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Are You A Writing Weirdo? Join The Club!

By on December 12, 2016
Are You A Writing Weirdo? Join The Club! - Writer's Life.org

Writers are strange and inexplicable creatures, and without being one, it is difficult to understand or empathise with their weird habits, or the odd situations they can often find themselves in. But you know what? That’s OK? In fact, it can be lots of fun!

So are you a writing weirdo? If so, here are some of the things you are bound to understand.

We are yes people

Writers love to experience things; they never know when something might lead to a great story. Because of this, they tend to say yes, to everything and anything. This can see them taking up weird and wonderful new hobbies (Morris dancing anyone?) or in bizarre and hilarious situations (having amethysts stuffed into my belly button for ‘healing’ purposes in a derelict shop in India - yes this actually happened). We love drawing on our real-life experience to tell our stories so want to make them as unique, exciting and bizarre as possible.

We eavesdrop

Yes, we are those people who get really close to you on the bus or find ourselves alone at parties loitering on the periphery of a conversation that we are definitely not part of. Often our friends will have to snap their fingers in front of our faces because we are apparently paying no attention to them having decided to tune into someone else's brilliant conversation and are making furious internal mental notes!

We are daydreamers

Err remember what we said about our friends having to snap their fingers in front of our faces? This may also be because we are daydreaming all the time. Writers imaginations take them to weird and wonderful places though they can be a little overactive at times. Someone is whispering into their phone, and suddenly they are a secret government agent. Two lovers are looking wistfully out to sea; they are clearly about to be torn apart by some terrible secret! And so it goes on…

Sometimes we don’t feel the need to get dressed

Our office attire is a pair of ten-year-old pyjamas with holes in unspeakable places, we might not have a shower for over 24 hours, we might end up eating cereal for dinner because we forgot about the other meals in the day. However, when we venture outside the house, we tend to be functional and fairly inconspicuous members of society. Sometimes when we get really into our writing, we look up bleary eyed and wonder why it’s dark outside - yes life can be very confusing and strange for a writer indeed.

We cry at just about anything

Ahh, how beautiful the world is…wait, no…how terrible the world is! Oh, how wonderful that review is…oh…wait…how dreadful that review is! Writers are sensitive creatures; they can well up watching an ant wearily carrying a breadcrumb across the pavement back to it’s home, two old people holding hands on a bench, a couple who we’ve never met having an argument. It’s all the rejection, the adrenaline and the hope that we have to deal with on a daily basis - it might make us slightly mad, but at least we care passionately about things right? So what if you end up sobbing because the way that toddler tied his shoelaces was just, so, darn, beautiful.

We love ourselves and then hate ourselves

Sometimes we run down the stairs all giddy and bright-eyed because we’ve just had the best writing session ever, we are all pumped with adrenaline, we feel like we might just be the greatest writer that ever lived, and we are so excited to see what the future brings. On other days we slug around wailing and moaning like the miserable undead. What is the point in writing? Why are we bothering? Why are we kidding ourselves? Those days are not good days, but it becomes very hard for those around us to predict who'll they'll get. Is it weeping zombie or overly excited puppy? I'm sure the mystery is all part of why they love us…probably.

Being a writer has it’s ups and downs, but when we get it right, it’s the greatest job in the world, and I for one wouldn’t have it any other way!

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

Bethany Cadman -author of 'Doctor Vanilla's Sunflowers'

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