insular
dwelling or situated on an island. This has come to mean narrow-minded, as well as isolated and detached.
a Croatian island by Sphinx
Lately, I've come to realize the value of writing in an island mind set. This is similar to my ideas in the post on hermetic, writing in an air-tight environment, keeping the door shut and visualizing Schrodinger's cat. "Island writing" would point not only to keeping things contained, but also separating oneself so nothing can come in. This is a challenge in the internet age where were swamped with commentary and blurbs and tweets and informational flashes everywhere we turn. There is also a greater pressure for writers, especially for beginning, unpublished writers such as myself, to "build our platforms" online or create a following on Twitter, as well as visiting blogs, keeping blogs, reading, reading, reading the insights of others out there in the world. It is confusing and exhausting. When most of the time, all I want to do is write.
I've noticed that several months on Twitter leave me feeling this way at times. Don't worry, I'm not about to leave the community, I'm simply taking this network with a grain of salt. When those I follow tweet about insightful blog posts or articles, I am grateful. Those things are innocuous, helpful and encouraging. Some people really have a knack for crafting lovely, funny or intriguing tweets. Yet... sometimes it amounts to a lot of distracting visual noise. Too much of a good thing: read me! read this! you should be doing this! you never should do that! Ahh!
Much of this might be due to my struggles with anxiety. When tweets suddenly feel like commentary on my personal writing life, I know it's time to retreat over the moat, pull up the drawbridge and write alone and unbothered in the tower... putting some distance between myself and others until the energy is back. Just retreat and write. It's all good!
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