Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Best possible kind of crazy.

When I read this on my blog friend Kristina's site, I just laughed and had to share. Been there?
How Not To Talk About Writing

The other reason writers don't talk to non-writers about their writing is because, well, it's hard to talk about something that is so intangible. Writers are usually too busy writing to talk about writing and if they're not writing, they're thinking about what they're going to write, but the stuff in their head is so convoluted, it wouldn't make sense to someone who doesn't also write (and even then it's an iffy proposition). The thought pattern of a writer might go something like this:

Blue. Her eyes were blue in the first chapter, right? I need to check that. Blue works because it'll be a clue to her paternity. Her stepfather has brown eyes, her mother has brown eyes, but her eyes are blue. Blue like... blue like what? Blue like that blue bottle I have, the one that was a wine bottle. The wine wasn't very good, but it's a good color blue for eyes. So maybe the wine bottle will be in there, too. Maybe the real father will actually comment that her eyes are the color of a wine bottle and she'll realize his eyes are the same color, but will that be too obvious? Maybe it shouldn't be an eye color thing. Where is that chart on recessive genes? I should check that. No point in making a big deal out of blue eyes if two brown-eyed parents can produce a blue-eyed kid. DNA evidence will be necessary, but that's just so Jerry Springer it's not even funny. I need to write this down before I forget it. I'm going to forget it, I know I'm going to forget it. What if he's not her father at all? Oh, wait, that might work. Maybe it all leads up to him being her father, but he's actually the one who kidnapped her as a child and her memory of his eyes is what makes her think he's a real father. Still would like to get that wine bottle in there somewhere, though...

Now, tell me, how do you talk about that with someone who isn't a writer? You don't. People will think you're crazy. Which, as everyone knows, most writers are to some degree. It goes with the territory.

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