That's what fascinates me about these writers' retreats: You're in these small spaces with small groups of people, and all of the sudden, the spotlight is shining on you harder than it normally is.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Writers sometimes give up what is most strange and wonderful about their writing - soften their roughest edges - to accommodate themselves toward a group response.
Writers are socially observant. We find people endlessly fascinating, and real life is mysterious. Sometimes it's hard to stop staring at the strut and squawk of my fellow man. They can be quite inspiring. Sometimes it's hard to stop talking to them to see what in the world they're thinking.
We were a very small circle of writers. Everybody brought to the table their own life experience.
Most writers spend their lives standing a little apart from the crowd, watching and listening and hoping to catch that tiny hint of despair, that sliver of malice, that makes them think, 'Aha, here is the story.'
I think that writers are, at best, outsiders to the society they inhabit. They have a kind of detachment, or try to have.
We writers are shy, nocturnal creatures. Push us into the light and the light blinds us.
So few people are truly themselves when they're in the spotlight.
Writers, as they gain success, feel like outsiders because writers don't come together in real groups.
There's always this sense of incredulity that writers feel, because they're usually living flat and ordinary lives, because they have to.
For writers and artists, it's always a balancing act between wanting to be the center of attention and wanting to be invisible and watch what's going on.
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