The letter L in my mind is associated with the word Loneliness. A sad word, to be sure. Unfortunately, many writers are afflicted by it. I am. I’m an extreme introvert. I live in my head most of the time. I communicate with my fictional characters on a deeper level than I do with my neighbors or even family. With my characters, I’m open. I don’t feel constrained to hide my quirks or my oddities. Just the opposite: those quirks make my characters unique, my writing original. Often, the heroes of my stories become my best friends, at least until I’m done writing those stories, while my few real-life friends feel baffled by my insistent ‘daydreaming.’ Thank the stars for the internet and for my blogger friends.
It was on the internet that I finally found like-minded people, the community of other writers. They blog about hearing voices of their characters, and I think: yeah, me too. They blog about their research into the best poisons for their upcoming mystery, and I think: ditto. I did online research once for a homemade bomb. For the same reason, of course: my heroine needed to disarm a bomb by magical means. We are united in our half-humorous concern that the police might be interested in us because of our ‘dangerous’ research topics.
The positive outcome is that my online writer-friends alleviate my Loneliness. They frequently understand me better than my kids or my sister do. We are sailing the same boat, weathering the same storms, heading towards the same shore. We want to be read. When the visitors of my blog comment on my posts, I feel happy. Understood. Appreciated. I’m not alone anymore.
For many introverts like me, our digital friends’ blogs are a lifeline. They make us all feel connected. Blog away, friends. I want to read your blogs. And comment, so you feel appreciated too.
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On a distantly related topic, I want to say that Loneliness is often a theme of science fiction stories. Case in point: The Martian by Andy Weir. Cosmonauts are often alone. As I’m not only a writer but also a book cover designer, I recently made a couple of pre-made book covers with the theme of Loneliness in mind. I didn’t know at the time I worked on those covers that I would be writing this guest post, but they fit perfectly, and I want to share them with you. I hope you enjoy them.
All the images I used in both my composite covers come from the free image site Pixabay.com.
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Olga Godim is a speculative fiction writer and book cover designer. Her website and blog: https://olgagodim.wordpress.com/
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Circumstances have forced me to be on my own much more than I would have chosen but because of my childhood, I have been able to adapt well to that by turning to writing and to sharing it on the internet so I know where you are coming from...
ReplyDeleteI love to winkle out the interesting facts about which ever subject I have chosen for A-Z and my post today was one I was really looking forward to...
https://how-would-you-know.com/2024/04/lacquer-shellac-and-a-limerick-poem.html
Yeah, my search history could put me on the FBI's Most Wanted list. LOL.
ReplyDeleteRonel visiting for L: My Languishing TBR: L
Lamia
This is beautiful Olga - and rings true. I am an introvert too, and felt I had come 'home' when I discovered the blogosphere and so many like minded people.
ReplyDeleteToo many people are affected by loneliness and so many of us (me included) are not sure how to react to those who reach out because of it. I recently saw a post on my cousin's Facebook page that seemed like a call for help because of being lonely and now after reading I am convicted that I didn't respond. We all can use a little more L♥vein our world.
ReplyDeleteCheers,
Barbie
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI subscribe to your blog and this article landed in my inbox. I know where you're coming from. I am an introvert, and my characters are my friends. When I am writing about one of them in my series, he tends to tell me when my descriptive writing of him is not correct.
I research things that would make people, especially people who know me, disown me or shy away from me. So, loneliness is something that I have to deal with. It is either that or giving up my writing; I don't want to do that because it is a part of me.
Shalom shalom
I researched recently "who shows up to investigate plane crashes?" because my story opens with a deadly crash. (the answer is a lot of people, some of whose acronyms i never heard of before). I would also call myself an introvert, who finds it hard to connect with other people. I probably read too much.
ReplyDeletehttps://getlostinlit.blogspot.com/2024/04/l-little-star-by-john-ajvide-lindqvist.html
Writing is a work that's hard to share, and at the same time we can't do it alone! I am really grateful for the on-line writing community, as well as for a family that mostly gets it. I'm also grateful for neighbors who won't let me be a complete hermit!
ReplyDeleteTravel is one of the three pillars of the game in its fifth edition, and in Eberron, if you mean travel long distances, most likely you're thinking House Lyrandar.
ReplyDelete"L is for Lyrandar and long-distance transportation" celebrating 20 years of Eberron and 50 of Dungeons & Dragons along with the #RPGBlogCarnival
https://codexanathema.com/2024/04/13/l-es-por-lyrandar/
Any writer is an introvert by definition. I need my peace and quiet by my lonesome to write, how else. Writing fiction is a bit different from blogging per se, but this time I structured it as pages from the diary, to let one of the characters to speak up their mind.
ReplyDeletePhew, finally caught up with A to Z and on letter L now. 12 letters down, almost half. Hard, challenging, exciting.
Warning: Sore is More is an 18+ only spanking fiction blog, and not everyone's cup of tea. Proceed with caution
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