Usually, I don’t have that much to say about writing. After all, you’re pretty much just putting one word in front of the other, then reading the words, and then rearranging them and rearranging them until they sound good. What is there to say about that, really? I could tell you about my new list of transitional phrases that I over-use and my struggle to get out of the habit of using them, but why would that be interesting to read? The process of writing is boring to all but the writer (and sometimes even to her). It’s the finished product that’s supposed to be interesting.

Personally when it comes to writing, I like hearing what people are working on. And I do have projects going on. I have a book proposal out, a novel that is still being edited, a book contest I’m judging, new short stories that are almost finished, and articles coming out. I’m writing queries to get new articles too.

As a rule, I don’t talk about what I’m working on in detail. Sometimes I will tell people I really trust about my work, like Kyle or my mom, but in general I’m tight-lipped about it. This is such an ingrained habit, I forget that I have good reasons for this rule. I don’t talk about on-going work because:

1. People steal ideas. This happens a lot. You have to be careful who you talk to about projects.
2. Although they mean well, people tend to ask you about works-in-progress all the time. It gets tiring explaining why something is not finished.
3. It’s not fun for me to have people witness rejection. I’d rather keep projects to myself and talk about successes.
4. Sometimes it’s inappropriate to talk about a project. I can’t talk about judging a contest or editing someone’s manuscript, for example, because there are other parties involved.
5. Talking about it can crush inspiration. Half-formed ideas and vague imagery can seem suddenly stupid if you have to explain what they are about and why anyone should care about them.
6. It bores me to talk about my work. I would rather talk about books or politics or what you have been doing lately.
7. I am weird about my writing and a very private person in general. I like my little writing world that only I know.

Sometimes I feel a little prissy sticking to this rule, but every time I have bent it, I have regretted it. It’s a weird thing though. Most people who don’t talk about their work can’t talk about it–they work for the government or signed a contract holding them to secrecy. Other people have boring jobs that no one wants to hear about. I have interesting work that I can talk about as much as I want, and I don’t.

Because, I guess, most of the time it just seems better not to.