They’re kind of a special type of people and if you’ve got one in your household, knowing ways to be kind to writers is going to make everything a whole lot better – for everyone! They don’t require special treatment so much as understanding and sometimes, this means knowing more about what they want than they do. If you can master some of these ways to be kind to writers, you’ll sure find them easier to live with!
If you really want to be kind to writers, then accept the fact that some of the subjects they talk about will be dull. It is simply due to the fact they are often more immersed in their work than other people are. It is true of other professions such as historians and accountants too, so be nice and try to steer the conversation gently to a different subject if you’re having to suppress yawns. It’s one of the ways to be kind to writers that takes little effort.
If the writer keeps giving you work to look at, then they are their own worst enemy. Friends and family will lie and agents and publishers will ignore them. If the writer is not hounding you to look at their work, then simply stay out of the entire area. Even when a writer knows that he or she has written something bad, it still sucks to have to hear about it from other people.
If a writer works with the TV on or music on then their productivity will be shot to pieces. They may not know it or admit it, but anything other than silence is counterproductive. With this being the case, you can be kind to a writer by being quiet as they work. The writer may be happy to chat whilst working, but their work quality and work rate will wither to a mere trickle, which means the writer has to work longer and harder (meaning that they miss more conversations as a result).
This goes for all elements of writing. It takes a long while for a writer to get up to 40 words per minute. It takes them a long time to master “productive” research via Google and master high quality research as a whole. It takes a long time for writers to find their own distinctive voice and a long time for them to start getting their grammar and syntax right. If the writer is not consciously trying to improve his or her skills and writing progress, then that is their own fault and leave them to it. If the writer “is” trying to improve and is still pretty sucky after a year, then give them more time to get it right.
These are all the results of having a job where you are forced to spend 13 hours per day in complete silence sitting in front of a computer. After a while, it starts to change that person’s personality. Writers have been known to become a little more needy or a let more attention seeking. It also goes the other way where the writer becomes a little more of a recluse and a little more socially awkward. If you want to be kind to writers then cut them a little slack in this area.
In point three, you read that silence is golden. This is true, but there is something far worse than background noise and that is interruptions. If a writer has his or her thread and is producing at an efficient rate, then all of that may be squashed to diddly-squat with just one interruption. Even something that seems silly such as asking where your keys are, or having to answer the door to a Jehovah’s Witness is enough to really annoy the writer.
Assuming the writer works from an office or their house, you should take them out of that location when doing things with them. Maybe you are dating a writer and want a nice fun activity. The writer will appreciate a day petting furry animals in a garden center more than sitting and watching a DVD. If your brother or sister is a writer, then take them to a restaurant or a bar for their birthday. Do not have a little party around their house because they are sick of seeing the four walls of their house.
Like all creative people, writers have their quirks and it can lead to behavior non-writers just don’t get. With these ways to be kind to writers you can live harmoniously with their calling. Are you a writer or do you live with one?