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Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

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Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

What we're reading

Writing: sexy? not sexy?

35 replies

UnquietDad · 15/08/2007 11:55

Just spotted on Grauniad CiF and shamelessly pinched for here:

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Me, once, dating a journalist: "How come 'writer' was voted, by women, one of the LEAST sexy jobs a man can do?"

Journalist: "Probably a reputation for writers being alcoholic and depressed."

Me: "But men voted it one of the MOST sexy jobs a woman can do."

Journalist: "Same again. Alcoholic and depressed. Men think 'She'll be rat-arsed AND desperate.'"

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onlyWotz · 15/08/2007 11:56

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UnquietDad · 15/08/2007 12:00

Does show an interesting contrast of priorities...

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Kathyis6incheshigh · 15/08/2007 12:01

Hmm, men do seem to like it but I'm not sure that's the only reason.
When I first did internet dating, before I was wise in the ways of the world, I mentioned in my profile that I had published a couple of short stories (a couple, mind you). I got lots of responses along the lines of 'Gosh - are you rich? Are you J.K.Rowling?'

Subsequently I decided that leaving out any reference to writing attracted far fewer men but of a far higher quality....

Idiots.

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UnquietDad · 15/08/2007 12:23

God, the number of times I have mentioned my desire to get into writing for children and been met with, "Oooooooh, you could be the new JK Rowlings (sic)" or, "Oooh, that JK Rowlings (sic) has done well for herself..."

To anyone who is thinking of starting their own business, I will from now on say, "Oooh, you could be like that Richard Branston (sic)."

And to anyone who works in IT, I will say, "Ooooh, that Bill Gates has done well, you could be like him."

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Kathyis6incheshigh · 15/08/2007 14:25

Interesting.
So are you going to write about polite well-behaved children or Jacqueline Wilson-style teens with attitude so you can get blamed for everyone's dcs' delinquency? Is searing honesty or fluffy-wuffy magic the way to go, do you think?

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HappyDaddy · 15/08/2007 14:32

I think writing is sexy. I find intelligence and creativity sexy and inspiring.

When I speak to people who say "oh, I never read", I think why not? You're missing out on so much.

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expatinscotland · 15/08/2007 14:33

DH never reads. His dyslexia is so severe it's very hard for him to do so.

But that's okay, I read enough for both of us!

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doggiesayswoof · 15/08/2007 14:35

Writing is sexy.
I can't imagine living with a full-time writer would be much fun, though.

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expatinscotland · 15/08/2007 14:36

Depends on what type of writing. Some types of writing are not sexy.

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doggiesayswoof · 15/08/2007 14:36

Do you ever read to him expat?
Dh and I have started reading to each other like a werdy Victorian couple. It's nice. We take turns to choose the book.

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doggiesayswoof · 15/08/2007 14:36

weirdy

I don't know what a "werdy" couple is tbh.

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expatinscotland · 15/08/2007 14:37

No, doggie. The idea doesn't appeal to either of us, but if it works for you, brilliant!

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HappyDaddy · 15/08/2007 14:37

I meant folk who think it's boring and would rather watch Big Brother, not folk who have a medical reason.

I love reading, always have. Both my dds do too, as does DW.

We have a friend who "doesn't do the news", except local rag to see if anyone she knows is in it. She's lovely but has some very strange ideas on the world.

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Kathyis6incheshigh · 15/08/2007 14:38

Agree with what HappyDaddy says about creativity being sexy. When my dh is getting really carried away by an exciting calculation (!!!!) I find that hugely attractive. Unfortunately, of course, if I were to attempt to seduce him during one of those phases I'd get rather short shrift, I fear.

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BandofMothers · 15/08/2007 14:40

Writing is sexy as long as they're not alcoholic or depressed

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UnquietDad · 15/08/2007 14:45

Two people in the media have said, with pride, not shame, that they have never read a book. Jamie Oliver and Posh Spice.

I have no evidence that Posh is anything other than thick as the thickest of thick pigshit, from a pig called Thicke in rural Thickania. But I think Jamie Oliver puts on a bit of an act with all his lovely-jubbly shtick. And he plainly isn't stupid - anyone see the Italian series, where he was obviously not only speaking quite a bit of the language but thinking his way round things he couldn't say and using the words he knew? DW would kill for some of her Y11s to think like that.

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HappyDaddy · 15/08/2007 14:47

Jamie Oliver is clearly no fool and loves what he does.

Posh Spice does nothing and doesn't seem too keen on it either. She represents all that I don't like about our society, her ambition is merely to exist and be photographed. Then has the cheek to talk about role models.

Tsk.

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UnquietDad · 15/08/2007 14:47

Kathy - the answer, I think, is to do away with such arbitrary distinctions! It is much, much harder to write successfully for children than for adults, though.

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doggiesayswoof · 15/08/2007 14:48

Posh Spice has written a book though - surely she read that one?

And don't say she had help, I'm sure it was all her own work

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UnquietDad · 15/08/2007 14:48

Maybe if Posh gets any thinner she will actually dwindle to a line and then pop out of existence. And nobody will notice.

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UnquietDad · 15/08/2007 14:51

"written"

GUFFAW!

If anything kills reading in this country it'll be bloody sleb culture.

Whenever you read an article about the death of the novel, people always seem to worry unduly about the internet - whereas most of the net-savvy people I know are keen readers of paper as well.

But the whole sleb thing - their "books" are written by illiterates, for illiterates. People in other countries just cannot understand why we are so obsessed with them.

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expatinscotland · 15/08/2007 14:51

All she has to do is turn sideways to disappear.

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Kathyis6incheshigh · 15/08/2007 15:48

Jamie Oliver is dyslexic. I read a biography of him .

There are always going to be people who don't read - I can't get too wound up about that. It's the sleb culture that gets to me though - when the bookshops are full of 'bestsellers' that are decreed to be so because they have been written 'by' a sleb or have a tv series associated with them. If good writing is to flourish it needs a reasonably level playing field, so people are choosing what they buy according to quality not prettiness of author.

Doesn't Jordan have a series of pony books out? And then there are those unspeakable things Madonna wrote, which I suspect she actually did write (because of course it's so easy to write a children's book if you're as brilliant as Madonna ).

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UnquietDad · 15/08/2007 16:05

Is he really? I didn't know that. I don't think he said that in the "Parkinson" interview where he sounded proud of not having read a book!

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Kathyis6incheshigh · 15/08/2007 16:29

Yeah, he was in the Special Needs class at school.
I think sometimes when people appear to be boasting about not having read books what they are actually proud of is being successful in spite of not being any good at schoolwork and reading. Like, if you spend years being looked down on for not being capable of reading it would be quite satisfying to turn round and say 'ha ha, I might not be able to read but that didn't stop me becoming a millionaire, did it?'