Image from Flickr by Dvortygirl

If youโ€™re a writer โ€“ or if you want to be a writer โ€“ then youโ€™re not normal.

Most people donโ€™t want to write. They might day-dream about being a best-selling novelist โ€“ just like they day-dream about winning the lottery โ€“ but they donโ€™t see any particular attraction in putting words down on paper.

Many people actively hate writing. They find it hard, tedious and frustrating. If they have to communicate something, theyโ€™d much prefer to speak.

Since youโ€™re reading this, Iโ€™m guessing you do want to write. You might feel like you hate writing at times โ€“ but really, you donโ€™t think you could live without it.

Thatโ€™s not normal. But itโ€™s perfectly okay. In fact, itโ€™s a good thing: the world needs writers, after all.

Plus, youโ€™re not alone. There are plenty of other writers out there โ€“ and, while youโ€™re unique, youโ€™ll find you have a lot in common with many of them.

Here are a couple of big ways in which writers are different from the norm:

Writers Tend to be Introverted

This isnโ€™t a rule โ€“ and if youโ€™re an extrovert, you can certainly still be a writer โ€“ but the majority of writers are fairly introverted.

Given that around half of humanity would classify as โ€œintrovertโ€ rather than โ€œextrovertโ€, this is hardly abnormal โ€“ except that thereโ€™s often a sense in society that being an extrovert is more normal. (I get the impression that this is more the case outside the UK โ€“ Iโ€™d be interested to hear your experiences in the comments, especially if youโ€™re willing to say what country you live in.)

I can understand where Thomas is coming from here โ€“

People who spend excessive amounts of time alone tend to suffer from anxiety, stress, and even memory loss. Although writing is more or less a solitary act, isolation can cause many problems that hinder your ability to perform.

(Thomas Warren, Donโ€™t Be an Introvert Writer, a guest post on Men with Pens)

โ€“ but Iโ€™m not sure I entirely agree. Sure, spending all day, every day alone wouldnโ€™t be good for anyone โ€“ but introverts do need a certain amount of alone-time, and thatโ€™s no bad thing.

Writers Donโ€™t Want a โ€œNormalโ€ Job

There arenโ€™t many full-time jobs for writers. You might end up in a staff role on a newspaper or magazine, but most of the writers I talk to donโ€™t have that kind of career in mind.

Writers tend to want to work for themselves, either writing fiction (novels, short stories, etc) or non-fiction (books, blogs, etc). They might well freelance โ€“ like I do โ€“ producing work on commission for editors. They donโ€™t want to have a โ€œnormalโ€ 9 โ€“ 5 job.

In fact, youโ€™ll often read stories of writers who gave up what many โ€œnormalโ€ people would consider a great career. Brian Clark from Copyblogger was a lawyer. Trent Hammย had found a job after college which meant he was โ€œsuddenly making more money per year than my parents had made combined in any year, ever.โ€

Your family and friends might think youโ€™re crazy if you talk about giving up a well-paid or prestigious job in order to write.

Youโ€™re not crazy, though. Sure, you might not be normal (but โ€œnormalโ€, in many cases, equates to โ€œunhappyโ€).

Why You Donโ€™t Want to Be Normal

When I asked on Twitter โ€œWriters: do you consider yourself “normal”? If not, why not? (And would you want to be?)โ€ I had some great responses.

These were two of my favourites:

(Thanks, Katie and Sheila!)

How do you feel about being normal โ€“ or not?

Like me (and some of my Twitter followers), you might question whether โ€œnormalโ€ really exists. You could aspire to be average, but frankly, who wants that?

Iโ€™m not suggesting that you should be different just for the sake of it. If outrageous clothes and a bizarre lifestyle are your thing, then go for it. But if youโ€™re a quiet, moderate sort of person, thatโ€™s perfectly legitimate too.

Whatโ€™s important is that you question some of societyโ€™s norms. Itโ€™s โ€œnormalโ€ to:

  • Be in debt
  • Eat unhealthily
  • Watch TV all evening
  • Only read books on holiday
  • Take a job for the money, not because you enjoy it

Is that really what you want for your life?

As a writer, your quirks are your strengths. Whether youโ€™re writing fiction or non-fiction, your readers will want to hear your voice. And perhaps finding your voice means being willing to take some risks: to embrace your interests and passions โ€“ however strange they might be โ€“ and to pour your uniqueness into your writing.

Youโ€™re a writer. You donโ€™t need to be โ€œnormalโ€.

You need to be you.

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