Does anyone else like talking about their novel finished or in progress? I'm not just talking about with other writers but with people you know or interact with in general? For me, this can be motivating or let me think I've got something good when, I guess, people sound impressed with my story. I'm not looking to necessarily impress people, but when I do get that positive reaction, well, it feels good. My novel in question is complete in draft form at this stage. I don't really keep track of drafts. I just know it's not where I want it to be to show anyone yet. But if someone asks about it, I'm happy to give a very brief overview. For this novel, everyone I have told about it has seemed quite interested in the story, which often leads to a bit of a discussion about my novel. This is the third novel I have written. None of them have been published, but this is one I will be sending agents and publishers when I feel it's ready. Before, when I talked about my other novels, no one said anything bad or discouraging, but this time it's a lot different. I might just have a good book on my hands. Do you guys talk to people about your novels? What sort of reaction to you get when you sum up the story quickly when asked what it's about? Have you received different reactions or levels of interest when you talk about different projects? And how do other people's reactions motivate or maybe even discourage you? This is different than a beta reader or an editor reaction. I'm talking about people who have not even read a page of the actual novel. But just from hearing you talk about it a little, how does that tend to go for you? And what do you, as the writer, take away from things like this?
No. Only 4 of my old coworkers know that I'm working on a novel and what its about (1 is a psychologist, so I've consulted her for a few scenes that involves a therapist. 2 other read the genre I write in, so I let them read it. last one told me that she and her daughter were writing a cozy mystery together, so I told her about my novel) Out of my new coworkers, only 1 of them knows I'm working on a novel because, before they hired me, she researched me and my blog came up with all my previous publications and that I was working on a novel (she asked me about it). When i'm talking to non-writers... it just feels different. I dont feel like its gets taken seriously when i was "I'm writing a novel" or they dont understand how much time, thought, and effort goes in to it. Even my parents who dont see it as "serious" unless its published... otherwise, its a hobby. So i may mention that im a writer, but i wont go into detail about my novel unless asked about it. and even then, i kinda yadda-yadda a lot of it.
Outside of immediate family and close friends, not really. And I keep a nuclear firewall around that (and anything else personal) with colleagues and staff. Mainly because I don't care about anyone's opinions/thoughts/suggestions regarding writing. Like @J.T. Woody said, anyone who hasn't done it doesn't get to have an opinion on the process, so I really don't want to hear about it. I love talking writing with other writers, but if you haven't slogged through the shit, let's talk about football or music or the price of beans in Peru. The time and effort, like JT said. And when people say "that's so cool!" or "you're so lucky to be able to accomplish that!" I want to explain to them how the writing journey--the lifetime pursuit--takes 10% of your life to get to 90% proficiency, whereas the remaining 90% of your life will be spent attempting to gain the last 10% proficiency. Essentially the law of diminished returns to a logarithmic extreme.
I talk about it, sure. It's something important that's going on in my life. I try not to bore people with the details if they're not interested, but most people in my life are supportive and curious. I'm big on no spoilers, though, so it's difficult to give too much detail, especially on the parts I'm working on currently (second book) because I'm 90% of the way through the first draft. I only have a few friends and family members I would talk about the gritty details with, and I'd like for them to read it sometime, so I'm mostly on my own at this point. I'll talk about non-spoiler general stuff and the premise and style and whatnot, maybe share what I'm struggling with when I struggle, but again, not in a way that would spoil major events. I find the encouragement extremely motivating, and vain as this is, I like that people think of me as an artist, or at least a creative type. It's always been a big part of my identity. Some of these people have read shorts or my first novel; some haven't, but most think it's pretty neat. How seriously they take me, I have no idea, of course, but, like I said, they're supportive, at least.
Yeah, I talk about my writing. I'm on government support due to a sickness, so when people ask me what I do on the days, I feel better telling them I do at least some writing rather than nothing. Makes me feel less useless. I've mostly received encouragement and support for my writing. People are interested and curious. Two of my friends are reading my fourth draft right now and they like it so far. Though one friend is studying to become a doctor, so the reading is slow there, and the other is a small child parent with a busy job and life, so reading is also slow there as well. I've noticed that some people tend to show more shallow interest in your work, meaning they will ask about it and ask when you will finish and say positive things about it. But then, when it comes to actually reading your work, they might get distracted or suddenly show a lack of interest. Either way, I like talking about my work because as others mentioned, it might spur me on when they're interested. I can also understand why people make the choice to not talk about their writing work.
