I got an email from a new acquaintance. She’d given me her address this past summer and I wrote a note just to say hi. In my email, I told her that I write, and gave the address to one of my blogs. FYI – my blogging days are over.

In her response email, she joked that since she now knew I was a writer, she’d have to make sure of her spelling and grammar. Well. This did remind me of something that I’ve sensed. Or imagined. People behave a little differently around you when they know you write.

Here’s my writer’s brain thinking about this. While story telling is a natural, common part of our social world, making things up and writing them down is foreign. Even suspicious. For some perhaps, warning bells ring. SECRETS must not be revealed. On the other hand the act of writing might be considered lofty and elitist – a.k.a. ALIEN. Or there may be an element of pity and discounting. Poor dear, she thinks she is a writer.

Here’s the truth. I’ve usually got a writing project on the go and at one level I am always searching for inspiration. But there is never any direct link to what you may have shared and what I write. It might be your seed, but the gardener/writer is a creator that spins it into a fictional world that bears very little resemblance to the inspiration source.

Also, I don’t care how you spell or what your grammar skills are.
Relax, my new friend.
Another interesting reaction when, as I claimed the status retired, I added that I write. That person responded with, “Oh. So you’re still working.”
That’s very insightful.

Liz Betz is a retired rancher, from Alberta, Canada, who loves to write fiction. Her pastime seems to help her days go by, her brain to stay active and sometimes keeps her out of trouble. An overactive imagination is a wonderful thing to harness, but left alone…! Her publication credits are many and varied as she explores the fictional world of mostly somewhat older but not necessarily mature characters.

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