tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post1549524045565042321..comments2024-03-25T09:56:16.164+00:00Comments on An Awfully Big Blog Adventure: The Greatest Story Ever Told by Tess Berry-HartUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-50915822574566809002014-12-18T09:18:20.116+00:002014-12-18T09:18:20.116+00:00Exactly, Tess. And when people ask, 'When are ...Exactly, Tess. And when people ask, 'When are you going to write a proper book?' the assumption underlying that question is that writing for children isn't proper writing - it's just easy, trivial stuff. Fine for a practice run - and then you write 'proper stuff.'<br /><br />In the same way people assume that one of the hardest kinds of writing - comedy - is easy, because it's 'just funny.' (The number of times I've cringed in a workshop as someone who took 'the easy option' leadenly tries to be funny.)<br /><br />I used to argue. To say, 'I've published over 60 proper books,' and so on - and then I got bored and now just avoid the question by saying, 'I work with a word processor.'Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-14156022066353471582014-12-17T11:06:37.947+00:002014-12-17T11:06:37.947+00:00I totally agree that people tend to be unsure rath...I totally agree that people tend to be unsure rather than dismissive, and probably worry about saying something stupid, as we all do. Personally I often suffer from foot-in-mouth at parties. I suppose with this conversation I find the underlying assumption that stories are just for children funny because our whole world is built on stories and the extent to which we believe them. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15664007848875130573noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-71481952139742469022014-12-16T11:05:12.082+00:002014-12-16T11:05:12.082+00:00But they would probably love answering those stupi...But they would probably love answering those stupid questions! People usually love talking about their jobs and, personally, I love listening to them.<br />But I hardly ever talk about mine in a social setting, because I'm sick of being asked, 'When are you going to write a proper book?'Susan Pricehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07738737493756183909noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7780182174577095197.post-22073466566426162372014-12-16T07:58:15.915+00:002014-12-16T07:58:15.915+00:00I wonder if we are too ready to assume people are ...I wonder if we are too ready to assume people are dismissive of us when in fact they just don't know where to take the conversation. It looks like the lawyer fell into that category. It can be hard to know what to ask about a sphere of work you have no experience or knowledge of and many people are afraid of coming across as naive or ignorant or saying the wrong thing, so they say nothing. I can happily blather on to a physicist, doctor or economist because those jobs are based in academic subjects, but if someone told me they were a fireman or an athlete I would probably ask very stupid questions.Stroppy Authorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16560035800075465845noreply@blogger.com