Books—that is, creative books and fiction—cannot be written by a committee. They spring from one person’s unified vision. Adding a second or third writer only creates confusion.

This does not mean that a writer can produce a book without all kinds of help—technical experts, proofreaders, designers, marketers, ghost writers in some cases, and editors (after all, I are one of those). But the writing should be done by one person.

I am aware, of course, that some books have been written collaboratively, almost always by two people (not more) who are closely connected or even related. But those are the exceptions, and such collaborators usually produce genre books following a certain formula.

Because of the need for a unified vision, writers require solitude. They need to be able to get away from distractions and have time alone to think and write. They need to get somewhere where they can fully concentrate as they feverishly try to record their ideas and insights while they are fresh. That place can be an office or a secluded spot in nature or even the back corner of a coffee shop. It doesn’t matter as long as the writer is alone.

Because of this, writers are often thought to be anti-social introverts. This is true—to a point.

But writers need more than solitude.

I think it was Scott Young, a sports journalist, who decided it was time to write a book. He went away to a cabin in the wilderness where he could fully devote himself to writing. He soon discovered that it didn’t work. Sitting there alone staring at four walls, he couldn’t write.

Besides solitude, writers also need inspiration. And inspiration depends on experiences, observation, and stimulation. Writer Max Braithwaite pointed out that a writer is not primarily someone who writes but someone who observes. A writer will look at the surrounding life and ponder what people look like, how people act, why they act that way, what they think, what they might have done instead, etc. In other words, a writer also needs to be involved in life. As an editor once advised me when I was starting out as a writer, “If you want to be a great writer, live deeply.”

Writers need solitude, but they also need to be connected to life.