Authors

I was watching a movie today about an author, and I noticed quite abruptly how alone he was. He made a point of being alone, too, was the thing. Very gruff with people, didn't say much, that kind of thing.

And as I was watching the movie, it occurred to me how often authors are portrayed that way, both in movies and in their own books. And I wondered why that was. I grant that writing is not exactly an exciting past time, it's not really something that you can share with people, but I don't see how that makes a writer lonely. Yet it's such a common occurrence that it seems to simply be accepted as truth.

I guess I shouldn't be one to talk. I've never been incredibly outgoing, and I probably never will be. But I don't see that as being because I'm a writer, nor do I see myself as being a writer because of that. I don't see why there has to be any connection, and yet one has been so clearly drawn.

And the thing that really bugs me about it is that that's a bad thing. I don't see why being alone is so consistently portrayed as being alone. I'm not one to think that you constantly need to be around other people to be happy, but I'm also not one to think that everyone has the same needs. People are happy in different ways. Some people do need other people with them to be happy. But some people don't. Some people can be perfectly happy to never see another person again for the rest of their lives.

The same applies to authors, as it does to all people. There are some authors who are alone, and they shouldn't be, and that makes the afraid, and bitter, and angry. But why is it that that's who we think of when we think of authors? Even I'm guilty of thinking that way, because that's how they are so often portrayed. So why don't we ever hear of any other authors?

It's because it's not an interesting story, of course. I know that. And I can complain all I want about how there could and should be other kinds of stories, but the only person who can make that kind of change is me. And frankly, I don't know that that would even be a story that I would want to write. Because frankly, having an author as your main character is kind of limiting. Other than writing, there isn't a whole lot that I character like that can really do. It can be challenging to balance out a character with the kinds of things that they can do.

But it still just doesn't seem right that authors would be portrayed as sad and lonely creatures that hide themselves in their worlds because they can't handle what the real world has to offer them. That would be like saying that painters are reclusive drug addicts that don't fully understand what they're creating, or that all business men are incredibly shallow, selfish people who care about nothing but money and their personal wellbeing.

Not that anyone would ever think that just because they saw it on tv.

Right?