The NICEST things non-writers say

#1 on my list is "I've read your book" I've been getting that a lot lately

#2 is "Is that your picture?"

"Dear Chris P, we are happy to inform you that your submission to [magazine] has been accepted."

Mine is more of a memory and it lacks specifics. But I remember the first time I quit my job and used all my savings to take time off to write my first book. First draft in under six months, took about two months to do the final edit while starting a new job. I bound it up and passed out copies to friends.
Two things I remember:

-A good friend, one whose painting and installation art I very much respected, telling me how impressed he was with me, both with the quality of the writing, but also in the dedication to actually writing it; that I was the first one of his friends to ever follow through like that and to do it so well.

-Sitting at a neighborhood bar on a Saturday afternoon with friends who I'd passed the book out to and trying not to blush as they raved how much they loved the book.

I know both of those anecdotes seem to address both my pride and my fear of authorial inadequacy, but really it was about being able to share with friends many of the thoughts that seemed permanently stuck in my head, to connect with people dear to me in a way unlike any other time previous. It was like I'd discovered a new texture of closeness.

That was like, good god, I think that had to be Spring of '97, and I can still remember how the sunlight played geometry with the darkness of the bar and how the warm breeze got me to forget all about winter and the taste of the beer and how beautiful life was sitting there with my friends spending the day together.

[/nostalgic rant]

I loved your book. When's the next one coming out?

I actually met someone in the pub last night who was halfway through my last book. She was liking it and I was a bit shocked to meet anyone who actually knew of it's existance, nevermind was reading it

Me: I just sold a story!

Them: Awesome! When can I buy it?

Wayne K said:

#1 on my list is "I've read your book"

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Agreed. Followed closely by, "I loved your book."

Specifically, my favorite email came from a lady who read my book aloud to her infant son during his feedings. She replaced the naughtier bits as necessary. "And then . . .they cooked dinner." Apparently, he enjoyed the (slightly edited) story.

I love that email.

1. Thank you for writing about a girl that looks like me.

This was from one of my cousin's friends who read the first eight chapters of one of my YA books.


2. You freaked me out. GOLDEN words for a horror writer.

When friends and co-workers find out (accidentally) that I'm a writer, their usual response is: omg , I've never met a real life writer before, that's fantastic!

"Do you have any more?"

Spoken by my mother after I gave her some chapters of my horror WIP to read. A close second is "I had a nightmare because of you!"

"But you paint pictures with words." Said by an artist friend when I mentioned that I couldn't draw to save my life. One of the sweetest things ever, along with, someone I'd just met responding to my comment that I had no logical bone in my body, "you can structure an entire novel. That takes logic. I think you have logic, you're just looking at it from a different perspective."

It's so nice when people validate your writing like that. Oh, and several people who work at my favorite hang out, "well, you work here too, in a manner of speaking. You come here to write."

After my sister watched Finding Neverland she said to me that she "Had alot of respect for me as a writer and understood how I viewed the world alot better now." It was a real touching comment to come flying out of no where. I also had someone on the internet say to me once "People love to read stories like these."

Aside from mothers being proud and all that, I can't name anything off the top of my head that was ultra-nice. I know my mother was very proud when I finished my first novel and bragged about it to everybody, but hadn't actually read it herself.

(I just tried to CTRL + S this quick-post, so something tells me I may be writing too much.)

"Leave your mum alone - she's writing."

*heart*

'I want more.'

An AW member who has seen a bit more of my work than others. My first fan, yaaaaa!

Finish the darn book already! We want to read it!

I want you to read it too. Published, preferably.

"I always try to stay out your way when I know you're writing." I like this one, considering so many writers complain about regular interruptions. Other than that, I have supportive friends who listen, incessantly, to me going on about my manuscripts. And they always try to read them and offer constructive feedback.

Becca_H said:

"I always try to stay out your way when I know you're writing." I like this one, considering so many writers complain about regular interruptions. Other than that, I have supportive friends who listen, incessantly, to me going on about my manuscripts. And they always try to read them and offer constructive feedback.

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I would sell my soul for friends like that. If I so much as bring up my writing, eyes start to glaze over and they start nodding a lot and going "uh huh" while waiting for an opportunity to change the subject. It reminds of of one of my favorite passages from Party of One: A Loner's Manifesto by Anneli Rufus.

Granted, I do not know so many people, but nearly none of them ever ask me about writing. Not a word. How would they feel if I never mentioned their pregnancies, their children? Writing is practically all I do all day, every day, yet they talk about daycare and holidays and the assholes in the accounting department. Like the person whose dresser it is, they ask how I am but the question is general. As if how I am how I am could be any other way than how I write. They ask how is my husband.

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At this point, if I had a friend who was interested in my work I'd risk turning into Annie Wilkes and pulling off a reverse Misery.

But I'm getting way off topic. Something nice ... oh, I got one! A while back, I mentioned to my mother that I was working on my novel and that she caught me taking a small break. She said "oh, I'm so sorry." I almost hugged her.

Talking to a stranger at a fast food joint once, when I was still in college. After asking me what I did, and hearing that I'm a writer, but no, I hadn't published anything yet, he asked me for my full name and then, "can I ask you for your autograph, for when you get famous."

When I was thirteen, my English teacher let me write, cast and direct a play in English. It was some kind of school assembly, where only our year got to do something. It was a long time ago, so my memory's hazy. We weren't living in an English-speaking country then, and she knew how much I missed having native speakers around me. We couldn't cast it properly, since only a handful of people liked English enough to actually perform anything in that language on stage. So my English teacher let me read a poem I'd written out loud. Only condition, it had to be about something that tied in with the subject (I think it was a charity event or something).

I don't get it directly, but the subject of the memoir I co-ghostwrote hears with some regularity from young girls and women who've left abusive relationships having been inspired by her story.

Really, there isn't much that can top that in my (ahem) book.

"You have quite the imagination." - my grandfather after reading the first few chapters of my book.

"Hey, I know you! You're that gun guy. My husband says you know your stuff . . . most of the time."

"Wow, you're one of the best writers I've ever read. Why aren't your books published yet?"

Wish I had an answer for them other than "Thanks, I really appreciate that."