Sunday, June 19, 2011

Weird Much?

Writing horror/fantasy/murder mystery is considered weird. photo by tassie.sim


I'm translating City of Bones, the third book of the Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare, into Serbian. Recently I've contacted the lady who translated the first and is translating the second book in the series to ask how she translated a few things, one of them being the Ritual of Infernal Conversion. It turned out we translated it the same, which made us giggle a bit - what were the odds?

Anyway, when I mentioned that to someone else, the reaction was like 'Ritual of Infernal Conversion, what is it you're translating?' While this reaction was a joke, it reminded me that things I enjoy reading/watching/writing are considered weird by many.

I enjoy SF/fantasy/horror, and many find it childish/creepy. Some of the stories I've written are quite creepy, and then some people come to the conclusion I'm creepy. Hey, I'm just writing that stuff! I don't have the heart to harm a cockroach even though I can't stand them, let alone anyone bigger than that!

A friend of mine, a very strong woman (talking about personality here) is considered immature by her mother because she reads (and writes) science fiction. Women see another friend of mine as a non-long-term relationship material because he enjoys reading and watching science fiction, fantasy and horror, and he also enjoys reading comic books (which some people see as something only children should be doing). Yet another friend, a writer of fantasy, is often considered to be someone with his head in the clouds, while he's actually a very down-to-earth person. I know of ladies who write murder mysteries and are considered scary because of that, as if they were murderers instead of writers. And then, of course, there are those who believe that reading itself is for children and the idle, not for serious people; or that being a writer means that you've got too much free time on your hands and are available to do the chores they're too lazy to do.

So, to all of you who might happen to read this, do they consider you weird because of the things you write, enjoy reading or watching?

9 comments:

Beverly Diehl said...

Hi, SheWrites sister here.

You'd think people would have learned by now that just like others have different tastes in food and clothing, we have different tastes in reading material, too.

One of my friends is the nicest guy, married, parent of two adopted children, one with special needs, and he writes this totally creepy thriller stuff. We are not necessarily what we read (or write!)

Kelly Hashway said...

Absolutely! My husband thinks I'm crazy for some of the things I watch and consider research. He doesn't get it, but it works for me. My writer friends think it's perfectly normal.

angel011 said...

@Beverly: You'd think that, wouldn't you? So would I, and yet my own mother thinks it's creepy her daughter writes such horrifying stuff (dad doesn't mind, though). :)

@Kelly: my friends writers find it perfectly normal too, we also discuss the details sometimes, how to make it even more creepy/believable/whatever is needed to write an even better piece. :)

Samantha Sotto said...

Luckily, I married a man who is as crazy as I am. We share the same taste in "weird" books :-)

angel011 said...

My SO doesn't read all that much these days, except for what I write - and he likes it. :)

Bella said...

Ivana, I've never thought about that. I guess given I write from a humorous perspective, people might think I spend my days laughing up a storm. Which in a way is true, sometimes, but not all the time. I think people just give in to the general stereotypes that are formulated for most things in life, including writing genres. I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you. Like Beverly said, we're not what we read or write.

angel011 said...

Bella, it's not that I worry about it, people have been telling weird stories about me all my life anyway. :))) I'm just noticing how silly some ideas are - horror writers are supposed to be creepy, murder mystery writers, well, murderers, and humor writers are supposed to be funny and in great mood all the time, while, as far as I know, some of them are actually depressive (I mean the medical condition, not just feeling sad sometimes).

DEZMOND said...

Hey, Ivana, what coincidence, I believe we work for the same publisher :)
CAROBNJA KNJIGA rules!

angel011 said...

What a coincidence, indeed... :)