I am a writer. And as I stare at the finish line that is graduation, clinging to my Writing and Linguistics degree in hand; I realized that there are people who have misconceptions about what I am. So, as I threaten to step out into the adult world, I’m going to break down some of the walls. Here we go!
1. All writers are introverts
Which is the most untrue thing ever, people don’t seem to realize that to be a good writer we have to be able to understand people. Introverts don’t understand people. The best writers are the ones who live in big cities, talk to random people on the street, and aren’t afraid to ask someone how their job works. Writers like to write real people and to do that we have to interact with real people.
2. Writers are born talented
Writing does not in fact come naturally. While it may be true that writers have a lot of imagination, so do other jobs too. Anyone can be a writer. What makes a great writer is someone who works hard to mold their skills.
3. Writers can write really good essays
No. No. No! Being a good writer does not mean we can just pop out college length essays like it’s easy. In fact, most creative writers do horribly on technical essays. Writing stories and writing essays are two very different skills. Creative writing is free form while essay writing as restrictions and constraints. So stop asking your writer friends to write your essays for you! You would probably be better off writing it yourself.
4. Writers don’t have a social life
This one frankly offends me. Let’s go back to misconception #1. Writers are not socially stupid. I love to party. I love to hang out with friends. Some of my best writing happens when I’m out drinking with friends. Most writers love to socialize! Trust me; we do!
5. Writers won’t make a lot of money
While the writing business is super competitive, this does not mean writers won’t make any money. You may not know this but writing is incorporated in just about every job you can imagine. Medic, yes. Law, yes. Engineering, yes! Have you ever picked up a manual on how to connect your universal remote to your TV? Someone had to write that. So yeah, writers won’t make a lot of money if they try to stay in the creative writing business, but they will make a lot of money elsewhere.
6. Writers have a lot of free time
Sigh. No. This is just not true. In fact, we probably work as many hours as a medical student. The only reason why people may think we have a lot of free time is because the majority of our time spent writing happens in our own house. This is not free time. In fact, when you see us bent over a laptop with empty coffee cups around us, it’s very likely that we’ve spent the last free days in that position.
7. Writing comes easy for writers
Writing is not easy for all writers. There are those who can slap together a 50-page story in two days, but that’s the odd exception. Most writers will spend close to two to three years trying to write something they could actually like.
I hope I’ve helped to clear up some of the misconceptions people have about writers. And if I haven’t, well at least I tried.