My fellow writers and author-hopefuls will understand: As much as we love talking about our passion and ideas with you, sometimes the reactions that we get when we share that we write can be a bit stressful for us. Sometimes we have to pause for a few seconds to let the internal panic die down before we answer you.

Okay, perhaps it's not always quite that dramatic, but there are times when the reactions we get can make us feel rather awkward. I wanted to take a moment to give some insight as to why that is so, and to share a couple of reactions that are the best because they aren't awkward at all:

Reaction #1: "That's so cool! Can I read your stories?"

If I get this question from someone whom I haven't discussed writing with before, or someone that I don't know very well at all, it can be a bit jarring.

It's not that I don't want you to read my stories; it's just that I was unprepared for this. The stories I write are the "breathings of my heart," to quote Wordsworth, and I don't share them with just anyone. Whenever I do share them, I have a habit of going back and analyzing (over-analyzing, honestly) them with the person I'm about to send it to in mind. Will they like it? Will they approve of this? Will they catch the deeper meaning here? What if it's terrible and they hate it?

And once I actually do send a story out for someone to read, I anxiously await their response, no matter how big or small the story is.

The reactions I get to my stories carry great weight with me; I don't define myself by them, but I do trust my readers' and fellow writers' opinions on my work. It's important to me to have people whom I can trust to bounce my ideas and stories off of, so that I can better grow as a writer.

Someday, yes, I do dream of sharing my published stories with the whole world. But for now, when my writings are still in-progress and perfectly imperfect, it's a huge act of trust in and respect of you for me to share a story with you.

So yes, thank you so much for being interested in my writings; I'll be happy to share my story with you. But please keep in mind that it isn't something I do lightly, and sometimes that is why I may fumble for an immediate response to this question.

Reaction #2: "Awesome! What's your book about?"

For me, this is the question that always makes me lapse into a few seconds of internal screaming. There's a reason that I write stories instead of telling them verbally; I've learned that my skill with spinning words is significantly greater written than it is verbal. This means that when I share my story idea with you aloud, on the spot, it's going to come out all muddled. I'll forget to add important information, I'll get caught up in my characters' backstories that you didn't even ask to hear about, and along the way I'll realize how horrible of a job I'm doing explaining it, then apologize profusely and attempt to wrap it up in a way that doesn't sound boring.

I wish I was exaggerating. Sadly, I am not.

I'll often use the phrase, "I'm rambling, sorry; I promise you it's so much better than how I can explain it right now," because it's true. I'm actually super excited about this idea and the themes and the characters, but I don't have a nice and neat back-cover summary just yet (mainly because the story usually isn't fully written yet), and I am occasionally an awkward person who stumbles over her words when excited, so please rest assured that the story itself makes much more sense than my explanation of it. (At least, that's the goal.)

A quick shout-out to all the friends who have endured these convoluted explanations of in-progress stories: Thank you for smiling and nodding and encouraging me in my writing, even when I'm actually terrible at explaining it. You're the best, truly.

Reaction #3: "I can't wait until you get published and I can say I knew you back when ___________!"

See, this is a reaction that I love, because 1.) it doesn't make me feel awkward, 2.) it reminds me of my drive to get published someday, and 3.) you have faith in my writing when you haven't even read it yet, and that is the sweetest, and I appreciate you.

Thank you for believing in me; if I ever do get published, you're definitely getting acknowledged for your lovely encouragement, and I may even be able to work in a free copy of the book too.

And finally, my favorite:

Reaction #4: "Really? So am I!"

I love finding other writers to share in the insanity of world-building and storytelling with! You guys get my crazy, and you don't ask what my stories are about unless you're truly interested in a detailed, convoluted verbal explanation, and we can bounce ideas off of each other and help each other grow as writers and get closer to achieving our writerly dreams, and it's just great. (Writer friends are some of my favorite friends.)

~

Truly, thank you to everyone who reacts in these ways when I say I'm a writer; your encouragement means the world, and I'm so glad that you're interested in my writing! I hope that now that I've clarified my own reactions to these reactions, any looks of panic you might receive in response to these might make a bit more sense, and that this article will be remembered the next time someone shares with you that they enjoy writing stories.

Speaking of which-- thank you for taking the time to read these "breathings of my heart," in this corner of the Internet called The Odyssey. You're all lovely, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to share my thoughts with you!