Writers Are Weird

I was working a lesson in the writing class I’m taking and I had a moment. You know, one of those breakthrough moments. I was making a mind map about why I want to write. I came up with many things that surprised me but one in particular struck me.

I wanted to be able to justify my weird. I’ve been odd my entire life. I’ve always seen things just a little differently than the people around me. I over-analyze everything (I don’t advise this). I add theme songs to daydreams. I bring up books constantly as examples of…well everything.

I often came across as distant. I wasn’t really, but when you’re in the middle of making up a cool fight scene it’s a little difficult to give others your full attention. I’ve lived more in my head a good portion of the time.

I was/am one of those types I like to call fringe people. You know, the kind that like to be in a group but stay on the edges. I’m not anti-social but I’m too busy watching everything to truly participate. I enjoyed this a lot but everyone else tried, unsuccessfully, to get me more involved. Every time someone came to the realization that I was content where I was, they thought I was weird as hell.

One guy thought I was the strangest person he’d ever met because I really truly listen to lyrics in songs. It probably didn’t help that I said things like: “This song talks to me.” Another said only weirdos and the British drink tea!

I’ve been accused of being strange because I read science fiction and fantasy. Or even just for preferring reading to whatever it is that someone else wants to do. My coworkers at previous jobs never could understand that reading IS doing something and no I really didn’t want to stop to talk about nothing with them. The readers out there get that one. Ever heard this while reading: “Since you’re not busy….”

No matter what anyone thought or said, I stayed weird. It’s part of me. It is me. However, when you hear something in a negative light for years and years it eats away at you. I didn’t know that until this lesson. Somewhere in the back of my mind I wondered if being weird was good. There was some guilt insidiously hiding there. Sometimes it made me stupidly put down my pen. I got over that but there was still a need to prove myself.

If I was this weird then I damn well better be a writer or the weird was for nothing, unjustified. Well frack that! I am weird, and I will wear that title with pride. I will write because I want/have to, not just because I feel like I should just to prove something to someone.

It boils down to most people think you should be exactly like them and if you’re not then you are branded with these terms: weird, strange, odd or bizarre. I looked up the definitions and I fail to see how of these things are bad.

  • Weird — fantastic; bizarre
  • Strange — unusual, extraordinary, or curious
  • Odd — differing in nature from what is ordinary, usual, or expected
  • Bizarre — markedly unusual in appearance, style, or general character and often involving incongruous or unexpected elements; outrageously or whimsically strange; odd

I don’t need to justify my weird, I need to embrace it. I’m a writer and writers are weird. We have to be and if we weren’t then there wouldn’t be so many books out there to enjoy.

So I’ll keep reading and getting way too into music. I’ll continue writing and I’ll always be weird

If you’ve ever been saddled with these labels, well it’s probably true, and so what? What exactly is it that you have to prove? All you have to be is you. Be weird, embrace strange, believe in bizarre. Normal is just a setting on a washing machine anyway.

I’ll call this my six minutes of writing for the day, but it took much longer. Now I’m going to do some writing in 10 minute bursts for a while. I love productive days!

Sidenote: When I did a spell check, frack didn’t come up lol!

27 comments

  1. I’m a fringe person too! I like attending events but would much rather observe the interactions. You sound like an introvert 😀 I’m an introvert that acts like an extrovert for the sake of social necessity. I’d rather entertain the characters and story lines in my head than socialize but since 75% of the people in the world are extroverted I try to fit in with them, otherwise they’d label me as weird 😛 I think almost all writers are introverts to some extent 🙂 Because we analyze everything and therefore can write about it, in detail 🙂

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  2. I really loved this post! I might even turn this into a motivational quote on Instagram (I’ll give you credit. I promise!)…

    “I’m a writer and writers are weird. We have to be and if we weren’t then there wouldn’t be so many books out there to enjoy.”

    Well said! Also, you are an inspiration. I just started following you a couple weeks ago and already I thought to myself, “I should sit down and write something today…if only for six minutes. It’s completely doable!”

    So embrace your weird. Or, CONTINUE to embrace you weird. Your audience loves you for it!

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  7. Weird is good. I have taken the Keirsey Temperament sorter and I am INFJ which represents 1% of the population, so already I am weird. INFJ have a tendency-and a strong one to become fiction writers. It has worked for me.

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  8. “Another said only weirdos and the British drink tea!”

    I’ve been called a weirdo all my life, and I’ve also been told on more than one occasion that I sound British (I apparently have an “accent” even in writing). I did drink 3 cups of tea today. 🙂

    I mostly enjoy being a statistical anomaly, though, which is a good thing, since it’s not as if I have any choice.

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  11. Weird is what makes the world interesting. Without it we’d have to stand around listening to normal people blather on about how normal they are. Someone once said to my face ‘you are a peculiar fellow;’ I should have had it printed on a t-shirt.

    Up the weirdos and their tea drinking bachanalia, that’s what I say.
    Chris

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  12. I’ve been labelled as strange and weird many times in my life. Normal is not a word that has ever been applied to me. I’ve earned to live with it. It was hard in my teen years, But I’m comfortable with my wired status now. I love the phrase normal is a setting on a washing machine. sums it up brilliantly. 🙂

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  19. Since you are in the reading mode, I want to take advantage of that current inclination. From your bios, you seem to switch gears — which I can appreciate. I have one historic novel, one YA novel, and a two-act play based on Guy du Montpassant’s short story, Boule de Suif, in the works. The play is complete, and is cooling from the oven before I go back with the scalpel.

    I look for what I call Beta Readers. You’ve probably found having people read and comment on your work is essential to your growth as a writer as well as progressing something from the idea stage to the published event.

    Here’s my proposal: quid pro quo. You read mine and comment. I’ll read yours and comment. Commentary is based not only on major grammatical flaws, but the elements of a story: characters, plot, action, climax, denouement, etc. There are many ways of describing these elements.

    I’m poised to launch two projects: “Through the Glass Darkly, 2nd Edition” and “The Typewriter.” The first is a compilation of short stories, and will be the second publishing. It’s on Amazon. The second work is a novella, and I intend to publish it in ebook form initially. Other beta readers are working on both.

    I don’t pay. I’m pretty chincy in that regard and until I’m a household name, will offer recognition in the forwards of Beta Readers, and a free copy.

    You tell me if this interests you.

    And, thanks for opting to follow my online writing studio work. 🙂

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  22. I can definitely identify that reading is doing something. The many times I´ve been said, come out and help out with this, or we´re going here or there or whatever the hell people where saying and me telling them “No can´t do, I´m working.” them : “working on what?” me: I´m reading.” And their faces turning into a question mark..

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