I've found that a lot of us writers are loners, or at least are perceived to be. On the excellent Talent Development Resources site, I found an interesting quote from the book, The Gifted Adult, written by Mary-Elaine Jacobson, PhD:
“To feel like an outsider, to constantly pressure yourself to hold back your gifts in order to fit in or avoid disapproval, to erroneously believe that you are overly sensitive, compulsively perfectionistic, and blindly driven, to live without knowing the basic truths about the core of your being - too often this is the life of every day geniuses who have been kept in the dark about who they are and misinformed about their differences.
“No one told them they cannot escape the fact that they will always be quantitatively, qualitatively, and motivationally different from most other people.
“Nor do they know that these very same things that are the basis of criticism are fundamental building blocks of excellence and advanced development”
That last paragraph is the good part. In your weaknesses you will find your strengths. For years I fought what I perceived as my weaknesses; it took a long time to learn that rather than trying to become something I'm not, it is smarter to make the most of what I am, and that the same things that can be considered weaknesses can be turned around into strengths.
This is also why in my Your Writing Coach book I included a chapter on getting support for your writing from your family and friends: the qualities that can make you a good writer may not be appreciated by the people around you. It's up to you to educate them and create a supportive atmosphere.
