Shy writer?
By cambiste
@cambiste (1244)
India
September 13, 2009 7:07am CST
I am. I think.
Whenever i write stories or novels, i put a password protect on it. I don't like it when people i know read them, especially my family. I often felt my stories tell too much about the way they think i would think - and that brings in a lot of misunderstanding and awkwardness. As a whole that's embarrassing.
I know its true that what i write or how a person reacts in my story isn't how i would react. But if my family reads them, they'll assume that it's my personality. I still regret showing a piece of my work to one of my parents. Even though she said it was good and can be published, i would get "Don't keep nodding your head like that main character" and stuff. I got really annoyed and i stopped writing for almost two years.
Now i rarely write, and when i do i make sure i don't let people i know see it. I use online sites to upload them and get feedbacks.
2 people like this
6 responses
@zoey7879 (3092)
• Quincy, Illinois
13 Sep 09
Same here. I had a 388 page novel that was incomplete and handwritten when my father brought it to my attention that my mother had been going into my room and reading it while I was in class. I ended up burning it because that was just my escape, and it felt as if she had invaded my world - one where she wasn't welcomed. I have a couple of stories online and lots of poetry that have been uploaded, but I always use a pen name.
2 people like this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
13 Sep 09
zoey as a parent and as a person I feel that we parents owe it to our kids to preserve their privacy. to read your novel like that is a great invasion of privacy.I have written since I was a kid, and as asn adult if my son had gone into myroom and read my unpublished novel I would be really offended.we all have a right to our privacy. keep writing, maybe one day you will be published and we can saywe knew you when. lol
1 person likes this
@zoey7879 (3092)
• Quincy, Illinois
13 Sep 09
lol... Believe me, there was no such thing as privacy in my house. Not for me anyway...
It's funny because if she would've asked I would've told her what it was about. Instead, she just felt that since I carried that binder everywhere and was protective of it, that it must have been something bad. It was really just a story about vampires.. something that came along the lines of what the Twilight movie did... Each character was very well developed and was actually based off of people that I knew in real life. My parents were separated and talking divorce at the time.. My mother was constantly spending her free time trying to be a teenager again by leaving us kids with babysitters to hang out with her new boyfriend and drink all weekend. So writing that story was my escape. The only friend I had at the time was a perpetually depressed 28 year old guy... My parents never once thought to question it... Although nothing inappropriate ever happened, it's just the thought of why wouldn't that ever spark interest enough to raise a brow.. so .. that's how the story came about.. I spent that entire summer working on it until shortly after my parents reconciled. It was my paradise.. my escape, and a place that wasn't intended for aliens to invade it...
1 person likes this
@UmiNoor (4523)
• Malaysia
13 Sep 09
I think you're like my daughter. She writes stories but wouldn't let read them. But once I accidentally found one of her stories and I thought it was very well-written but I never said anything to her because that'll make her angry and will accuse me of intruding into her personal life. I think she still writes but she doesn't let me read them.
2 people like this
@cambiste (1244)
• India
14 Sep 09
Unfortunately, this happened to me as well T_T
I used to write stories from when i was 11. True, sometimes i used to write stories instead of studying, but after 5 years my mom suddenly said i write well. When i asked her how she could say that, she said she had read one of my stories that i had written when i was 13 or so. Even though she said it was only a page or two she read, i knew she had read the whole thing - and that was a terrible feeling. I had never intended to show them to anyone. She probably didn't understand how hurt i felt - and annoyed and angry as well. I ended up tearing up all my books in which i had written stories in - nearly 18 of them collected in 5 to 6 years. In a way i regret doing it; yet i don't regret doing it.
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
13 Sep 09
hi cambiste well i think I know how you feel, and I used to be '
like that too but it was for me because my parents made fun of
my writing,.it was just that they felt I would end up without'a good job but just wanted to write. they didnt see writing as an actual'
job that one could get paid for, just as a hobby. I quit writing for'a long time but as most writers know you just have to write,its in your'blood like a composer had to compose music. so get back on the'stick cambiste and keep writing. its in your blood a thing'you must do and I would bet one day you will be published. You write
well.
1 person likes this
@cambiste (1244)
• India
14 Sep 09
That's a pity. No one's good at anything when they're beginners. I used to get a B+ for my handwriting when i was in junior school lol. Don't be discouraged and keep doing what you want as long as you have spare time.
Thanks for the encouragement. Even though i have started writing again, i feel my style has changed too much after a long gap of not reading non-textbooks and not writing stories.
Thanks again, happy mylotting. :)
@paula27661 (15811)
• Australia
14 Sep 09
I do relate to how you feel because I am very guarded with my writing too. A lot of my work stems from my own life experiences which include a troubled childhood. I often write about my mother’s abusive ways and would dread it if she read any of it, including this post! (LOL)
Someone once criticised my writing and it did put me off for quite a while but I love it too much to stop doing it and I have been fortunate enough to have a little published which means it is open for anyone to read. I think it’s okay once it’s out there and in print but while it is still in my possession I don’t usually allow anyone to look at it. I guess I have to be ready...
1 person likes this
@onedaysoon (651)
• United States
14 Sep 09
You sound like me. I, too, am very shy when it comes to my writing. I don't like people to see my writing, most of all family. It is easier to let strangers on the internet see it, because they are strangers and you yourself can be anonymous if you want to be. Though I don't even do that because I am afraid of people stealing and using my work.
Keep writing!
1 person likes this
@shirley183 (252)
• China
14 Sep 09
Hey,you don't do that,maybe write just your leisure,but I think when you completed a novel,there's somebody appreciate that's worth,right? I think you just scare that somebody will laugh the novel thing,you're not head to execution from this laugh and fail.You must open your mind maybe someday you're be a great writer.
1 person likes this
@cambiste (1244)
• India
14 Sep 09
No, i don't feel that way. This doesn't work out and like most amateur authors, i have too much pride to continue after get laughed at.
I feel i can judge my own novels. Besides, most of the time, i don't write it for anyone - it's written only for me. It's my thoughts and how i think the world revolves, so its easy to understand why i wouldn't want to show my work until i get satisfied with my own style. I don't like getting laughed at, and that's why the stories i write shouldn't be read until i feel they're ready to be done so.
Thanks for your kind words. Happy mylotting :)