Never voluntarily. If unfinished, it might as well not exist as far as other people are concerned. Sometimes I compare writing to carpentry in my head, but there is definitely something different than an unfinished table versus and unfinished novel. With a table, well the panel has been glued, the legs are cut, the apron is squared—something exists, tangible to all parties. But a WIP fiction is only zero or one hundred. I really don't think there's any observable external value to the incomplete novel. For work that's at least past the first draft, if a person (normie) asks, my answer will be a summary that prioritizes brevity and the story's superficial aspects. "It's fantasy. There are knights, witches, and tyrant beasts." Even though that doesn't explain what the story is about, I think it's what the average person is looking to receive as an answer. It also maintains the interaction's power balance if you keep from being too open about something which is admittedly personal and frankly abstract enough that it took at ~90k+ words to properly communicate anyway. It also avoids the degrees of separation of understanding from writer -> avid reader -> casual reader -> non-reader by cutting straight to the LCD. It's not offensive at all if the person sagely nods and says "Ah, like Lord of the Rings." We've basically reached an understanding and never have to broach the topic or even look at one another again. Success.
I usually avoid talking about it with most people. I only really keep my mom up to date on my works as she's genuinely interested, actually reads everything, and provides very useful feedback (she's probably read well over a thousand books). I've occasionally posted about progress before in chat groups and have been given the thumbs up, but no one ever asks me anything about it. And that's fine. They know I'm a finisher already anyway. I keep quiet because I try to see things from the perspective of the person being told about the novel. And not everyone will have the same view as me, but I still project my own perspective on them, which is basically like, "Sure you're working on a novel. And I sure bet you're going to finish it, too, aren't you?" I have had several friends and colleagues over the years tell me that they're writing a book. I know of zero who have actually finished one. It's usually just a cute thing to be able to tell people for a few months, and then they don't get more than a few chapters done, if that, before giving up or losing interest. So, I don't ever want anyone to think I'm one of those people. I hope I am not sounding like a dick, heh
I actually had a friend do their Stewie impression from that scene, head tilt and voice raise included. It was crazy annoying. I don't have many friends from twenty years ago when I was first writing that I talk to with any frequency, but if I do, and they ask, I say that I've started writing again, which is true enough. I quit on it for over a decade, after all. Either way, I don't like people judging me for still trying to be a writer after all these years. That doesn't feel good. The truth is that I didn't know what I was doing back then and have been fairly productive over the last five years since starting back. I'm proud of what I've done in that time. To them, though, I'm just a dreamer who's working on the same goal I was working on in my youth with nothing to show for it.
I usually don't open myself up like that, unless I know somebody is a reader and has nothing against wildly imaginative fiction. But even then it's risky, since what I'm writing is so autobiographical. It's like I'm opening myself up and showing them my soul. Of course I don't have to tell them it's autobiographical, but still I know it is. I did tell somebody a while back that I'm a writer, but when he asked what I write I chickened out and said "Well, I should say I'm a writing student—still learning the ropes," and just left it at that. I panicked partly because I didnt have any succinct way of condensing the story (it was the Beastseekers). I would have started meandering and took 20 minutes to get across some vague sense of the idea. Now I realize that's because I haven't worked up my Snowflake synopses, so I've started doing that. If you have those done, you can choose between giving the one sentence synopsis, the one paragraph, the one page, or the four page. I guess you could lead with the one sentence, and if they seem interested, you can add detail by degrees.
I don't think that's vain at all. I feel the same way. As writers we are artists. And I too see that as a big part of my identity.
No. I rarely talk about my stories with anyone. Most wonder what's taking so long and it's hard to explain that my story was supposed to end in 2020 in an alternate reality before Covid came along. And after some of the culture outrageousness has been exposed - some of my plot needs to be fixed as it doesn't play realistically anymore. It's quite depressing to know your effort still misses the mark and with every year - looks more and more dated. I actually haven't written anything in six months.
