Many Hats

When I imagined what an author did as a teenager, it was basically sitting at a computer, typing away. Or possibly, when I was a younger teenager, getting a notebook out and writing with a pen or pencil. Or inbetween those ages, using a typewriter.

This imaginary world of the author was enormously attractive to me at the time. I was socially awkward in the extreme, blurting out things (true things!) at inappropriate times to the wrong people. I was sure that “impressing” someone meant offering a list of my accomplishments. I believed that boys liked smart girls, and that publishers would want to publish the best books written by scholarly people who were inventing new genres and obliterating the old conventions (since this is what I learned in graduate school the “best authors” did).

My first query letter as an adult was, in fact, several pages long and all about how I was deconstructing the genre conventions I was writing for. I sent a copy to my older sister, who was a more experienced writer (and person) than I was, and she laughed out loud for several minutes.

Fast forward a few years, and my first book came out. I was a stay-at-home mom of five young kids and I wrote during nap time, before the kids woke up, or late at night. I was an “author” when I was in my office, typing away. The rest of the time I was a mom.

I knew that other authors did things called “school visits.” I knew that they were asked to do book signings and sometimes other appearances. But I was genuinely terrified of such things. I avoided all book signings (not a difficult thing to do when you’re small potatoes). I didn’t know how to talk to bookstore people. I didn’t know how to talk to strangers passing in the store. I occasionally worked up the nerve to give short presentations to other authors, dripping sweat as I did so.

Authors are authors, I thought. I didn’t understand why I should have to also be a standup comic, a counselor, a social media diva, a business person, and a celebrity all at once. Writers sit in their caves and write, don’t they? Why did I have to have author photos taken and think about lighting and makeup and hair?

After some years, I have come to a conclusion. Authors wear many hats. Sometimes we sit in our caves and write, but this is only a small part of the job. We are also “personalities.” We are sometimes asked to write essays on non-fiction topics. We have political opinions. We support friends and their books or Kickstarters. We go to parties and make conversation with strangers. We schmooze and impress people. We are sometimes on television or radio. We promote and charm and go back to our hotel rooms and try to get in some words for the day. Because, frankly, the writing has become the easy part of the job.

And guess what? This is true for everyone. Grown ups wear a lot of hats. No job is just one thing. Humans can be flexible, and so we are forced to be flexible. Computers aren’t flexible. That’s why they can’t do the jobs that humans do yet. Maybe someday computers will write stories that will be worth reading, but will they ever be able to be on stage and make jokes? Will they impress people? I think not.

So to other authors out there lamenting the fact that they can’t sit in their caves and write, I say, grow up! (Because this is what I tell myself, as well.) You aren’t one thing, and maybe it’s a good thing for you. Because your writing is going to reflect your life experience on some level, and you want your life experience to be as rich as possible. You want to write new things that you didn’t know about ten years ago.

Get out your hats and look in the mirror and try them on! You may find you like them, after all!