Writer's Quirks: Create Yours Like a Professional By Keri Kruspe

 

Quirk: a peculiarity of action, behavior, or personality.

I recently came across an old article from Ava Jae about writer’s quirks. It gave me a laugh, but it had me wondering If I had any strange habits connected to my writing. If push comes to shove, I’ll deny having any writer’s quirks.

Que in the crickets.

All right… I guess I do. But before I share my little idiosyncrasies, for fun I wanted to share some common quirks that Ava Jae shared as well as some that famous authors are well known for.

See if any of these ring a bell with you. Enjoy!

10 Quirks Only a Writer Would Understand

1. We have a code. We talk about trying to get ARC’s or Beta readers. We talk endlessly about our NA/YA/MG/PB/SFR/etc. And let’s not forget about working our WIP’s with D2D and AMZ. And how we lose our chizzle over NaNoWriMo.

2. Our search histories are suspect. On any day, I research the best way to kill people and how to hide a body. What poisons work quickly and don’t leave a trace. I also have to know about humankind’s ancient past, which includes suspect sites from countries like Iraq, Iran, and Russia. On the other side, I am a romance writer to likes to add a little “spice” to my characters love life… and that’s all I’ll confess to that.

3. We talk to others like our characters are real. Hey, who says they aren’t?

4. We don’t have enough books. My office has wall-to-wall bookcases stuffed with books. I’ve also filled my eReader with a TBR pile (there’s that code stuff again).

5. We love/hate words. I’ll be honest, proper grammar and I aren’t the best of friends. I struggle to find the “right” word to create the best scene. Writing is hard, but I love getting lost in my words. 

6. We’d rather write a novel than a one-page synopsis. Amen, sista.

7. How well our writing turns out surprises us. This probably surprises most non-writers more than anything. Heh, me too. Sometimes I’ll reread something I wrote a couple of years ago and say, “Damn! I can’t believe how good that is!” 

8. We pay attention to everything and everyone around us. We are people watchers. I’d rather sit in a busy place (like an airport or an arena) and watch how everyone reacts to their environment. If a conversation catches my ear, I write it down or do a voice note on my phone. 

9. We laugh at our own jokes. Hey–I’m funny, darn it! Can’t tell you how many times my husband walks by my office shaking his head. He knows better to ask me to explain anything.

10. Last–but never least… we live in our own worlds. Even when we’re not writing. I can’t tell you how many times people will ask me, “what’s wrong”? I have to blink and focus on them because I was busy trying to figure out a character/plot/scene that was giving me trouble. My favorite thing is when I get a new idea for a story, I get lost in my head so I can play around with it. 

Famous Writers Are Quirky Too!

Guess what? It turns out all writers have a little somethin’ somthin’ we do that might seem a bit… odd. Here are five examples of what famous writers do that I had a blast uncovering.

Charles Dickens

Had a navigational compass with him at all times. At night, he always faced north while he slept. He believed it would improve his creativity and writing. 

Truman Capote

As one writer wrote, “an odd fellow, with more superstitions that a Stevie Wonder song”. He never started or finished his writing on a Friday. He also refused to call anyone if their phone number had a 13 in it. Nor would he stay in a hotel room with the same number.

Maya Angelou

She rarely wrote at home. She usually rented a hotel room. While there, she’d order that all the pictures and knickknacks be removed. Then she’d write in bed from 6:30 to lunchtime.

Dan Brown

He believed the best cure for writer’s block was to hang upside down! He swore it helped him relax enough to concentrate on his writing. He also keeps an hourglass on his desk to make time to do stretches, push-ups, and sit-ups. (Yeah, I should do that last part myself…)

Agatha Christie

Apples were her thing. She’d eat them while in the bathtub, examining murder photos.

My Secret Idiosyncrasies

Well, they’re not going to be much of a secret now, are they? Ahem… no matter. This is all in fun. As someone who embraces being a weird writer, I’ll give you five of my precious quirks:

1. Up at 4:30 every day. Weekdays work until 6:30 (I have to get ready for work). On the weekends, I get up at that time and work until 11:00 or 12:00. After that… housework (ugh!).

2. Lava lamp on!

3. Cup-o-joe, steaming and ready in my lucky purple Yeti that has my name engraved on it.

4. Classic rock-n-roll a-blastin’ on the headphones or my vinyl records booming through the speakers. 

5. Cell phone at my fingertips… but turned up-side-down so I don’t get distracted. 

What about YOU?

Come on share! I’d love to hear what quirks you have–even if you aren’t a writer. After all, I’m sure readers have strange habits as well…

Besides, you never know. You just might find I’ve added some of your quirks to my future characters!