Do Writers Make Good Friends?

Awhile back, in December of 2015, this post included this graphic, stating 8 reasons writers make good friends. It got me thinking. Do we? Really? I’m not so sure. Let me see how I would refute these points.

(1)Writers are knowledgeable

Yeah, we are, in a few areas—like language usage, and we cringe when see people misspell things and use bad grammar. Some of us won’t say anything embarrassing, but many of us will.

(2)Writers are great plus-ones at dinner parties

The contention here is that writers always need a good meal and don’t turn down invitations. Unless there’s a deadline looming. Or unless we just met a deadline and are too exhausted to move. Or unless a new story idea just occurred to us and we’ll have to spend the next 48 hours trying to see if it will amount to anything. Or unless we just got a rare royalty check that’s enough to buy a meal for ourselves.

(3)It’s hard to bore a writer

That’s true. However, if you’re telling the writer your idea for a terrific best-seller and want to go halves in the profits if she just writes the idea down, don’t expect much. Don’t tell a writer what her next book should be either, or how she should have written the last one. Guaranteed to bore us is asking us where we get our ideas. There isn’t a person on the planet who hasn’t already asked us that. And there isn’t any answer. However, you may be giving a mystery writer an idea for the victim in the next book.

(4)Writers ‘get’ rejection

We sure do. When we go out for a good time, that’s not what we want to talk about.

(5)You might get a character named after you

This isn’t necessarily a good thing.

(6)Writers are low maintenance

Hey, that’s no excuse to serve the cheap wine.

(7)They’re great party planners

Especially if your party includes a table where our books are for sale.

(8)Writers are good looking

Okay, I’ll give them this one.

Please notice my tongue firmly in my cheek for the above and don’t hesitate to invite me to your party! I’ll behave.

Photos above from morguefile.com. Memes from someecards.