I live alone at the moment so I don’t have to deal with friends and family when it comes to my writing/reading/blogging and general fandom activity. But as far as they’re concerned, it’s just my thing, it’s what I do. I read a lot, a write a lot, and that’s okay with them. My boyfriend calls me a nerd and then tells me to write a best seller so I can buy him an awesome boat, and that’s about as far as it goes haha.
Writing is almost like an “after thought” to friends and family. They don’t really “get” what it’s like to write a novel and to chase an impossible dream, so they ask ‘how’s the novel going?’ ‘what’s it about’ and that’s really about it.
What’s your experience with friends/family in regards to your writing?
Words Read & Written 
Reblogged this on Writing Worth Reading and commented:
TGS says you can easily switch the pictures for “What my mom thinks I do” and “What I really do.” (And I hope you can see the big graphic, so you know what I’m talking about. I’ve never “reblogged” something before, so I don’t know how it looks!)
Being a creative/crafty person myself, I think I’m pretty supportive of TGS’s writing. It might not be a job, at least not in the regular paycheck (or any paycheck, so far) sense, but it’s much more than a hobby. It’s a vocation. It’s not just something you do; it’s who you are.
LikeLike
My parents thought I was wasting my life, no matter how many short stories magazines published, no matter how many articles magazines bought. The constant echo in my life was “when are you gonna get a real job?” My mother died wondering what she did wrong to raise such a useless person. She never read even one of my pieces. My father was even more critical.
Then a publishing house bought one of my novels. Now my dad thinks I’m great.
Society reviles artists until they succeed, then they worship them to death.
LikeLike
To be honest, most of my family and friends don’t know I write, but they aren’t my market. My twin sister is my main support. We both write. If one of us stopped, I think the other would. We need each other for support.
LikeLike
They don’t really take me seriously. “I had a great idea for a novel!”
“Oh. Okay.”
I guess they can’t see it happening.
LikeLike
“It’s a little dark Amy….”
LikeLike
Some support me wholeheartedly, whereas others insist I build a foundation first i.e. get a dayjob. I can see the wisdom in both, and the drawbacks. Mostly, though, supportive.
LikeLike
I work as a chemist by day, because I’m pretty cynical and pragmatic by nature, so no one is breathing down my neck about my career aspirations. I’ve been writing since I was six, so my family knows that it’s my endgame goal. But my mom’s side of the family are head-patters. They’re the types who will tell me I’ll brilliant, that I’ll get published, and that I’ll make a million dollars to support them in their old age…all without having read any of my writing since I was 12 years old. This actually irritates me, because it feels very inauthentic. I just can’t take compliments and encouragement from people who don’t even know if I’m talented enough to encourage, you know?
My dad is the devil’s advocate. He’s supportive in a very critical, harsh way. He’s not the best reader because he’s a little too opinionated (he isn’t good at reading outside of his tastes), but at least I know that his compliments are meaningful because they’re rare.
My boyfriend is indifferent. I think he just sees it as something I “like to do” rather than my purpose for existing. Luckily my two best friends, Alyssa and Greg, are SUPREMELY supportive muses who have read everything I’ve written and they offer wonderful constructive feedback. I’ve also got a great support system of online writers. Overall, I can see why friends are the family that we choose! Without my friends’ encouragement, I’d pretty much have to encourage myself.
LikeLike
I would say that my family are supportive in that they encourage me to write and believe I have written great work that should be shared. As far as interest, I would say they are not too interested in my writing and never truly read my work, possibly because they do not write or read as much.
LikeLike
What I have seen is that, in whichever field you work, the depth of your hard work no one else knows but only you. I am a computer engineer; my relatives think I am a technician/mechanic who repairs computers, and I can’t make them understand the real deal.
Great thought 🙂
LikeLike
I come from a family of creative people so it’s not unexpected and they support me. My husband comes from very analytical people and gets upset when my ADHD runs a muck into hyperfocused-land and I totally lose track of time. I want to write a children’s book. Ever since I became pregnant in 2009 with my son, I want to write him an adventure book, an inspirational book, a book that tells him all my wishes and dreams for him. I have no idea how to write it. I wish I knew where to begin. When I think of it, it reminds me a favorite childhood movie about a little boy named nemo and he would travel to different lands on his bed. I wish I could find it. I know it’s based on a book. I need to find the titles and read them.
LikeLike
My family and friends are incredibly supportive I what I do, so I am very lucky in that regard. They always keep pushing me to achieve this career, and it’s part of what keeps me driven to keep going! 🙂
LikeLike
First, they have to think…..:)
LikeLike
My family’s pretty much the same. Except my mom, who understands the struggles and actively supports my efforts.
LikeLike
In some ways, I’m in a similar boat as you, Jodie. Although my friends and family are VERY supportive and encouraging of my writing (I couldn’t possibly ask for such an awesome support system,) their inquiries rarely go beyond the basics: what are you writing, how’s it going and the one I dread the most, what’s it about?
The one exception being my wife of nearly four years, whose questions have always gone beyond the norm. She understands that a writer’s life isn’t exactly an open book, and fully respects my privacy. She also knows that my writing is about much more than the synopsis.:)
LikeLike
My family seems to understand when I’m in the “zone”. Dishes are piled up. Laundry unwashed. This is the life of a busy mom/writer. Sometimes they ask me what I’m writing. It’s a great test, summarizing a novel in a few sentences. Great way work on those pesky pitches and queries!
LikeLike
No one (except my lovely wife, that is) seems to understand when I’m in “the zone.” This applies to reading, as well. People apparently assume it’s perfectly okay to interrupt you, as if what you’re doing isn’t important.. GrrR!
LikeLike
They understand. I didn’t say they LIKED it.
Ah well, it’s up to us to carve out that sacred time.
LikeLike
Friends and family have always been supportive. I always have a lot of projects on the go though, so people aren’t terribly surprised to hear that I am working on a book. Some people don’t write but I have not received any substantial objection to the craft.
LikeLike