There are so many stereotypes about being a writer, from never wearing anything other than pajamas, to being a tortured soul locked away in a dark attic. Today, for fun, I’ve written up a list of ten of the top writerly stereotypes I’ve seen around the place, and I thought it would be interesting to see how many of these each of us actually relates to. I’ve added my answers in the post, but feel free to play along in the comments. Let’s find out just how stereotypical a writer we all actually are!
The Introverted Hermit
The safety of your writing cave trumps everything. You would much prefer to spend all your time surrounded by book than by people. You might venture out occasionally, but you like to leave social situations early and recharge best by being alone. You do your best writing when you have silence and peace. Your favourite door sign would definitely be: Do not disturb.
Check. I am definitely an introvert. A day spent with nothing but books and writing sounds like absolute heaven to me
The Cat Lover
Cats wander freely in and out of your work space. Sometimes they walk over your keyboard, filling your manuscript with their own flare. Other times, they curl in your lap, or beside you on the desk. They are your best writing companions. You love the sound of their purrs while you’re writing. You find it almost soothing.
Nope. I like cats well enough. (I better do because I own three!) But in all honesty, while I think cats are nice in their own way, I’m really more of a dog person.
The Coffee Addict
Coffee feeds your creative soul. If you had a drink of choice while you’re writing, it would be a coffee. It’s your late night writing friend, your first thing in the morning pick me up, and your comfort when the plot falls apart and the characters run wild.
After much deliberation, check. Yes, I do love my coffee. Although tea is a suitable substitute, especially towards the evening. I much prefer not to drink coffee late at night.
The Cafe Creative
Cafes are where you do your best work. You thrive in this establishment of good food and even greater drinks. The hum of voices from nearby tables is the background to some of your best writing. You love nothing better than to take yourself off to a cafe for a morning of writing, people watching, and maybe treating yourself to a sneaky cake too.
Check. I love writing in cafes. There’s something about the whole atmosphere that makes me focus better and feeds my creativity. I’ve done some of my best writing sitting at a table in the back of a cafe.
The Night Owl
As midnight creeps closer, your creative muse comes out of hiding and all of a sudden, in the silence of the night, the words flow easily from your fingertips. You do your best writing when the rest of the word is asleep, and like to stay up into the wee hours of the morning working on your manuscript.
Nope. My muse shuts off at about 9pm and I’m sound asleep by midnight. I much prefer to wake up fresh in the morning and do my best writing then.
The Enemy Slayer
Anyone who crosses you in real life had better beware. Your revenge is best found between the pages of your book. They might find themselves dying a gruesome death in one of your novels. And not just once, but many, many times, if they’re not cautious.
Nope. I rarely take my characters from real life. I do get inspiration from the people and things I see around me, but I’ve never killed off someone in my novel for revenge. At least, not yet.
The Grammarly Minded
Typos and grammar mistakes are your pet peeve. Seeing ‘your’ used instead of ‘you’re, or ‘their’ instead of ‘they’re’ is painful to you. You often find yourself with the urge to speak up and correct these crimes, whether or not you actually end up pointing out these errors to their perpetrators.
Nope. I make more than enough typos and errors myself. I’d much rather hide my own gaffs rather than pointing out someone else’s.
The Aesthetic Artist
All your novels have an aesthetic board on Pinterest, or a collage of images you feel are the aesthetic spirit of your project. You might also have all your characters cast as actors, or perhaps have some playlists of music that suits your novel, or even for individual characters. The You love to express the soul of your writing in other mediums, as well as in the actual writing.
Nope. I’m not actually much for aesthetics. I’ve made a few Pinterest boards for my books before, but I find it too much trouble to curate them, and as for playlists, well, I’d much rather have a good all-purpose instrumental mix as my background, rather than spending hours picking out just the right songs.
The Creative Chaos
Try as you might, you just can’t seem to keep your creating space clean. You start with good intentions, but five minutes later, your desk is covered in coffee cups and stray notebooks, pens, highlighters, screwed up balls of paper, headphones, and other creative detritus. A comforting mess is your best creative environment.
Check. This one is painfully true. Even as I’m writing this, my desk is an absolute disaster zone, no matter that I’ve already reorganised it once today.
The Classics Connoisseur
Your favourite books are all from authors now considered to be classics. You love a shelf full of Charles Dickens, or Jane Austen. Tolkien is the only fantasy author for you. If you had to choose between a book like, say, Jane Eyre, or Harry Potter, you’d pick Jane Eyre every time. Classic novels are the first love of your heart.
Nope. While I do appreciate a good classic novel, and am slowly building my own collection of nice editions, I also love reading books from modern times too. I believe that both types of books have value, and like a balanced bookshelf.
And there we have it, ten of my top writerly stereotypes. How many of these describe you? I actually only related to about four of these. Share your results down in the comments below, and let me know, what are some other writerly stereotypes you’ve seen? What would you add to this list? What is your least favourite writer stereotype?
Out of these stereotypes, I’m just the night owl and the creative aesthetic writer. <3 Before Pinterest was a thing, I used to draw my characters so I could describe them better. Those early high school drawings were so cute!
So, I will admit that not all of these stereotypes fit me but, I am an Introvert. I am a coffee addict. I am also a night owl. Not really a enemy slayer but, I have created characters based off of people that I was frustrated with to vent my thoughts. I don’t like cats, and have never written in a café. I write on my bed so, it can’t be too messy. I like classics but, I prefer to read modern books mostly.
What a fun post! I got 3.5/10. I’m pretty introverted but less of a hermit than I used to be. I actually enjoy hanging out with people, especially close friends and family. I like cafes but work better alone, and I’m definitely have a creative chaos. I consider myself an organized person, but my desk (and my story files) are always a mess.