September Theme: Misconceptions People Have About Writers
A
lot of great observations have been made in this month’s SMACK DAB posts about
‘misconceptions others have about writers’ and now I am going to add a few
more. (My list is very specific to me)
Misconception #1-
*All my friends assume that all writers are Grammarian Kings
and Queens...
False- although this is probably
usually true, it doesn’t apply to me. I worked very hard when I was in middle
school to ignore all the basics of grammar that were being taught. Why? Because
I knew that as a future professional Stuntmen I would not need to know how to
properly form or punctuate a sentence. I would just need to work on pulling my
punches and falling off tall buildings. Of course, I am not a professional
stuntman now and my grammar is atrocious. The good news is I recently started
to relearn all that I ignored but it’s a hard and slow process. Me is working
on it.
Misconception #2-
*My Friends and Family all assume that, even though I am
working, I won’t mind a quick interruption...
False- KNOCK. KNOCK. “Hey Mike, I’m
going out for a bit. I just wanted to let you know.” I hate this. Would you
interrupt a surgeon with some trivial information while he is doing surgery
stuff in an operating room? No you wouldn’t. When I am working I am thinking of
a zillion things at once and when I hear a knock at the door all those things
disappear from my brain. I then get angry, if the interruption is not
important, and proceed to kill all the cute kittens near me. “Please don’t interrupt
him,” said the cute kitten sitting at my feet. (I have recently come to the
conclusion that the creative minds behind the ‘Oogieloves’ kids movie must have
been interrupted a lot.)
Misconception #3-
* My wonderful friends and family almost always assume that
I know what I’m doing...
False- Sometimes I know what I’m
doing but it’s not really that often that I do. For instance, just over a year
ago I began a fun project about Presidents and since my friends know that I
love American History they were very confident that I would produce something
fun and educational but I wasn’t so sure (actually, I was pretty scared.) I had
never done anything quite like it and it also came with a fast approaching
deadline. There were many times while I was working on it that I came to the
conclusion that I didn’t know what I was doing but in the end it all came
together (in time for the deadline) and I am super happy with the results!!!
Anyway, that is all I can think of for now concerning the
misconception topic but I do want to mention that (a few weeks ago) on
September 13th My newest book (a 160 page comic book) about
Presidential stuff came out. I will write about it more in another post but I
would like to put one copy up for raffle for now!
So, sign up, and I will sign and draw a picture in it for
whoever wins!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Michael Townsend
I think we should all post your no. 2 to our FB pages as our status updates! Great list.
ReplyDeleteI also love #3. I never know what I'm doing when I start a new project. Page one of a new book can be both as exciting and as frightening as a live performance.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest misconception I keep running into about writers? That we're not really writing fiction. People always portray fiction writers as thinly veiling their own life stories or stealing their friends' lives. They think our characters are real people we know. I guess it's because if you don't have the imagination of a fiction writer, it's hard to...imagine it. But I, for one, actually make all this stuff up in my head.
ReplyDeleteYes! Number 2. My other fave is when people call and don't leave a message then call back right away because they know I'm home and should answer because it's just a quick thing they have to tell me. Grr. But I don't hurt kittens. Just saying.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Rafflecopter wouldn't let me enter. :( I'm on Chrome.
ReplyDeleteRebecca--you can always feel free to enter by leaving a comment. (I've already included you in this contest!)
Delete