As an extrovert ( I scored 96% on the 16 Personalities test as an extrovert), writing is much more lonely than I expected it to be. When I meet with other writers, almost all of. them will identify as Introverts, and if not devout believers in introspection, they are certainly on the quiet, thoughtful side of self-expression. As an extrovert, I need others to help me define who I am. That means - who I perceive myself to be, how I feel about myself and my current situation, my mental health, etc etc, is closely linked to how much time I spend with other people.
I need interaction, exploration, conversation, debate and discussion to fire the furnace of creativity inside of me. However, when you spend the best part of eight hours a day staring at your computer, this isn't easy to come by. Saying that - I rarely get to spend eight hours writing as I have a full-time job and two kids and a partner with two kids... writing time is very hard to come by.
So, how does being an Extrovert affect my writing? I hear you ask in my head (because my office is empty). In truth, I have absolutely no idea. It's very difficult to imagine my brain any other way than it is, so I can't say what it would be like if I were more introverted. However, when it comes to self-promotion and networking, I can put myself out there - or I would if I weren't also a recovering, Vulnerable Narcissist (I will write about that as well, probably). Interestingly (to me, anyway the extrovert and the narcissist counter each other out quite a bit, or one of them wins over the other; it's very rare these days that both of them get let loose in the real world.
My extroverted self can become very frustrated with the introverted experience of writing, which can lead to bouts of depression, where I feel invisible or diminished in my world. However, I enjoy the creation process and reveal in the experience of creating worlds from nothing, crafting an adventure, falling in love, destroying a world, and starting a religion all with my mind. Yes, that sounds like I like playing God, and I indeed do. Fundamentally, the worst and best part of being an extrovert writer is that I seek out others like me but constantly find that there are very few of us in the world. So, if you are an extrovert writer and fancy getting together to be very loud about stuff, that could be much fun!
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