Once upon a time I was ticketed for turning a corner on a yellow light which turned red before I had completely driven onto the side street. The rookie cop was known for writing up his own grandmother for a minor infraction, so I knew my unblemished driving record was about to take a hit. When he asked what I did for a living, I said I was a writer. He wrote down housewife. I wanted to ask him what a writer looks like but bit my tongue, fearing that he would find other violations to ticket me for.
Technically,
I don’t earn enough money to support myself with writing, although I did while
working as a news reporter. But I still consider myself a writer after publishing 20 books. How many of us are able to earn a living
writing at our craft now that the market is flooded with well over a million books, many of
them from non writers? And all those freebies. But that’s another subject.
What does a
writer look like in the eyes of the general public? William Shakespeare, Agatha
Chrisite, Lee Child, Danielle Steele, Stephen King? Most readers would probably answer that it’s their
favorite author(s).
Do attractive
writers sell more books? I’ve heard they do, but more than the original
purchase? I don’t think romance readers
care what the author looks like as long as a handsome hunk with a well developed
torso graces the book's cover.
My own conception
of what a writer looks like is Henry Allen, aka Will Henry (1912 -1991). The
bestselling author of more than 15 million books not only wrote beautifully penned prose
of the American West as well as Hollywood film scripts, he looked like a cross
between Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and William Shakespeare. Even the Wyoming cop woudn’t have questioned
his occupation.
Who epitomizes
what a writer unquestionably looks like to you?
~Jean Henry Mead
4 comments:
Third time to try posting to this blog!!! Maybe?
YIKES, Jean, your self-control at not hitting that guy or at least yelling is awe-inspiring. But, you're so right. Most novel authors today do not make a living with their work, no matter how fabulous (which yours is). Have to factor in the satisfaction level to explain why we continue, I guess.
Thank you, Radine! I agree about the satisfaction factor. Writing is hard work but comments like yours make it worthwhile.
I'd say in my case that some writers look like my friends. Since I do have many friends who have written books.
Oh, my, we writers come in all different shapes and sizes. My cardiologist was surprised that I wrote books and even more so that I was still doing it.
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