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?
Constant co0ntemplation of how I could have written whatever better interspersed with contemplations of how one could kill and get rid of the evidence.
ReplyDeleteKevin
I believe, sir that you have a severe case.
ReplyDeleteIf 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!!
ReplyDeleteKaren D.
I contemplate: unique characteristics, motives, timing, pacing and hook.
ReplyDeleteI worry over: style, voice, grammar and technical detail.
I rejoice in wearing my pjs until noon, having a piece accepted and writing well.
OMG It sounds like you were a writer before technology
ReplyDeletebecame my BFF.
EB, this may be spreading. Everyone who has responded so far sound like they are effected.
ReplyDeleteYeah--definitely a writer virus out there--everyone wants that heady lifestyle--those champagne-filled evenings, fancy restaurants, plush furnishings and the portfolio...LOL!
ReplyDeleteI've yet to collect my $20 for a short I wrote, and rather than cash the check, I was thinking of framing it.
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.
ReplyDeleteI 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!
Coffee and Coke become interchangeable with breakfast and lunch...
ReplyDeleteEB, 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."
ReplyDeleteDiane J, No matter so many writers were bipolar. Up one second, down the next.
PI, You snuck in while I was replying to Diane J and EB.
ReplyDeleteYou're right of course. Cold cereal can serve as a meal at any time,
Warren,
ReplyDeleteGreat 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
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.
ReplyDeleteYou may be a writer if you go out of your figure out how to post blogs on a writer's blog.
ReplyDeleteIf you are always saying, "Wait, I've got to jot this down" so you will remember to add it to your WIP.
ReplyDeleteIf you miss an exit because you were plotting while driving.
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ReplyDelete(First it didn't post, then it posted twice! *confused*)
ReplyDeleteOne 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.
ReplyDeleteEmailing my manuscripts to myself after every session so I don't accidentally lose them.
ReplyDeleteMorgan Mandel
http://morganmandel.blogspot.com
Kaye, Nailed it. Eavesdropping is SOP.
ReplyDeleteMorgan,
ReplyDeleteWhen I was writing a dissertation I kept a copy in several places just to be sure I wouldn't lose it.
Funny, Warren! I do believe I'm a writer.
ReplyDeleteAlice, I admire your courage in just coming out and announcing it to the world.
ReplyDeleteI spend most of my time in meetings writing out scenes in my head instead paying attention to the speaker.
ReplyDeleteYou 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?
ReplyDeleteJA isn't that what meetings are for? How else can you stay awake?
ReplyDeleteSusan,
ReplyDeleteI never admit to eavesdropping. Usually a simple What dish is that? or Does it taste good? suffice. Housekeeping and personal hygiene are so overrated.
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.)
ReplyDeleteAnother 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