Getting A Writer Out Of The House

A tale of a writer who's mad to get out of the house, and her heroic attempts to accomplish it.

I’m pure mad to get out of the house – how unwriterly of me. I do not fit the stereotype of the writer who is happy to burrow down in their writing room for hours at a time, speaking to no-one, while they produce their masterpiece.

It may be a stereotype, but when I meet the writers who come to our SpeakEasy events, I get the impression that they are emerging, blinking, from their writerly lairs. Their conversation tells me that they draw on a deep well of inner resources for their writing.

I am that most tedious of creatures – a needy extrovert, mad to be out and about, mad to talk, happy at the centre of a crowd. I grew up in a very active household, where everyone was always on the go, so that has rubbed off on me.

I thrive on the stimulation of being out in the world, talking to people, watching the world go by. But if I’m to write well, I have no choice but to spend time sitting with myself. Nothing will be written otherwise.

The thought of that makes me squirm. I do it, but it feels like torture, and writing shouldn’t be torture. A challenge, certainly, but not torture. So, I go to cafés and tell myself I’m being bohemian with my notebook. But I just end up talking to the staff and other punters.

If I’m to continue succeeding as a writer, I will have to reconcile my need for company with my need to write, which requires alone time. How do I balance the two without losing my marbles?

Extrovert writers and business owners among you, what do you to balance your solo working life with your desire to socialise?

I’m exploring a few ways at the moment, because this dilemma is pressing on me at the moment. I call it Operation Get Derbhile Out Of The House

Work Outside the House

My job with Waterford Music is delightful, and gives me a chance to leave the house for its concerts. But I’d like another job like that, where I could offer communications, PR and admin services to an organisation, but actually go to the organisation to deliver them.

And since I’m an would also like to put my exhibitionist tendencies to the service of organisations and MC at their events. I’ve done lots of it for literary events around Waterford and I want to spread my wings.

Voluntary Work Outside the House

If I can’t get work outside the house, then voluntary work would do nicely. I was a funeral celebrant and I still have an interest in exploring ways of making the end of life better, before you die and in the days after it. I know there is voluntary work being done by celebrants and other professionals in that field, so I want to explore that.

Pure Mad Socialising…

… well, not mad, mad, but I want to be able to just go out and escape – eat, drink, go to plays or concerts, walk, dance. And I would like an injection of new sociable buddies. When you’ve no children, you’re a little outside of the Mammyverse, so I’d love to meet fun, uncomplicated souls who aren’t tied by children.

Short-Term Solutions

It’ll take time for Operation Get Derbhile Out of the House to bear fruit. In the meantime, my short-term solution is to head to the library in Tramore once I’m fully mobile.

This is a picture of a fountain near Christchurch in Dublin, in one of those secret green places that nestle in cities. It’s a stone fountain with pigeons on top.

In the library, I’ll dedicate a couple of solid hours a week to writing. And when things get too much altogether, I’ll take myself off on the train, write on the train and wander the streets, soaking my brain in sights, sounds and tastes. Like I did back in June when I went to Dublin.

If I know there are times in the week that I’ll definitely be leaving the house, that will give me the freedom to concentrate on my writing and professional work when I’m in the house. The fun I have will feed into my creativity, and the writing I do in the house will keep me balanced when I’m out in the world.