Monday, March 18, 2013

Guest Post: The Writer's Daughter



I asked my daughter to write a post about what it's like to be the daughter of a writer.  Here's what she had to say...

Writing about being a writer’s daughter is surprisingly hard.

Am I the only person that finds that ironic?

It really does involve a certain amount of “be quiet while mommy’s writing” mixed in with a lot of “tell me what you think of this.” My life is long bouts of silence with intermittent talking. It means that I am one of the remarkably few people who actually knows what beta reading is. (I have it on my resume and you would not believe the questions sometimes)

It also means that people who defile books into book “art” should be shot, grammatical and/or spelling errors are an offense worthy of creative and prolonged torture (there are just…so…MANY), and there’s this overwhelming urge to correct people when they use words wrong.

Or maybe that’s just me.

And that’s part of the problem. Because I don’t know how much of it is being “a writer’s daughter” and how much of it is me. Writing and all the stuff associated with it have been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, as natural as breathing. I can’t help but edit everything I read (and I mean everything: menus, signs, Facebook posts :shudder:), can’t help but love the smell of old books. It’s like it’s in my DNA.

That might, in fact, be why I also write (fanfiction). It never occurred to me not to. (Seriously, dude, it’s fanfiction, not the next great novel)(Shut up)(I would like to point out, for the record, that I inherited the voices in my head from my mom. Just look at some of her posts.)

I look at everyday situations and think of how it could be a story. That guy in the airport, who’s he waiting for? Women in dark suits and sunglasses walk down the street and in my head it’s Matrix 4. It’s not just that I’m crazy or easily distracted (shiny objects are my friends. Oooooh), it’s that I have this disease, writeritis, that I inherited from her. Like my hair or my nose (thanks, mom).

So that’s what being a writer’s daughter is for me, I think. Alternately, that’s just one big, nonsensical jumble, in which case, feel free to ignore me. But if any of this makes any sense to you, please let me and everyone else who sees this know. ‘Cause it would be nice to know that being the child of someone who takes the random stuff in their head and puts it out there for the world to see doesn’t make you as weird as you think. 

(…It doesn't, does it?)

10 comments:

  1. Love the beta reading on the resume! **snort**

    Her voice is so much like her mom's!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you JB. My business adviser in college thought I should take it off, but the skills in beta reading transfer to a lot of things.

      Also, I get that a lot, but I don't see it.

      Delete
  2. Great piece, B.E.'s Daughter!! And nice to see the 'itch' has been passed down. It starts with fanfic and, next thing you know, you'll be writing your own novels, too!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm glad you like it. I'm not too sure if I'll be writing novels anytime soon, I'm not sure I have the focus for it. Living with my mother has shown me that writing novels takes more time than I have to give write now.

      But my dream job is script writing (for video games), so...

      Delete
  3. Lol the beta reading on the resume made me snort. It's actually a good thing to put on there, but I imagine you get a lot of weird looks.

    What sort of fanfiction do you write?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Weird looks abounds, Natalie. But, yeah, once I explain, it's usually really useful.

      I write Mass Effect fanfiction at the moment, but I'd love to expand into Harry Potter. Though if you meant what genre, I'm not sure.

      Delete
    2. Oops, both comments did go through! I shall just delete the other one =)

      That's cool =) I started out by writing poems, then in my teens I switched to writing Harry Potter fanfic. By the end of high school, I started writing my own stories.

      Delete
  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  5. You have a wonderful voice! I hope someday you'll get your chance to turn fanfic into a career.

    I did have to laugh. This could have been written by The Only. Except she doesn't write. She inherited a recessive artistic gene so she's an artist, photographer, and book cover designer when she isn't pursuing her real job as a historian. That gene was inherited from both sides of her DNA.

    Leave the beta reading on the resume! It's a way to get employers to ask questions and you can show your versatility!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you very much, Silver! I'm glad you thought it was funny.

      Being an artist sounds totally awesome, btw. So, good for her.

      And finally, after extensive study, I've found that out myself. I love to beta read, and employers (and the various other people who've read my resume) seem to really enjoy it when there's something you can be really enthusiastic about.

      Delete

Share your wisdom.