launching a private, affordable community for working writers. It’ll cost $19.95 per month. And it’s on Skool.

Spots are limited, though.

I want to keep this community small for now.

You can join here.

Write on,
Bryan Collins