WHAT THE FUCK!!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN MY BATHROOM!? GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE BEFORE I CALL THE POLICE!! *nods furiously as I collect my notebook and pen and scurry outside*
Any time I get the "what do you for a living" I counter with "how much do you weigh?" Then when they get offended I remind them my job isn't their business.
I always get asked two questions... 1. Whats the book about? (which I don't want to say until it's finished) 2. Is it an autobiography? (not sure why so many people think my life would be so exciting to read) As a tall woman that has been dealing with 'wow you are really tall' and 'how tall are you?', I'm used to answering the same questions over and over again.
"What is your book about?" - yes!!! I hate this question " Oh, you write... everyone can do it! Maybe I'll write something, too." - yeap... sure
I don't like being asked anything about my writing. I feel like people judge me when I tell them I'm a writer. It's like it processes in everyone's mind that it means that I'm not good at anything so I am forced to write and hope that I slip through the slim crack that I might become published, let alone the next big name author.
Uhhh... Hmmm... Well... I've never been actually asked anything about writing- because I've never "branded" myself as a writer. xD However- if I do get asked questions about my story/book/concepts or whatever- I'd be very interested to answer. Things I'd normally hate though- "Isn't that like <insert some well-known story here>?" Same goes to my art as well D: "Oh- it looks like <insert some well-known character here" Not that nothing original ever comes out anymore- but whenever I would draw a character with a bow and a hood- general people would always bring up DotA 2 Characters or League Characters. o_o *sighs*
I'm partially deaf in my left ear. When asked what I do, I say, loudly, "No thanks, I don't like hotdogs!" Then, let friends explain, "he didn't hear you." Works for loiterers too. "Can you spare some change?" "No thanks, I dont't like hotdogs," and just keep walking.
What is so annoying about people asking what your book is about? You should know what is about, and I can't see a reason why it would be embarrassing or whatever to answer the question.
I know. Isn't that what we pretty much do here? Share our story ideas. And yet people don't like being asked about their stories? Like, what?
My degree: Applied linguistics "Oh, so you speak a bunch of languages, right?" "I do, but that's not what applied linguistics is about. It's the study of language function. How they function in and of themselves, how they function for the individual, the group, the culture. Stuff like that." "So do you work as an interpreter?" "Yep, but that's coincidental. Most linguists get really bent out of shape when you mistake them for interpreters. Many of them only speak one language." - Seriously, this pisses linguists off to no end. "So if a linguist doesn't work as an interpreter, what else do they do?" "Bore people to tears at cocktail parties concerning esoteric fundamentals of language." "Wow, that does sound boring." "Yep. We also entertain ourselves analyzing the different ways people use language, the rules they follow, the ones they don't." "Are you analyzing me right now?" "Yeah. Sorry, it's hard to avoid. Your verb structure tendencies are really erratic." *person slinks away pretending to have been greeted by someone across the room* My Origins - Puerto Rican, born in Puerto Rico, but raised in the U.S. from the age of 2. "Puerto Rican, huh? Bet your mom makes awesome tacos." "Nope. Tacos are as foreign to me as they are to you." "But you have other spicy food, right? I bet it's super spicy!" "Nope. Puerto Ricans actually do not like spicy food at all." A pause and then a subject change "When did you become a citizen?" "The moment I popped out of my mom." "So you were born here then?" "Nope. I was born there." "Then how are you a citizen?" "Did you sleep through all of 7th grade social studies?" My Job: Interpreter and Translator (already covered above) Where I live: Puerto Rico "I would love to go to Puerto Rico! Is it expensive? What's the exchange rate?" "One hundred cents to the dollar." "..... wait.... what?" "The currency in Puerto Rico is the U.S. dollar." "How? It's a foreign country right?" "Seriously?! Everyone?! Did you all skip social studies?!" My Writing: LGBT Spec-Fic Erotica "What the hell is that?" "Think science fiction or fantasy, with gay characters, and I don't shy away or 'fade out' at the bedroom scene." "So... like porn? "If you want to call it that, sure. I'm not scared of the word 'porn'. Humans are sexual creatures. I'm a human. Do the math." "That's gross." "You know, I've got this character I'm trying to wrap my head around and he's really uptight about his sexuality. I think you would make a great study for a character scaffold. If I write you into my story, is it cool if I make you the bottom for a really muscular top whose hung like a whale? I mean, the dude's cock pretty much has its own measurable gravity well. I promise to write the scene so that you really love it when he pegs you to the bed." *person slinks away pretending to have been greeted by someone across the room*
'I am a writer, y'know.' 'Yawnnn.' 'Boring.' 'He's off...' 'No, no, boys. Look, I wrote about the farm again, it's on the World Wide Web...all of you are almost famous.' 'Put a sock in it.' 'I'll narrate, you cannot stop me. "That day the butterflies congregated past my handsome eyebrows, I, I...' 'Turn up the radio.' 'Wanker.' 'You, you savage bitches...'
I can't remember the reactions I got from my brother, dad, or mother-in-law when they learned about @T.Trian and I writing fiction together... I think they were quite indifferent about it. I don't tell anyone I'm a writer 'cause I don't consider myself as one. Just like I don't consider myself a boxer just because I box frequently. But yeah, I've mentioned that I write, as a hobby, to a couple of people. ETA: this isn't something I'm tired of hearing as I've only heard it once, but one friend said T and I should write her into one of our manuscripts after we first told her we write together. That was a weird request.
Oh I had at least 3 friends who asked if I could write them into my story - at the very least to use their names for one of my characters. I tried to oblige in the past, naming insignificant characters who only appear once with my friends' names. Somehow, these scenes, and therefore the characters with it, always got deleted in the end... It wasn't intentional. It just happens that those always happen to be the scenes that turn out to be unnecessary. I haven't tried to use my friends' names in anything since lol - seems like it's just not meant to be!
The kickstarter campaigns I have checked out from a movie / writing POV offer this kind of thing as a reward. From name listed as credit to character name to spoken lines / cameo to assistant director (movie). If you had a story with a lot of tertiary characters it would be kinda cool to be able to sell those "slots" as another means of income. I don't see many successful KS campaigns for movies and books.
I've yet to describe myself as a writer. I wish I could be bold enough but I'm always afraid someone will turn around and say, 'oh, are you published/in a magazine/actually getting paid?' and I'll have to shuffle my feet, murmur a 'no' and scurry off. If, however, someone enquires after my hobbies, I might mention that I enjoy writing and I'm working or something and then comes the dreaded question... "What's it about?" I hate this question because even though I know (obviously, I'm writing it), I don't want to tell because I know I won't be able to do it justice and I'll just make it sound lame. I'd much, much rather type an answer out and be ready Another one is people enquiring after the title. I like keeping my titles close to my chest, not wanting to give them out until the work is actually finished. So by the time the conversation is over, the person knows neither the title nor the content, so I might as well just be making it up
Haha, I understand your frustration. You just remind me of a few of my own irritating repeat questions (I'm in a wheelchair myself)! What's wrong with you? (Nothing. What's wrong with you? If you want to know why I can't walk, why, I have brittle bones) What's wrong with her? (Hiiii. I'm 18 years old and have more education than my father and grandfather combined. My bones may not work the greatest, but my brain and mouth sure do!) Where's your Mommy, honey/dear/love/sweetie? (Uhmm. Home?) Can you walk? (Sure, I just carry my wheelchair around for fun) You should drink more milk. Milk is good for bones; it might help! (Oh really? I've never thought of that! That'll solve everything!) I'm so sorry. (Sure, this milk is kind of expensive but I like cereal, so ya know, can't help it.)
