Did you know today was Embrace Your Geekness Day? No, neither did I, until my sister Sophie sent me a link :). How could I not run with a topic like that?
Getting My Geek On
geek n - someone who is completely obsessed with one or more subjects and can talk about them at lengthI suspect that most writers are geeks.
We're all obsessed with writing at the very least, aren't we?
If you're anything like me you write because you have to; the voices of our characters keep talking and talking, telling us what wonderful adventures they are having. Sometimes the pressure of the words builds and builds until I just have to put them on paper.
We all love writing.
- Sometimes it's hard.
- Sometimes it feels like we will never finish.
- Sometimes it feels like a huge weight as the words refuse to come into line.
I'm guessing that most of us can talk about our art for hours and hours, if anyone will let us. This makes us geeks of the first order. And I say, good for us!
Passion is something that should be celebrated and it takes passion to love something. Whether we scribble in notebooks or type at keyboards, our passion goes into our work.
Personally I'm a typist - I just can't use a pen and paper anymore. My brain works faster than I can write if I ever want to be able to read what I have written :). When I was a teenager I carried around notepads everywhere. I think Soph and I kept the post office in the business of reporters notepads for a while. These days I have a notepad just in case - but it's only for just that: notes. The real writing always happens at a keyboard.
Given that I never really used a computer for much until I was 19 (yes, I grew up pre mainstream internet) I sometimes wonder how I managed. I also thank any deity that will listen that my early attempts at fiction did not make it online :).
There are so many things to geek out about when it comes to writing:
- grammar and spelling (no two grammarians will agree, but that makes it more fun)
- world building (so much advice and so many different approaches)
- plot formation (some do it by instinct, some by careful planning)
- how to publish (so many options and places to help)
- book formatting (the software is making it easier all the time)
- cover design (an oft overlooked art)
- indie vs traditional. (the pros and cons)
I am a geek about other things too:
- Vampires,
- Star Trek,
- SciFi and Fantasy in general
- baking/cooking
If you love it, celebrate it, that's what I say. Welcome geeks one and all, I hope you are enjoying geeking out.
Oh yes, I'm a writing geek - I really miss the Connotations conventions, which were a chance once a each year to just get together with other writers (fanfic in the case of this con) and talk endlessly about writing - characters, plot, kinks, meta and anything else we could think of :)
ReplyDeleteDr Who, Trek, Vampires, ghosts, baking, crocheting - I have quite a lot of other passions that I can get very geeky about very quickly.
I forgot ghosts - how could I forget ghosts? Yay for geeking :) I miss Connotations too.
DeleteI'm a total writer geek. Also a very big Doctor Who geek. =D
ReplyDeleteYay for Doctor Who, well and writing too of course :)
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