I don’t often discuss my writing projects with my family. In fact, many writers I know don’t discuss their work in general, some because they feel it might jinx it or diminish their enthusiasm. Others believe that non-writing friends and family wouldn’t be interested. Let’s face it, there’s a reason no one’s made a TV show or reality contest about novel writing. It’d be pretty boring to watch.
My husband, daughter, and future son-law are all accountants, and my son is a science major working in the tech field. You can well imagine that my job doesn’t really fit into conversations easily, which is fine. It doesn’t bother me that no one’s ever asked “how’d your writing go today?” Most days, the answer would be pretty vague and monosyllabic.
This weekend, my daughter was helping me add hyperlinks to my ebooks and later, while we were having dinner she asked when my next book would be published. She also asked me about my creative process. She wanted to know if I create a situation, incident, or plot and then weave my series characters to fit that, or do I look at my characters first and create a situation to fit them? It was a great question, which launched a discussion about the creative process.
You see, my husband also paints water colors as a hobby. My daughter is a terrific writer and articulate communicator in her own right. She exceled at novel analyses in English classes and wrote songs and played guitar in her late teens. Both my husband and daughter have friends who are professional artists, so creativity isn’t completely foreign to their world.
It was a fascinating discussion because I learned things about my husband’s hobby that I never knew (he often gets up at the crack of down and experiments with drawings before he leaves for work), and I learned how my daughter’s friend arrives at the themes and decisions that appear in her paintings.
Through the half hour or so we spent sharing experiences and ideas, I became more excited at the prospect of finishing my current WIPS, of exploring topics in ways that I hadn’t considered in a long time. It was enlightening, inspiring, and a great boost. Isn’t it amazing where inspiration comes from?
What a wonderful experience. I might share ideas and what I’m doing with other writers, but not with my family because, like you’ve said, I don’t think they’re interested.
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It’s a common phenomenon 🙂
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My family is very supportive and always ask about my writing. My daughter is a potter and we share creative ideas and frustrations. My son is a musician as is my younger brother. Many of my family members are avid readers so we often talk about books, likes and dislikes, which give me inspiration. I get many ideas from family and friends so I guess I’m lucky.
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That’s amazing to have such a creative family who support your writing! I feel lucky with my family too!
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Family’s are the best!!
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Nice for everyone to talk and support each other. I have nominated you for a sunshine blogger award. Thanks for your support.
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Thank you! I’ve seen these nominations from fellow bloggers, though I’m not quite sure what it is or how it works 🙂
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Thats ok, it’s answering the questions, then writing 11 new questions and nominating 11 bloggers. You honestly do not need to do it, im sure you have a busy writing schedule.
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It is amazing. No one in my family is creative so your story intrigued me. I end up talking about my WIP with my husband because it’s just us in the house, me writing for 10 hours a day–what else is there to talk about!
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