Is Writing a Solo Endeavor?

Many writers will tell you that writing is a solitary profession.  Unless you're elbow to elbow with a writing partner, the majority of writers are accompanied by their computer, a drawer full of goodies to get the creative juices flowing, a cat or dog (or two) and their thoughts.  But in truth, a writer is never alone.  Whether its fiction or non-fiction, the 'writing room' is filled with the people or characters that inhabit the work.   When I was writing my non-fiction book, "Ghost and Shamanic Tales of True Hauntings", I had my fellow Spirit Light Network teammates peering over my shoulder (metaphorically), making sure I'd captured the highlights and particular moments that made up the investigation I was writing about.  I also had the memories of the clients and, yes, even the ghosts that we encountered and helped.  In my fiction book, "Murder on Ice", I have my main characters sitting next to me, scanning my plotting outline, telling me whether this scene will work, or whether it's just not going to happen.  Sometimes they will hijack a chapter and take it in a completely different direction than I originally planned.  The fun part for me about writing whether its non-fiction or fiction, is that, even if I'm not sitting at my computer and actually typing, I'm still writing in my head no matter where I am.  I'll get flashes of ideas in the shower, when I'm driving, when I'm sitting at lunch with friends.  As with most writers, I have a little notebook I carry around so I can jot down these ideas.  And again, no matter what genre you write in, it's all about the story, capturing the audience's attention long enough to get your message and your words across.  So, in truth, I'm never alone when I'm writing.  Because not only are the characters and the stories there with me, the audience is there as well.  I always have one part of my writing space dedicated to my audience.  They have the power to make or break a writer.  You can be the most brilliant writer in the world, but if you don't connect with your audience, make them a part of your words, your thoughts, your ideas, you might as well use your writing space as an additional closet space, because then you really will be a solitary writer, or as John Lennon once sang, "He's a real nowhere man, sitting in his nowhere land, making all his nowhere plans for nobody".  So make your audience comfy.  Give them pillows to sit on, something to munch on, a drink to sip.  Squeeze them in with your characters who are also sitting there.  The room will get crowded.  But it will never be boring.  And it won't be lonely.