Outside The Party

That's fascinating -- some of the things you list really work for me (challenging deadlines, especially; my biggest hurdle is just sitting down and starting) but others are things I have to struggle against: too little activity I get torpid and useless; too much external influence and I either get discouraged (as in: I'll never measure up to that) or else I feel inspired but quickly find I'm just making a pastiche of their stuff instead of my own. (Whatever it is that "my own" is; I keep hoping I'll find out someday.)

Solitude is a tricky one, double-edged.