Home Page › Forums › Fiction Writing › General Writing Discussions › Weird Things People Tell Me 'Cause I'm a Writer
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January 27, 2018 at 9:29 pm #61544
I created this topic to share all the funny and weird things that has happened to us being writers. Here’s a couple of my experiences….
I daydream while my mom and another mom-friend talk about their kids’ interests. I’m really not part of the conversation until my mom says, “My daughter writes books.”
Mom-Friend turns to me. “Oh really? That’s amazing. What are your books about?”
I blink. “Uh…..” Okay, so they asked what my bookzzzzzz (plural) are about. Like, you want me to tell you what each of my books are about?! I doubt it. So I just say with an awkward chuckle, “Well, most of them have horses in ’em.” ‘Cause most people know I love horses. They usually nod understandingly and carry on to another topic. Crisis averted. I’m never really to tell someone about my each of my books and WIPs.
Other times my mom whips out that common sentence “My daughter writes books,” people look at me like she said I was gonna run for president of USA or something.
“Wow,” they say. “So, are you gonna be a bestselling author (and/or) am I gonna see you on tv someday?”
Well, of course I’d like to be a bestselling author, but this question doesn’t have a yes or no answer, ’cause I don’t know. And for the second question, well, I don’t usually see authors on tv.
So I usually shrug, laugh, and say, “I’m not sure. Maybe.”
I’d love to hear funny stories of from you writers!
@daeus @aratrea @jane-maree @rochellaine @radically-surrendered @introvert_girl @that_writer_girl_99 @mariposa @skredder @livgiordano @waterlily @warrenluther04 @dekreel @sam-kowal @notawriter @itisastarrynight @daughteroftheking @dragon-snapper @audrey-caylin @sarah-anson @sage-g @emily-d @anyone elseI'm a Kapeefer 'TIL WE'RE OLD AND GREY!
www.jennaterese.comJanuary 27, 2018 at 9:35 pm #61547@jenwriter17 Heheh, that’s funny 😀
That’s a good idea!
Okay, this isn’t exactly as funny as yours, but one time I was talking to my aunt about writing, using terms like plotting, themes and character arcs. I didn’t know, until she asked, that she had no idea what a “character arc” was. I had assumed everyone knew the answer XD
You can pronounce it however you want.
January 27, 2018 at 9:55 pm #61552@dekreel Lol, this happens to me a lot! I’m about to tell a family member that I’m struggling with on-the-nose writing until I remember, “Hmm, they may or may not know what I’m talking about.” It’s nice to talk to other writers. We get each other’s language. 😉
I'm a Kapeefer 'TIL WE'RE OLD AND GREY!
www.jennaterese.comJanuary 27, 2018 at 10:55 pm #61558@jenwriter17 That is a funny story!
It seems to me that most times when people find out I’m a writer they tell me all about a story they’re working on. There was this time I was at a birthday party and this girl that I had never met before started a conversation with me. Once she found out I was a writer, she started telling me about this story she was working on. She wanted it to be a trilogy but she was having trouble with the ending of the first book. The Lord gave me some inspiration and I was able to help her figure out how to change the ending so that she accomplished what she wanted and could do the sequel.
Also, whenever I’m with a bunch of people who want to play the card game “Mafia,” I am just about always chosen to be the story teller because I come up with some wild stories that keep everyone entertained.
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
January 27, 2018 at 11:36 pm #61562@skredder That’s awesome that you were able to help a fellow writer! I’ve met at least three other writers (who were previously strangers) just by wearing my favorite writer shirt that says “It’s okay. Writers should be strange” 😜
I love that ‘mafia’ game! I often play it in big groups with homeschooling friends. I’m never the story teller (so glad you have that ability though👍) because I don’t think I could come up with a story that fast. I have a slow brain 🐢
I'm a Kapeefer 'TIL WE'RE OLD AND GREY!
www.jennaterese.comJanuary 27, 2018 at 11:51 pm #61565@jenwriter17 I totally understand the “I’m not really part of the conversation until my mom mentions I write books” thing. 🙂 I can hear those words from across the house. Because it’s so common I don’t have as much trouble answering as I used to, though.
