Writing has to be the loneliest profession. The late President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, may have argued that point. He once said, "the presidency is the loneliest job in the world." I can't imagine anything lonelier than writing.

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When I write, sometimes I feel isolated and lonely. I am aware that I am unable to write when there are people in the same room. I am distracted from any worthy or creative ideas. I feel a need to be alone. At times I forget to eat or get out of my pajamas. I won't answer the telephone, or if the doorbell rings. I admire writers that can write with little distraction. I am not one of them.

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The best ideas I have to write about, find me in the worst circumstances, like soaking in a bath or showering. I sometimes dream about having a waterproof chalkboard in my bathroom. I feel I am unable to capture that moment again. I forget where my creative momentum left off, as I dry off from a shower. That is only one example of many.

The most comfortable place I write best, is on my bed with my laptop computer. I go all the way in comfort. My bed has the best props imaginable. I place a wedged TV pillow behind my back, I place my laptop on an adjustable lap tray, so I can achieve the proper incline to easily peck at my keyboard. I make sure I have plenty of bottled water by my side. I have the telephone close by my side. I can chose to ignore it or answer it. I supply myself with a pen and pad, in case my computer lags or freezes up. Then I can push everything aside, and take a nap if I am plagued by writer's block. This doesn't happen too often.

When I become aware of how lonely I feel, I am sometimes able to concentrate with my television on at low volume. Those moments are rare. I feel less threatened from that lonely feeling of isolation. Other times, any noise may distract me.

I have the symptoms of a troubled writer. I can not imagine being a writer by profession, and having a wife with children around. Even being in a relationship with a girlfriend may spell trouble. I would not expect my mate to understand my awkward behavior. I promised myself I would not get involved in any relationship before I finish the book I am writing. Only some writers would fully understand my strange ways.

Sometimes I look back to the old fashioned ways a writer use to get by with. I envision them writing in an uncomfortable chair at a typewriter-- especially old writers dipping their pen in an inkwell. If they made errors, how would they correct them besides throwing away the paper? There was no whiteout or correctable typewriter ribbon. How in the world did they survive? I suppose the same example applies to other things in today's modern society, by imagining a person cooking their dinner on the stove top, oppose to a microwave.

I am so grateful for the invention of computers. There is no paper to deal with until the final print. Errors and editing is made easy by backtracking or proofreading. Writing is so much easier and enjoyable today.

I began writing at the age of fifteen. I typed my words on a typewriter seated in an uncomfortable chair. There was no other way back then. I would write my stories in a "letters to the editor" format, and later see some of them published in the local newspaper. The acceptance would thrill me. It became a habit. I loved writing. It was in my blood.

Looking back, the stupidest article I ever wrote was about my longing to be accepted having long hair in the early '70s. I made the worst blunder by comparison in making my point that "God" had long hair. Of course I meant "Jesus" had long hair. I never heard the end of that one.

At first, I felt humiliated by the critics who wrote in, and did an article on my article alone. I recall one critic that entitled their article or letter, "Long Hair, Silly Comparison." This critic chastised me up and down. But I noticed one good thing about it all--in time, I began to enjoy the criticism. It made me popular in newsprint. I was being noticed--but sometimes in a stupid light. I learned another lesson from this--write better, and make better sense in an intelligent, mature style. My newfound style of writing mature articles on debatable subjects intrigued me.

Now forty years later, I enjoy writing powerful articles on the internet. When I became an alcoholic, my ambition to write was lost. It no longer appealed to me. When I sobered up, there was so much of my life to write about. I began to connect well with my readers on subjects, such as, alcoholism, drug addiction, suicide, anger, and grief.

Now I feel I made a comeback with a renewed ambition. I try to write my stories to help people feel that they are not alone in how they feel. I feel if I strike a chord, I have achieved success and happiness. Writing can be so powerful. But there is one drawback--I need to put a sign out on my bedroom door knob that reads, "Do Not Disturb, Writing In Progress."

Do Not Disturb - Writing in Progress

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