10 Ways to Love a Writer: On Valentine’s Day and Forever

Author Aine Greaney has shared her fun post on ways to love a writer for Valentine’s Day.

1.       Forgive our occasional social gaffes, like when we  gaze off mid-dinner and mid-sentence to let that bistro meal grow cold. We’re not ignoring you. Honest.  We’re writing. Or eavesdropping.  Same thing.

2.       When we’re doing a reading or speaking on a book panel, we don’t invite you along for the same reason that you don’t invite us to tag along to your office, construction site or teaching classroom. For a working writer, all public appearances are part of the job. And for that event, we’re focused on doing a good job, not being an attentive lover, or friend, or spouse.

3.       No matter how long we’ve been living/sleeping together,  we will never, ever share the same email.

4.       Feed us. It’s the way to a writer’s heart.

5.       Whatever your childhood experiences, open up to us. You see, the very act of writing helps us to know the human spirit. And that makes us good friends and loyal, empathetic partners.  So cry on our writers’ shoulders. We can take it.

6.       Somewhere I’ve read, “A clean house is a sign of a wasted life.”  So if you insist on a spotless  house,   a writer may  not be the best love-choice for you.

7.       Never, ever recycle that “useless looking scrap of paper on the dining room table.” NEVER. At least not without checking.

8.       When we wake up next to you and mutter, “I was dreaming about a pink dragon with an extra long tail who was at this party with my very first boyfriend from secondary school?” That’s about a pink dragon with an extra long tail.  Not about you. And not about any of our ex’s.

9.       Let us love you back.  The days of the hedonistic  or the scatter-brained writers are gone. Or should be. As well being a writer,  we have a duty to love, honor, protect and contribute to our relationships and our household finances.

10.   We will not always—if ever—show you our first drafts. See item 2.

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Follow Aine Greaney on Twitter @ainegreaney

Dance Lessons: Shortlisted, 2011 Independent Literary Awards, Fiction

 

Tags: how to help writers, ways to help authors, ways to show your love to writers, ways to support writers

Category: Contemporary Women Writers