Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Ten signs


Ten Warning Signs That You May Be a Writer

If your favorite work apparel includes Jammies or sweat pants…

If your footwear at work includes bare feet or bunny slippers…

If you have deep discussion about the handiness of em dashes…

If you know the difference between your, you’re and yore…

If the words genre and noir appear frequently in your vocabulary and you are not French…

If you’ve ever gnashed your teeth over a review…

If like there certain word usages that like drive you like nuts…

If you’ve been asked, “Where do you get your ideas from?” more than four times…

If you have a first novel manuscript somewhere marked in red with, “Burn this after my death”…

What warning signs have you detected?

29 comments:

  1. Constant co0ntemplation of how I could have written whatever better interspersed with contemplations of how one could kill and get rid of the evidence.

    Kevin

    ReplyDelete
  2. I believe, sir that you have a severe case.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If you don't respond to your son by text because it's just too damn hard to edit what you wrote without sending your message into the ether in first-draft form. And don't get me started on trying to properly punctuate sentences on my cheap-ass old cell phone. Hmmm, maybe this just means I'm a weirdo not a writer!!

    Karen D.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I contemplate: unique characteristics, motives, timing, pacing and hook.

    I worry over: style, voice, grammar and technical detail.

    I rejoice in wearing my pjs until noon, having a piece accepted and writing well.

    ReplyDelete
  5. OMG It sounds like you were a writer before technology
    became my BFF.

    ReplyDelete
  6. EB, this may be spreading. Everyone who has responded so far sound like they are effected.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Yeah--definitely a writer virus out there--everyone wants that heady lifestyle--those champagne-filled evenings, fancy restaurants, plush furnishings and the portfolio...LOL!

    I've yet to collect my $20 for a short I wrote, and rather than cash the check, I was thinking of framing it.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Trepidation over whether or not to open email. On one hand, you want the editor to respond. On the other, you really don't want the editor to respond.

    I can't sit through a two hour movie without my fingers itching. I need a book, a pen, and paper and all is well in the world.

    Karen, you crack me up. I wouldn't use contractions for the longest time because I couldn't find the apostrophe.

    Great post!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Coffee and Coke become interchangeable with breakfast and lunch...

    ReplyDelete
  10. EB, Ah yes, the rewards of being a writer, the respect of friends who say, "You're writing tomorrow? Since you aren't doing anything maybe we can get together."

    Diane J, No matter so many writers were bipolar. Up one second, down the next.

    ReplyDelete
  11. PI, You snuck in while I was replying to Diane J and EB.
    You're right of course. Cold cereal can serve as a meal at any time,

    ReplyDelete
  12. Warren,
    Great list. You can add that you never leave home without a moleskin notebook and pen and a digital recorder for when you can't take notes.
    Celeste

    ReplyDelete
  13. Like I'm sitting here in like ya know, my sweat pants and a t-shirt dude and I see that we're writers for sure, dude like ya know. LOL I'm with E.B. Davis - love the pjs until noon. I would like to add - never being able to pass up the pen and notebook section in a store. Thank you for sharing, Warren.

    ReplyDelete
  14. You may be a writer if you go out of your figure out how to post blogs on a writer's blog.

    ReplyDelete
  15. If you are always saying, "Wait, I've got to jot this down" so you will remember to add it to your WIP.

    If you miss an exit because you were plotting while driving.

    ReplyDelete
  16. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  17. (First it didn't post, then it posted twice! *confused*)

    ReplyDelete
  18. One more sign. Eavesdropping, then taking surreptitious notes as soon as possible. You never know when you might need something like that. Taking notes on how you feel when something bad happens to you. Getting out the physical dictionary when you can't get the spelling of "surreptitious" close enough for the word processor to figure out. OK, more than one.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Emailing my manuscripts to myself after every session so I don't accidentally lose them.
    Morgan Mandel
    http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  20. Kaye, Nailed it. Eavesdropping is SOP.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Morgan,

    When I was writing a dissertation I kept a copy in several places just to be sure I wouldn't lose it.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Funny, Warren! I do believe I'm a writer.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Alice, I admire your courage in just coming out and announcing it to the world.

    ReplyDelete
  24. I spend most of my time in meetings writing out scenes in my head instead paying attention to the speaker.

    ReplyDelete
  25. You are a writer if you listen to your boss during your day job and think, "Gee, that's a good line. I hope I can remember it when he finishes talking and I get back to my desk.' Or you're a writer if you get caught eavesdropping at a restaurant and you answer the accusation with, "Well, yes, I was. Do you mind?" Or, you're a writer if you don't have time to vacuum, do laundry, or go to the store because you're writing a story, and who needs to eat, anyway?

    ReplyDelete
  26. JA isn't that what meetings are for? How else can you stay awake?

    ReplyDelete
  27. Susan,

    I never admit to eavesdropping. Usually a simple What dish is that? or Does it taste good? suffice. Housekeeping and personal hygiene are so overrated.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Not only do I know the difference between your, you're, and yore, I know it's/its, whose/who's and further/farther. Oh, and I actually bought spare brain cells to have on hand (gotta love Thinkgeek). I frame reviews so I don't get discouraged. I email my best friend from high school, now a biochemist, at random times to ask if certain compounds will work as murder weapons. (LOL, I do tell him it's for a plot; I'm not sure he believes me yet.)

    ReplyDelete
  29. Another sign - giving up sleep willingly so you can write because you have a day job. I'm down to 5 hours or less a night.

    ReplyDelete