Monday, June 29, 2009

Show, Don't Tell!

This blog is about a writer’s life. Mine, in particular.
Today I’m stumbling. Not writer’s block. Social etiquette.
Today I speak for writers one and all!
Have you ever asked your professor how much money he earned last year? How about your favorite grocery clerk? Your clergyman? Doctor, lawyer, Indian chief?
Why, oh why, does everyone want to know how much money a writer makes? Are they planning on writing the next great world-class novel, becoming an agent, or competing in the freelance market? Maybe they just want us to pick up the lunch tab.
They want to know if we are serious writers. When they see us out and about they deduce we're not working and therefore writing must be a hobby. If they don’t see us out and about they assume we’ve become recluses. Does The Shining come to mind?

I think Burton Rascoe, famous for his quotes with good reason, said it best.
“What no wife of a writer can ever understand is that a writer is working when he’s staring out of the window.”

Hard to get paid by the hour for that.

Thank my lucky stars my husband understands. And it can't be easy!

BTW, I shop at Walmart and Neiman Marcus.

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