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I'm busy writing an article at the moment. My daughter was with me, looking over my shoulder and saw a copy of Writing Magazine on the computer. She pointed at the top article on the cover.
"Mum," she said, "you should try and get your article there on the cover."
"That is my article," I said, "I wrote it a few months ago."
Without missing a beat, she pointed at the photo of the writer on the front cover. "You should become so famous they take a photo of *you* and put you on the front!"
Do you get the same underwhelmed reaction from family members?
Comments
I have this weird thing where I get excited about something before it happens, but my imagination is always so strong I have lived it and got bored byt he time it does happen.. Then it feels a let down.
Even getting my book was like that - I had a very strong vision of what it should be like and fought to get it like that - and succeeded. So when it came, it was exactly how it was in my dreams and didn't seem as if it was new at all.
I feel like I'm living behind a piece of glass. Other people enjoy my success more than me.
WHAT IS WRONG with me?
Not sure if it's a good idea to pass work on to family and friends.
Seriously, I think you have to want to read something, not be expected to.
Neither do mine. The only reaction I get from my OH is, "You're a vicar, not an author. You're never going to make a living out of it, so why waste your time. And anyway, science fiction is rubbish. No-one wants to read that." I have had more support from friends online than from any other quarter.
'No,' I said, and just like that the interest was gone.
As for my mam, I usually have to actually tell her that she should be excited, before she starts pretending to be.
John, my husband once told me that my time at the computer was a complete waste of time (he was mad at the time because I didn't want to go and help him do something on the farm). The pleasure I got from opening up my own bank account just for my writer's income made up for that. He has read all my books and regularly tells other people that they should read them, but it was a huge effort to get him to read the first one.
Me too, it was like when I got a story on TK&C all I got was oh that's nice.
I was perhaps, being a bit unfair to Mme Snail earlier. She does encourage me, and is always pleased when I have a shortlisting success or whatever. Just falls short of actually reading anything. And my journalist daughter, of course, is also very interested in my progress.
They have no understanding of how much work is involved and then how much energy and time it takes to even get it looked at. They don't understand that we are at the mercy of editors who can turn something down because they don't happen to like it- not because it's lousy writing...
Mine do. I don't understand this - why don't you tell them? Can't they tell by watching you?
I understand, Nena. The "waste of time" thing is what I get. I'm glad to hear you kept going and gained your husband's interest. My OH will sometimes listen to little bits of my writing, but not any of the rest of the family. I simply don't bother mentioning it to them any more.
[quote=Liz]I don't understand this - why don't you tell them? Can't they tell by watching you?[/quote]
Some families are simply not interested in what certain members do to pass their time. I think sometimes that those with very supportive families fail to grasp that any family can be so disinterested - or even hostile - at the activities of other members of the family. If it doesn't benefit them in any discernible way, then some will openly discourage, or even ridicule. My OH has put up with it from her own family for most of her life. Telling them sounds simple enough. However, getting them to listen and understand is impossible when they are totally unwilling to listen or even give you a chance. All I can do in my case, is simply go ahead and do it anyway. I know that I have friends who encourage me, and appreciate what I write. But our family? I'd be waiting until hell freezes over.
My biggest fan is, without a shadow of a doubt, my younger daughter who loves to be my guinea pig. She is, of course, mainly interested in what I write for children rather than adults, although now she is older she enjoys the short stories I produce for adults as well as humorous poetry for them. No one reads my serious poetry for adults, except competition judges perhaps. As for hubby, he has never asked to read anything; I do sometimes read funny poems out loud to him when I have him in a headlock . . . and he laughs obligingly.
One of my sons is very supportive and understands what's involved- he's a creative too.
My husband is slowly starting to come round, but he's a scientist by training. He understands the frustrations of writing reports, but not the fine tuning that comes with fiction.
[quote=JohnWho63]any family can be so disinterested[/quote]
Disinterested = Not influenced by considerations of personal advantage.
Uninterested = Not interested in something.
What I think it actually boils down to is that they are worried that they'll think my writing is crap.
This, despite dozens of published articles, a bit of published fiction and three pretty good near misses for BBC Travel Writer of the Year... well I didn't win did I?
:rolleyes:
I managed not to hit her, but it took a lot of restraint!
I was interested in Carol's comment that her OH "is a scientist by training." My father enjoyed writing yet was scientifically trained and my children have taken the maths and engineering route in life but their interests are much wider with both enjoying writing and art, a skill that comes from their father. Whilst many people have a strong bias towards either the arts or the sciences others have a broader spread of interest. Maybe there is some truth in the suggestion that we specialise too much in life.
I managed not to hit her, but it took a lot of restraint![/quote]
One of my OH's sisters once said to her, "I wouldn't read anything your husband writes, as it's bound to be sh**, just like everything he says." I felt the same, but her sister was on the phone from 180 miles away.
The kids are sort of interested but as what I write isn't in any way suitable for them to read I suppose it's a bit difficult.
My OH does try to be helpful, not that he ever reads anything that I've written, he just tells everyone else how great it is!