What do writers and scientists have in common?<\/p>\n
This: for many years, the stereotype of each was a dedicated
\nindividual working alone.<\/p>\n
The full clich\u00e9 had the writer banging away on his typewriter
\nsitting alone in a room, possibly in a cold garret furnished in
\nearly poverty.<\/p>\n
Novelist Philip Roth, for instance, has said many times: “Writing
\nin a room by myself is practically my whole life.”<\/p>\n
For science geeks, the stereotype was the “mad scientist”
\nworking along in his lab, surrounded by flasks and beakers filled
\nwith bubbling fluids.<\/p>\n
Some people find these stereotypes a bit romantic and appealing;
\nothers see them as depressing.<\/p>\n
But the fact of the matter is .. they aren’t true — for either
\nscientists or writers.<\/p>\n
Or at least they don’t have to be. And probably shouldn’t be.<\/p>\n
As far as scientists toiling away in solitude, Yale Professor
\nPriyamrada Natarajan writes:<\/p>\n
“Although advances in science and technology are often portrayed
\nas the work of solitary men … science has always been a
\ncollective enterprise, dependent on many individuals who work
\nbehind the scenes.”<\/p>\n
For writers, though we are more likely to work alone than on a
\nteam, many of us either want or would benefit from more “people
\ntime” and less alone time.<\/p>\n
Why? Spending time with others helps overcome isolation and
\nloneliness, enables productive collaboration, and provides an
\nopportunity for support and feedback.<\/p>\n
If you are a writer alone most of the time but want to increase
\nyour “people time,” here are 8 ways to achieve that goal:<\/p>\n
1–Join a writer’s group.<\/p>\n
Many towns have writers’ groups, usually mostly amateurs, which
\nmeet to read and critique each other’s work.<\/p>\n
2–Attend writing conferences.<\/p>\n
There are a ton of them all over the country, and they are
\nadvertised in writer magazines such as Poets & Writers, The
\nWriter, and Writer’s Digest.<\/p>\n
The advantage over #1 is that, unlike local groups consisting
\nalmost solely of amateurs, at writing conferences the attendees
\nrange the spectrum from rank amateur to working journeymen to
\nsuperstars — and often editors and literary agents as well.<\/p>\n
Two I have attended and can recommend personally: ASJA for book
\nand article writers, and AWAI for copywriters.<\/p>\n
3–Find a writing buddy.<\/p>\n
Reach out to a writer you meet at #1 or #2, and pair up as
\nbuddies, much like kids have a swim buddy at summer camp. You
\ncan read each other’s work and give feedback, plus you can have
\nwriterly chats and moral support.<\/p>\n
4–Hire a coach.<\/p>\n
We live in a coach-crazy world today. If you hire a coach, make
\nsure the coach is an active and successful writer in the niche
\nyou are pursuing.<\/p>\n
5–Join a Mastermind group.<\/p>\n
According to an article in Forbes, Mastermind groups are
\nrelatively new to most people, even though Napoleon Hill created
\nthe concept around 75 years ago.<\/p>\n
A mastermind group is designed to help you navigate through
\nchallenges using the collective intelligence of others — some who
\nare your peers, others who may be ahead of you — and there is
\noften a large fee to belong.<\/p>\n
6–Professional association memberships.<\/p>\n
I am a chemical engineer and as such am also a member of the
\nAmerican Institute of Chemical Engineers.<\/p>\n
Medical writers join the American Medical Writers Association.
\nYou get the idea.<\/p>\n
Benefits to association membership are many and varied — from
\nnetworking and self-promotional opportunities, to conferences and
\neducation, to affordable health insurance and discounts on
\nproducts and services.<\/p>\n
7–Build a team.<\/p>\n
Hire a virtual assistant, proofreader, copy editor, website
\ndesigner, bookkeeper, CPA, and others to build a team that
\nsupports you.<\/p>\n
The obvious benefit: outsourcing everything but the writing makes
\nyou more productive and increases your writing revenues.<\/p>\n
Also, as you gradually build relationships with team members, you
\nare almost part of a virtual organization.<\/p>\n
8–Take a class.<\/p>\n
Many adult education programs at high schools and colleges offer
\na variety of writing classes including creative writing,
\ncopywriting, and journalism.<\/p>\n
Bottom line: If you are a writer … and you feel too alone and cut
\noff from others, especially those in your line of work … these 8
\nideas can fix that.<\/p>\n
As Jor-El told Kal-El in the original “Superman” movie — you will
\nnever be alone.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
What do writers and scientists have in common? This: for many years, the stereotype of each was a dedicated individual working alone. The full clich\u00e9 had the writer banging away on his typewriter sitting alone in a room, possibly in a cold garret furnished in early poverty. Novelist Philip Roth, for instance, has said many […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1848,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1636","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1636","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1848"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1636"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1636\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1640,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1636\/revisions\/1640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1636"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1636"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bly.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1636"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}