The Problem with Telling People You Write Books
It goes a little like this:
Me: Yeah, I love writing. I’m working on a few books at the moment, and I’m pretty excited abou-
Person 1: YOU WRITE BOOKS? WHAT BOOKS ARE YOU WRITING?!?! I KNOW WE JUST MET BUT, LISTEN, YOU’RE LIKE MY BEST FRIEND. SO ARE YOU GOING TO LET ME READ YOUR BOOK OR WHAT????????????
Me: Well, um, I’m not really sharing it with many people right now, so-
Person 1: AW, COME ON! THAT’S NO FAIR! I KNOW THAT YOU’RE LETTING SOME PEOPLE READ IT. WHY CAN’T I? LET ME READ IT, PLEASE. HERE’S MY EMAIL ADDRESS! HEY YOU! YEAH, PERSON 2, DID YOU KNOW THIS GIRL WRITES BOOKS? SHE DOES, IT’S TRUE, SHE’S GOING TO LET ME READ THEM!
Me: I never said-
Person 2: OOH CAN I READ THEM? I WANT TO READ THEM TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Person 3: ME TOO!!!
Person 4: OH YEAH, COUNT ME IN!!!
Person 5: ME TOO!!!
This then escalates into people who I have not spoken to in years sending me their email addresses on facebook. No explanations or anything. Just messages with their emails.
It’s rude. I’m right, aren’t I? It’s extremely rude. I don’t understand how it even makes sense to them. I DO NOT TALK TO YOU. WE ARE NOT FRIENDS. It’s like inviting yourself over to a friend’s house. And not a close friend, either. An acquaintance. It’s like inviting yourself over to an acquaintance’s house, and then eating the cake in their refrigerator. Am I making sense? I think I am.
And, I mean, if they actually knew what the book is about and had a genuine interest in the book itself and not just the fact that I am a writer, I wouldn’t mind as much. But it bothers me when people just want to read it because they’re nosy. I mean, okay, thank you for your support. It means a lot to me. But, really, just stop. If I want you to read it now, when it’s still only a second draft, I will ask you to read it. You can be supportive without reading it.
Blah. I just don’t feel like handling it right now.
I think I’ll just ignore them. Problem solved.
Can anyone else relate? I can’t be the only writer that gets bothered by this type of thing.
I can relate in the sense that when people find out you’re a writer they take one of two approaches: entitled or condescending. I’ve had people ask me what I do, and when I say I’m a writer or journalist, they often ask me, “So what’s your real job?” It drives me insane how they can just belittle the profession just like that.
I agree 100%. It drives me up a wall, especially because, really, they don’t have any legitimate reason for acting as if writing isn’t a true career.
I think it’s because everyone has that “writer” friend who is in essence a slacker and uses it as an excuse to waste their life away. I know I have one or two of those and it makes me embarrassed that I’m lumped with them, even though I’ve produced great written work, even though it hasn’t been published yet.
You’re probably right. I just wish that people didn’t generalize like that. You’d think they would realize that there have to be some writers who are serious about their work, considering all of the published books. (Speaking of writer friends and annoying people, this conversation reminded me of a NaNoWriMo pep talk from this year. I just posted it, because it’s awesome.)
Oh NaNo, the great challenge that anyone thinks they can do it. I’ve tried before and have yet to complete it. I’ll have to check out that post.
NaNo is a daunting task. I’ve only completed it once, in 2010. This is a new year, though! Do you have an account on nanowrimo.org?
Yes, my user name is megan.s. I’ve attempted it I think three years now, but the only official time was this past time.