Okay, something that my family did because I’m a writer which no one else would do…
Three or four years ago we were visiting my uncle and aunt in Florida when I became enamored with the Spanish Moss there, and said something like “It looks like it came out of a fairytale.” (It really does.) Anyway, my dad immediately said “Why don’t you take some pictures for your next book?” (I had two books published in my children’s series at that time. So we lined up a couple of my siblings while the rest of the family walked on ahead, and we posed for shots that my dad and older brother took, and I ended up using several of them for the covers of the next four books in the series, which I set in FL. 🙂
For example:
"Sylvester - Sylvester!"
January 28, 2018 at 12:18 pm #61586@rochellaine Cool! I love moss too. ‘nature’s carpet’ I call it. 😜I took a picture once of a tree that had a lot of roots exposed (’cause that’s the kind of tree it was) ’cause it looked like something from a fantasy novel.
I'm a Kapeefer 'TIL WE'RE OLD AND GREY!
www.jennaterese.comJanuary 28, 2018 at 12:35 pm #61587@jenwriter17 I like that kind of moss too, but I’m talking about Spanish Moss, which is totally different, and even more cool. It’s a kind of moss that grows on the branches of trees and hangs down beautifully and mysteriously.
"Sylvester - Sylvester!"
January 28, 2018 at 12:58 pm #61591@jenwriter17 This sounds like fun!
Once, at my book club, I was talking about the Chronicles of Narnia, and how I loved the narrator’s voice in the story. My friend said something like, “Oh, you listened to it on audio book?” Then I proceeded to stumble through an explanation of how I meant the style of writing and stuff, thinking “This is actually a thing, right? I didn’t just make this writing term up?” Luckily, another writing friend was there (*cough*@daughteroftheking, who I definitely don’t know in real life. *coughcough*), and she was able to back me up. It wasn’t something I just made up.
@rochellaine That is so pretty!January 28, 2018 at 1:14 pm #61592@jenwriter17 I really haven’t had people say anything particularly humorous or weird about me being a writer…most of the time they’re just like, “how you going to eat? Or pay the bills?” 😅
I have wrote some funny things though. Like I wrote “he was carrying five sacks of grocery bags” when I meant to write “he was carrying five sacks of groceries.” 😜
January 28, 2018 at 4:55 pm #61596@jenwriter17 hmm well i’m not actually a writer.. Though my mom says me and my sisters are story snobs haha. 😉
@rochellaine SPANISH MOSS IS AMAZING! 😮 😀and I was so confused
January 28, 2018 at 8:42 pm #61604@jenwriter17 my most memorable and embarrassing writerly moment will always be the time I had to explain to the chiropractor that my hip was out of place because I slipped on our hardwood floor choreographing a fight scene… he was very nice about it, but the startled, slightly skeptical sidelong look he gave me, and the funny little laugh, said it all. XD
January 28, 2018 at 8:58 pm #61611k
☀ ☀ ☀ ENFP ☀ ☀ ☀
January 28, 2018 at 9:04 pm #61612Okay, sorry about that ‘k’. It was the only thing I could type in before the strange link sent me to @kate-flournoy’s website. XD
Anyway…
This is a hilarious topic, because yeah, people do kind of look at you strange when you say you’re a writer. “Ah…”
And they ask what your book is about. But the book your writing is a sequel, so you can’t really say anything without spoiling the first book. XD “Um…well, it’s the sequel to a previous novel I wrote. It’s kind of a combination of Star Trek, Star Wars and Tron: Legacy. And…” glances around. They are not amused. XD “So yeah. It’s cool.”
And look at me. I’m going to try to pitch my novel eventually. Nice.
☀ ☀ ☀ ENFP ☀ ☀ ☀
January 28, 2018 at 9:08 pm #61614@Dragon-Snapper ugh I am so sorry. I have no idea why it does that to you. *offers you conciliatory chocolate*
Yeah… trying to pitch your book on the spur of the moment is torture. Especially if the person is just trying to make conversation and you can tell they really don’t care. And then you walk away from the encounter and think of a dozen ways you could have said it better… 😛 I need to practice that. :/
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