"We’ve fielded an awful lot of questions and complaints lately from writers whose families and friends don’t understand their writing pursuits and/or are unwilling to take them seriously.
"Here’s one, drawn from a comment on a recent blog post:
'I was three chapters into
my psychological thriller, and needed feedback and encouragement. I reached out to family and friends, and generally made it known that I was going to achieve my dream, however long it was going to take. I might as well have said I was going to adopt an elephant. Many of [them] believe that writing is an impractical pie-in-the-sky hobby, and my announcement was met with indifference and eye-rolling . . . My own mother said she would not read my book even if published because it was not "her
kind" of book.'
"It’s a common complaint because it’s a common trait; people often don’t understand interests/passions outside of their own. Think of the overly macho failed-jock dad who forces his kid to
attend basketball camp even though the kid really wants to go to space camp.
"You want to go on a writing retreat. Your family says 'Get a real job.' It hurts your feelings. What do you
do?"
What are some mocking comments you have heard from family
and/or friends about your writing pursuits?
What strategies do you enlist to deal with such comments?
In what ways have your friends and/or family tried to understand your writing pursuits?
