How Many of You Write and your Parents don't know?

[MAD_DIVA_ALERT]

my parents dont know i write either..then again i dont get on with my parents..its kinda sad really. My nan knew. she read all of my poems and stories and film ideas.
and when parents forget about it it generally means that they wernt really paying that much attention to it so theres normaly no point in showing it to them.
then agian it does depend on weather theyve got a lot on their mind...i mean...being honest can any of you acutaly say that you remember everything your parents say or show you???

[MuchoMaas]

Yeah, my mom knows I write. But then again the 2 1/2 years I worked at a magazine in New York City after studying journalism is college probably tipped her off.

She hasn't read much of what I've written but she has had access to all of it.

My suggestion here would be to not discount learning how to write for money. School newspapers and college journalism classes are a good way to hone your skills while learning to structure writing in a way that sells to a modern audience. Hemmingway (and many others) turned careers in journalism into lucrative fiction carrers. And since many published poets also have to have other jobs, journalism keeps you writing and gets you out into the world meeting the most interesting people.

My favorite program is the one I went to at the University of Oklahoma. They have a Journalism/Professional writing program that focusses on more than news and feature writing. I took short story and novel classes from published authors. Here's a link for the college-bound among you.

OU Journalism Degree Programs

So Yeah, my mom knows I write. So does my wife -- who edits stories for an Uber/General Fiction site (she doesn't go easy on me either). PM me if you want the link but it has lots of NC-17 stuff on it (all clearly marked). I wouldn't want to get anyone in trouble browsing to the steamy underbelly of the internet.

[LossOverLove]

I don't want my parents to know about my writing, because it says a lot about me that they don't know. I can't risk them knowing.

[Kain Odium]

grngrngrngrn1984444

Kain Odium

You guy's are all s**t-heads. I write, my parents know, and they read it. So what? They've only been reading it for about a year or so. When they don't know there is nothing wrong with it. No sense of rebellion, darkness or any or that bullshit. Parents wouldn't send their kid off to some "special" camp or anything unless they read a personal journal that contained something that was either hazzardous to you or another. Now, quite your bitching, use your damn heads, and write. ********, it's people like you that give writing a shady appearance at times. Thinking you're doing something dark and forbidden just because your parents don't read your stuff. And if they don't know you write, have them read what you've written. Now get off your a** and share your s**t. They're gonna read it sooner or later so you might as well just give up.

You can't just assume that all these people don't show their parents their writing because they're trying to be wangst-ified teenagers... some people have legitimate reasons.

Yet, there is no reason to fear showing your work to family/friends/public.

[The Jabberwock]

Both my parents know that I write and want to do it for a living, and they both support my choice. It would be kind of hard to not know about it, considering I'll blather on about my story ideas for hours to anything that moves. ^^

[Methoxy Six]

They know I write. They just don't have the privilege of reading my writing. I write about "controversial" issues that they could never accept. I may show them some of my tamer stuff someday, but for now, I appreciate my privacy. I'm also sick of writing "clean" stories for them because they freak out whenever I touch on one of these issues (for example, child abuse). I don't think I should have to censor my writing for the sake of two people who probably won't be happy with it, anyway.

[pretty-alaina]

my parents know i write they just dont know how much i write or what i write. i make a point of not showing my work to people i know because your family can be the worst critics of all. if i want an honest opinion i come on gaia but mainly i keep my work to myself.

[Foxtrotfan]

Mine know I write, but don't read it. I don't really want them to, or my family for that matter. My dad freaks out at any PG-13 thing I read or write, even though I'm 17. So naturally I don't share, except with friends, strangers, and teachers.

rolleyes But I still write whenever I feel I need to.

[Missie DuCaine]

My parents know I write, but they have no idea what I write. ((And a good thing, too.))

Last year I actually had my dad turn to me over dinner one night, and say "Honey, if you ever do get published, and your mother and I never read your books... would you be horribly insulted?"

I told him it was probably a good thing if he didn't read them.

[acheron beach]

Kain Odium

grngrngrngrn1984444

Kain Odium

You guy's are all s**t-heads. I write, my parents know, and they read it. So what? They've only been reading it for about a year or so. When they don't know there is nothing wrong with it. No sense of rebellion, darkness or any or that bullshit. Parents wouldn't send their kid off to some "special" camp or anything unless they read a personal journal that contained something that was either hazzardous to you or another. Now, quite your bitching, use your damn heads, and write. ********, it's people like you that give writing a shady appearance at times. Thinking you're doing something dark and forbidden just because your parents don't read your stuff. And if they don't know you write, have them read what you've written. Now get off your a** and share your s**t. They're gonna read it sooner or later so you might as well just give up.

You can't just assume that all these people don't show their parents their writing because they're trying to be wangst-ified teenagers... some people have legitimate reasons.

Yet, there is no reason to fear showing your work to family/friends/public.

You can't say that. One of my friends is a painter, and she showed her parents (rather conservative religious-people) one of her paintings from school (a copy of a Van Gogh, for crying out loud!) and they told her to stop painting, because Van Gogh was a godless sinner and they'd disown her if she "embraced godlessness."*

Needless to say, I completely understand why she lies to them now about her art.

*Interesting side note - my friend the artist's sister was a freelance writer, and after refusing to give it up, her parents actually did disown her. They haven't talked in five years. Talk about wacko...

[Alexielia]

my parents know NOTHING about my writing. That is a good thing however. I write some really distrubing things and my parents would probably lock me up in a padded room. xd

[trii~ku]

Meteora_Jenova

And I suppose none of you write about deep dark deppressing things then???

Bull; i write about all sorts of depressing stuff if i happen to be depressed when i write it. If my 'rents see it, then they see it.

[Missie DuCaine]

Kain Odium

Yet, there is no reason to fear showing your work to family/friends/public.

You wanna bet?

My family are very strict, old-fashioned, and make no bones about their opinions, like their view that homosexuality is unnatural and an abhorance in the sight of God. What do you think they'd think if they read my latest finished novel, in which over half the characters are gay?

What would my strict Christian parents say if they read my novel about the inner workings of a bloody violent religion I created? ((Solely for the sake of the story, of course)) What would they say if they read the one, sci-fi as it might be, inspired by and based on my grandfathers teenaged years in a German prison camp in WWII? There's even a scene that deals with two characters dying in the same way my great-grandfather and uncle did - it's my way of dealing with the stories and how it affected me, but my parents would sure not see it that way. They wouldn't even let me get combat boots back in high school because "it would remind my grandfather of the prison camp". Right. ((I asked him. He had no problem with my having combat boots. stare But that's the kind of people my parents are.))

While I have every intention of sharing my work with the world, yes, I do have fears about sharing it with my family! I know for a fact that they would send me for counselling with our pastor, and I know there would be number of very, very long "discussions". Very one wayed. From my parents point of view.

Sure, usually you can go write ahead and share with family, but you should not make generalizations like that.

I can't share with my family. Friends, sure. Wider world, definently. Brothers, maybe.

Parents?

HA!

[Mystic Blossom]

My parents know that I write, they just don't know exactly what I write about, since I'm always eager to tell them that I'm writing (because I'm an attention whore), but I'm too lazy to go into detail about it or show it to them, and often, anyone, until it's done.

[Meian-sa]

i don't think my parents have any clue how much i write... i journal every night, poems, short stories, a novel started... i think if they ever saw my writing they would put me in a metal institution almost immediately, heh. my writing is often more depressing than i feel... i use it to vent mostly. it helps.