They were proud that I was unafraid of the loneliness of writing. In retrospect I can add that I admire their adaptability. It felt as if a world was opening up and I could describe it. I still find it quite mysterious. It is not like talking, where you can modulate your sentence according to the body language of the person facing you.
Writing is more like a plunge into darkness.
Indeed, to stick with Lovecraftian imagery, the act of writing evokes for me Randolph Carter jumping off the shantak into sentient blackness from which awakening happens. At some point you jump off habitual speech because it is lethal, and really get into raw emotions and the unknown. It it utterly frightening. And so good. So I was rather shocked to hear that Lovecraft had not been particularly fond of these groups of people, and it still bothers me.