A quick trip down memory lane. I remember when I was younger my father actually looked down on fiction, told me it was no better than watching television, and that I should invest my time in actual school required textbooks books rather than a slew of novels.
Err, okay no.
Was pretty much my reaction, as I was a bull headed child, who felt very strong about my opinions. Though I never voiced them out loud. I allowed my father to think what he wanted and continue to complain about my reading list.
You see from a very young age I knew I wanted to be a writer, and any good writer knows that excessive reading go hand and hand with learning how to be a good writer. So naturally I didn't listen.
But the complaints didn't stop with my father. As other family members and associates soon found my hobby unhealthy. And I'm sure some of you have heard these before.
Fiction isn't real, so why bother? Because, uh, it's fun...
That much escapism isn't healthy! You opinion isn't healthy.
Your missing out on real life by spending so much time reading!
So you must want to be an author if you read so much? FYI, not everyone who reads a lot wants to be a writer.
Isn't YA just for Young Adults?....No honey, it's not.
Whats your favorite book! Umm, I've read too many books to have a particular favorite.
Isn't book club for older aunts and grandmotherly types? And yet again, no.
And oh my favorite! Do you really need more books?
Yes! Yes I need more books. Like really? One can never have too many book. Like who comes up with this stuff!?
Which takes me back to a story when my grandmother gave me birthday money, and I spent all of it in a bookstore (I know... major nerd move), but the worst of it was I accidentally admitted to my cousins that I had done such. Proudly showing them my two stacks of books ----Pretty sure after that we became estranged.
*shrugs*
But reflecting now, I realize I wasn't the weird one. It's just that some people will never understand you and your hobby, and that's alright. Everyone is entitled to their opinions. I just wished sometimes people would stop and think before voicing questions that they could have answered themselves, and had simply just pondered for a moment.
