Many have dared to attempt the near impossible: bring writers into the social world. They are often met with the blank stare that characterizes this rare creature. The blank stare can be explained by:

1. The writer is eavesdropping on the conversation in the booth behind him (this species is essentially a thief).
2. The writer is composing a scene in her head and attempting to remember it until she gets home to her computer.
3. The writer forgot to eat breakfast. 

On extraordinary occasions, a careful observer might stumble upon a gaggle of writers in their natural environment. These occurrences happen infrequently and are short-lived, primarily because sustained meetings of this type would cause a massive explosion that would alter the earth’s axis and possibly throw humanity into a parallel existence either made of a writer’s imagination or where writers rule the world. As desirable as these parallel worlds sound on paper, they are at the least impractical and at the worst downright frightening.

An anonymous observer (Ian Philpot, also a writer and therefore a traitor [for those of you familiar with the Philpot legend in Ireland, Ian will henceforth be known as Ian Philpott]) caught such an occurence on video at an undisclosed location (Calvin Festival of Faith and Writing in Grand Rapids; specifically in the suite of a hotel room). This video helps scientists understand what writers do when gathered in gaggles.

Scientists have made their findings available here.

A caveat: this is not for the delicate nature. Gird up your loins before viewing.

A second caveat: read the description of the game before viewing the scientific data. Without understanding the game-play of these beasts, you will most likely come to an incorrect interpretation.

A third caveat: the phrase in the middle of the game (inspired by a picture drawn by yours truly, to be specific) came from a session with Joshilyn Jackson, where she described one of her favorite books.