I was having a conversation with one of my coworkers and had a sudden realization…this woman lacks any sort of imagination. It all started from a comment I made about wanting a dog just like my sister's…as seen here with Santa and I planned to name him Sirius Black. Well, my coworker had no clue who that was, which is fine. Not everyone is required to know Harry Potter.When I explained it was from Harry Potter, she went on a tirade about how stupid the books and movies are—even though she’s never read or seen any of them—and that it’s just dumb to write about people flying around on broom sticks. For a minute I just stood and stared at her while my other two coworkers—who’ve read and loved HP—went about telling her how great the books are.
Her counter argument was, “Why can’t people just write about normal stuff?” This was her honest-to-God answer and belief. Now, I’m not one to mock someone’s beliefs because I’d hate for someone to do that to me, but the interaction just made me sad.
What would the world be like if people only wrote about ‘normal stuff’? People are well within their right not to like fantasy for whatever reason they choose, just as I’m well within my right not to like books on science or math. But wow, I have no clue what I would do if I had no imagination. I certainly wouldn’t be a writer.
This coworker is, overall, a decent person. She makes me laugh and we have fun when we hang out, but I could never have a conversation with her about ANYthing other than beer—which I don’t really drink—annoying patients, or family. She has no interest in history, has no clue about current events or even pop culture. Sometimes there is a vast nothingness that comes across her face when you say something to her that you think would be common knowledge. And I just want to point out that I have no plans to change her, because who am I to tell her she shouldn’t be this way? She’s happy, she’s a good person and I really do like her, but my heart just hurt for her today. I know that’s dramatic, but being someone with such a vivid imagination, I almost felt like I should transfuse her or something.
I don’t mean for this blog to sound like I’m ragging on her, because it’s not. It was just something that I saw and as most of the people who follow me are writers, I thought you all could relate and maybe give me some ideas on how to deal with someone who thinks something so valuable and important to me is just a big ball of ridiculousness.
So this is my question…Do you have people in your life—close or not—who think it’s bizarre that you write? Or have you come across people who can’t even begin to wrap their minds around fantastical worlds or think they are a stupid waste of time—especially those of you who write fantasy, urban or otherwise, paranormal, or sci-fi?
