Writers are entirely egocentric. To them, few things in their lives have meaning or importance unless they give promise of serving some creative purpose. They waste nothing they hear or feel or see or are told; nothing is lost on them, as Henry James observed.
So I began to record, on odd pieces of paper, backs of envelopes, and torn memo-pad sheets, what I was learning about being alone. I felt it was all too insignificant, too scrappy, to put into a bound notebook. But still... What had at first been enriching and sustaining as I lived it, became, well, subject matter.
Fifty Days of Solitude: A Memoir (1994)
Use the link below to read The View from 90, an essay about solitude and the aging process by North American novelist and essayist DORIS GRUMBACH:
http://theamericanscholar.org/the-view-from-90/
You might also enjoy:
The Missing Person (1981) by DORIS GRUMBACH
The Write Advice 054: HENRY JAMES
The Write Advice 067: BARBARA PYM
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