Does your family know that you are a writer?

CharlesEBrown said:

As an aside and by way of explanation, when I first showed an interest in writing, mom just smiled and walked away, and dad gave me the impression that his teachers had encouraged him to be a writer but he never liked it until he took a journalism class in college, and, after about four years of teaching, became a reporter, then editor, then managing editor for a series of small newspapers for about twenty five years. He was "Well, if it's what you want to do, do it as a hobby. Only a very small number of writers can even make a living and most of them are reporters who barely scrape by."
And that's still pretty much their attitude almost half a century later. And it's not too far off (though ot seems those who teach writing can make a decent - not great, but decent - living as well it seems).

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naosu said:

Its actually a VERY BAD IDEA to disclose your pen name. I made that mistake to my siblings. And then right after the ones that got offended at me because we didn't let them turn our living room into drunk bar, decided to go throw a bunch of fake bad complaints and sh177y reviews on my story.

There's a reason people do pen names. Because people in real life, they REALLY DO sabotage each other. I've been sabotaged also in other ways. And here's a link from another site where they busted a bunch of cheaters that were attacking writers sites; this proves it does happen:

Recent Moderation Actions | Royal Road

Hi everyone, Over the past few days, we've become aware of a minor rule violation by a relatively large number of users in a discord group called ‘Secret (...)

www.royalroad.com

They basically busted up a crew of people that were doing chain gang up tactics to attack and ruin peoples stories that they caught in 2023. But I was the victim of that also years before before they actually started doing something about it.

So... don't disclose your pen name too easily.

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McPhoenixDavid said:

That sounds so concerning...

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MFontana said:

Yes, most of my family knows.
As for why they know; that's a simple one. Because I told them.
As for why I told them, well, I was in high-school at the time, and wanted to share my first story with everyone around me.
They do not, however, know the extent of my writing these days; beyond the occasional bits that I share with them, and that's mostly because I don't actively promote my work among family because of divergent interests. Most of them aren't exactly fond of the genres that I write in.

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naosu said:

Its actually a VERY BAD IDEA to disclose your pen name. I made that mistake to my siblings. And then right after the ones that got offended at me because we didn't let them turn our living room into drunk bar, decided to go throw a bunch of fake bad complaints and sh177y reviews on my story.

There's a reason people do pen names. Because people in real life, they REALLY DO sabotage each other. I've been sabotaged also in other ways. And here's a link from another site where they busted a bunch of cheaters that were attacking writers sites; this proves it does happen:

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McPhoenixDavid said:

Most of my friends— who write stories— they don't let their family know that they write. What about you? And why?​

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CalebVanPoneisen said:

No.

They know my hobby is writing, but that's it. Never talk about it, and I think it's better that way.

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Wenlock said:

nope. no one knows. and i will keep it that way forever lol

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L1aei said:

Oh, they know that I do and why. I really don't have to explain my reasons for typing away my boredom.

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HotConsensualSalt said:

My family knows I write, but we're not close in general. I've sent them some of my SFW stories. Most of my fam don't read fiction, including mine.

My current stories are erotica and romance, so I've declined to specify what I'm working on these days. DADT.
When I go back to Sci-Fantasy or Martial Arts African Diaspora Fantasy I'll send that to my friends and family.

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DireBadger said:

yeah, but I don't write smut. If there's a sex scene in my book, it is well-aimed.

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ks.light said:

My parents "know" in that I wrote and illustrated my first "book" when I was 6. I think my mom still has it. I've told my husband I write as a hobby, and his very on-brand response was "oh ok."
Otherwise, the only folks who know are me, the cat, and the dog.?‍

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McPhoenixDavid said:

I see.

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DireBadger said:

But family is your best audience, usually.

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RainyLiquid said:

No.

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Cookiez_N_Potionz said:

Yeah

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Xeoz said:

Hell nah.

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