A Rare Breed

Writers.

More specifically, AUTHORS.

What are these strange creatures that never socialize and only come out at night? Well they certainly aren't vampires, I can tell you that. We're a beautiful, weird, quirky bunch of people who spend way more time inside imaginary worlds and talking to made-up characters in our heads than we do in the real world with real people.

I don't know how it is for most other writers, but these are the things that I have come to recognize as my writer habits and quirks. These are the things that say...yep. Amanda is a writer. (To my mind at least)

1) Socializing...what is this foreign concept? You mean I actually have to spend time with people? What? No. Not gonna happen.

Now don't get me wrong. I love people. I really do. I love my family. I love my friends. I love all sorts of wonderful people that I meet on the street. And I do socialize. I had a recent coffee date with a friend that ended up lasting over eight hours. So yes, I socialize. But I can't deny that as soon as that awesome and super long coffee date was over, I locked myself up in my room to avoid any and all human interaction. Humans. I can't handle too much of them. Partially because, well, I'm an introvert. Leave me alone, folks. It's not that I don't like you. I just need space.

2) Coffee. Hot Chocolate. Tea. Cider. The staples of my diet.

3) Starvation. This is perfectly normal, I promise. No really. It is.

See...when writers get writing...we lose track of reality. That includes time. Time passes much, much faster when you're a writer. And food...well, we writers tend to forget we actually need sustenance. It isn't that we think we're too good for food. "I can survive fasting for months." yeah...no. It's just that we actually forget. We lose track of time and then go..."Wow. It's 7pm and I haven't eaten anything today. How did that happen?"

4) Hygiene....

Well...it isn't that I advocate not being clean. But when I get into a writing phase several....days....might go by between showers. And again, it isn't because I don't want to shower or that I think I'm above showering. I just forget. Writing is very distracting from the real world. You have no idea. (Or maybe you do, if you're a writer)

5) Nocturnal. 100%. I swear I am a cat.

My best writing tends to happen somewhere between midnight and 6am. Why? I have no idea. But I'm pretty sure this is the case for a lot of other writers, so I don't think I'm too weird.

6) Leaving the house is like being thrown into the Roman Colosseum. Please don't make me go. PLEASE!!! Now, once I actually get out of the house, it suddenly turns into a pleasant experience and I am fine. But before I actually get out the door....torture.

That's a few things that, to me, tell me I am a writer. Do any of you writers have your own quirks and habits to add to the list?

We are an interesting group of people to be sure, us writers. We inhabit a world of our own and I've never met anyone else quite like writers. I don't even know how to describe us. We're something different and unique, and we have a very different perspective on the world than anyone else I've talked to in my short years. I am proud to be a member of this quirky bunch of crazies who live life in made up worlds in the middle of the night.

Here's to all your writers out there! We might be different, but that doesn't mean we aren't awesome. In fact, I'm pretty sure it is our very different-ness that makes us awesome.