I am a journalism major with a double minor in English and cinema studies. I work in a coffee house and during my spare time I write. My favorite thing to write on is the newest novel I have begun working on. Before you can ask, yes, I am indeed an aspiring novelist who seeks fame and to travel the world whilst writing awesome books. Am I a huge cliché? Absolutely. Am I ashamed? Not even a little. OK fine, maybe working in a coffee shop on top of the rest of it is a little much. But I don’t wear stupid hats or quote Shakespeare so I’m not that bad at least. I just enjoy discounted coffee and a quiet place to write.
As a self-proclaimed writer I have faced many stigmas about what I love. Such as: I should be a grammar Nazi, I should be able to spell anything, and my vocabulary should be vast as well as colorful. I must warn you to be prepared to be shocked, because if I’m being honest I have pretty bad grammar (GASP). I know right? I don’t know where my teachers went wrong with that good ole’ Sullivan county education, but I hate grammar. I can sit at the computer all day and pound out page after page but I guarantee whoever edits it will be appalled. There, now the world knows my shameful secret. I feel a lot better now.
I must admit one of my favorite (and by that I mean absolute least favorite) things to hear is when people say “Oh you’re writing a book? Make me a character in it!” What…why? Just why? The answer is no every time. Stop asking. The same goes for singers, actors, and basically artists of any sorts. Shout out to you all ‘cause I feel your pain. If you have any tips on how to respond to this brash request, preferably in a sassy way, let me know. I usually just chuckle uncomfortably, check my invisible watch, and awkwardly change the subject. In the smoothest way possible, of course.
Perhaps I should retract that statement though. As much as I dislike that request, the only thing I could possibly hate more is when people try to pry into my writing. The moment I mention I am writing a book they must know what it is about. Maybe it’s just me, but talking about my writing while it’s in progress is like talking about my most personal thoughts that I have yet to think. Now, if you are not a writer I am about to let you in on a little secret. I can sit down with a very clear idea in my head about what I want to happen. What I want my characters to say and do, where it’s set and what comes next. But sometimes they get a mind of their own and they don’t really listen. You can ask me a million times what this book is about. I can tell you what I want it to be about. But until I sit down and my characters make up their minds about what they want to do, I have no idea.
Now that I have reached the final last lines of this article I can say with complete honesty that I am not entirely sure what it’s about. A small rant as I typically do love to rant. Clichés about writers, maybe, or artists as a whole. Hell, you can even take away things you should never say to a writer. At the end of the day, us artists are almost always awkward, shy fellas who have trouble finding our place in this world. That’s why we are artists. We have finally found the thing that gives us a voice and gives even the dreariest days meaning.
