Young Writers Society

I don't want anyone to know that I'm a writer? I try to hide it from everyone else, I don't let anyone read what I wrote, and when my family mentions it to anyone else I get embarrassed. When people ask me what I want to be, I just say "Oh, I don't know" when I'm screaming "AUTHOR" in my head. I don't really even tell my friends. Is this weird? Why do I do it?

I don't want anyone to know either.
I think the main thing for me is I don't want anyone to read my stuff. Which is funny because I let tons of strangers (here) read it I tell everyone I want to be a psychologist (cause I do) but I don't mention that I want to minor in English and publish books too

-Carly

I don't think that's very weird. The only people that I tell are my close friends, and family. At first, I only told my family because they wondered what I was typing when I was on the computer. Like tmne, I want to be a psychologist. and that's usually what I tell people. So, it's not weird to me.

It's not at all strange. I never told any of my friends until a couple of years ago and only my mother really knows that I write as she sees me typing away or scribbling down ideas. It was only a few months ago that I showed my boyfriend any of my work and I'm not even sure why I don't like to show people other than fellow YWS-ers.
I think sometimes it's fear that the people around you wont understand why you write or how to give feedback and I get frustrated when I show a friend something and they just say it's really good because they want to be nice. Thankfully, I have very honest friends who will pick out mistakes etc and so my feedback is generally helpful.


Once you break the barrier with showing friends and family, however, you get a real confidence boost and I think having support and motivation from them is always useful.


xxx

My grandparents, aunt & uncle along with my cousins didn't know I wrote until my dad told them and I was mortified when I overheard (If your parents are talking about you to any relatives, make sure you are on the phone to talk about what you've been doing). It's not so bad now, since they never ask and I never bring it up, but I'd rather not have family asking me how I'm doing (my parents know, of course. But when my dad starts talking about it I sort-of wish I'd never told him...)

Most of my friends know just because I usually have to tell them what I've been up to. But I'm not sure if I'll tell any new friends that I write. Until they get close to me, that is. But even then I might not.

I find YWS is enough. But then, I don't really have a life. I find the reviews I get are some of the best feedback. Not sure if I could stand listening to friends talk about my work in a negative light.

So, you're not weird. I think all writers are like that to a point.

~Rosey

Nope. Not weird at all. I find that most writers are very private and secluded about their personal life or things that mean a lot to them. Maybe it's derived from fear of rejection? Anyways, I think we can all agree that it's a lot easier to show faceless people what's going on inside your head instead of people you actually know. There's something psychological in that...

I don't think it's weird at all... In fact, I'm kind of also like that.. I won't even let my sisters and my parents read any of my works... If I do, I'm very hesitant to show it to them..

I don't show my writing to anyone (except for you YWSers here,) but people know I write. Sometimes I share my writing assignments in class, and I once wrote a short story for the school newspaper. But that's it. My friends don't even know how serious I am about this. I once told one of them about a lecture I had on my Ipod and she started teasing me about it.

I have one writer friend who is as serious as I am, but we don't talk often.

My family knows, and they know how serious I am.

I tell everyone I want to major/minor in creative writing and major/minor in kindergarten and preschool education, when they ask. And they just kind of brush it aside, and forget about the fact that I'm a writer. But no one knows how serious I am, except for family.

Well, my whole family knows that I can write, but for some reason, I am usually reluctant to show my work to them as well. I don't know why...it feels strange whenever I think back of it again.
And not only writing, but drawing as well! If I'm sitting down and drawing stuff, and whenever someone passes by (most likely my mum or dad) then I'd just cover it immediately.

Strange, eh?