How Does an Extrovert Love Writing?

I’m an extrovert.

I usually hear that as an insult. Which might strike people as odd because extroverts are the life of the party, right? We’re the ones that say YES, LET’S GO!

But I love books and writing and quiet sorts of things so sometimes me being a natural extrovert, doesn’t feel…well, natural.

I’ve tried to be an introvert, but it makes me depressed. I do enjoy solitude and have times when I want to recharge. But then I go to lunch with friends or meet new people and have a rush of energy and ideas and optimism and know the truth: I am an extrovert.

All those kinds of things that make an introvert need a quiet room and maybe a nap– make me HAPPY.

And among writers, I have found this to be unusual.

So, how do I cope? I go to writer group things. I’m usually one of the most talkative ones, but there you go. The introverted ones usually like me there because I’m the one that blithely strides ahead where they would prefer not. Speak up? Stand up? Let’s ask Charise.

I’m the one when the extrovert whispers the perfect comeback or answer (sometimes that’s the same thing), I can say, “Hey, did you all hear what Kate just said?!”

I also love readers. I haven’t met a ton so maybe there are some I will not like. There is someone in France who gave me a mediocre review. We may not hit it off.

But the readers I have inter-acted with have done my extroverted soul so much good.

They feel like colleagues. Like when you go to happy hour and you’re with people who have done what you’ve done for the day and everyone gets the jokes and the gripes and the joy and the fatigue. When you look around the table at co-workers in the same trench and think, these are my people. They get it.

That’s how I feel about readers.

They know these characters in a way only I and my editors do. So when they loved “that guy” or they knew exactly how that woman felt…They know the circumstances and the highs and lows. They ask questions or make observations or connect in a way that has me nodding, yes, that’s it.  They get it.

 

 

(That photo up there is from when I was standing in line to see the SF Giant’s first World Series trophy. I didn’t know those people but we started chatting and became fast and very fun friends that I never saw again. That’s an extrovert for you.)