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How do people react when you tell them you've written a novel?

Discussion in 'Chit Chat' started by GlassWalls, Dec 1, 2017.

  1. GlassWalls

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    I've always been uncomfortable to tell people that I write, probably because writing's personal to me and it's easier to talk about more fun things than deep things. I'm just wondering how people normally react to this.
     
  2. Kyrielles

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    I legit feel the same way! I love to write, but am terrified to share. Personally I'd be totally intrigued if a friend were like I wrote a novel! From personal experience however I've felt shame for my writings. I like to write short stories, poetry, and non fiction, on one occasion when I was way younger a friend snooped through my things apparently and found a note book containing some of my poems. Later on they forgot to logout of my laptop after being over, I ended up seeing a group message in which I felt like I was being made fun of. I was so upset, I burnt my notebooks, and vowed to never keep any of my writings on paper, and actually haven't since then. That's what gave me the fear of sharing my writing, now that I'm much older though I feel like I handled that the wrong way overall, and I feel like people are more mature now, and I'm no longer friends with those people, not due to that, but other things, so clearly they weren't the right people to be letting their opinions affect me.
    If you're not comfortable sharing, maybe you should make some online friends and share, sharing with people you don't know may help make you more comfortable to share with people that you do know! Plus who knows, you may be like the next Jane Austen or Virginia Woolf, if anyone does have negative opinions, I bet they'd feel stupid if your writings became something. So any negativity you may get use it to your advantage and motivation. & with writing sometimes the right negatives can help improve your writing.
     
  3. Creativemind

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    I've written but never published. My reaction is usually that people are excited and want to read my work. I tend to be the opposite of you: Talking about my story is my most favorite subject and I can actually start to feel like my friendships are lacking if I can't discuss it.
     
  4. ThatBorussenGuy

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    They say "Oh, that's cool! Send me the link and I'll read it" and then they don't. I know they don't. I can see the traffic stats on my stories and they never move. :confused: I put most of my work online, but it feels like I'm writing for an audience of one.
     
  5. Butterflies85

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    I’ve self published a children’s book and written two novels but not published them yet. People are usually quite interested and also acknowledge it’s no easy feat to write a novel. But I am also uncomfortable telling people because they ask me what they are about and I get tongue tied because I feel like I’m trying to sell it. I never know how much to explain about the plot!
     
  6. Aspen

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    "Oh, that's cool. What's it about?"
    "So are you going to publish it?"
    "I've always wanted to write a book."

    I don't talk about my writing much unless I know someone is also a writer and knows what's up.
     
  7. Dingdang

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    When the book gets published, people will ask for the title and take interest. I will have to provide a verbal disclaimer right then and there, for the book is highly satirical and potentially offensive. It's about cultural appropriation, and I have to publish under a pseudonym.