Taking Writing Seriously

Today I have to give a presentation of my linguistics research on fanfiction, and over the past twenty four hours when I've been composing my little speech I've presented it to several different people (My furniture got bits and pieces of it for several hours last night.) Reactions were varied, mainly because either my audience knew lots about fanfiction or nothing at all. In fact, one of the more knowledgable audiences, Mallory, said something I've never even considered before --

"Wow, you really take your fanfiction seriously, don't you?"

I realized then that writing fanfiction for me was never a question of taking it un-seriously. I've treated my work as worthy of research, worthy of investing in books I may never read and will probably not be able to use outside of my appropriative linguistic endeavors. (How many people do you know get excited over a book with a title like "What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew"? Exactly.)

So I have a bit of advice, not specifically about writing but about whatever your hobbies may be. Take them seriously. Even if you're not very good at them (and heaven knows there are better writers than me in the world) your being committed to your hobby says something about you to other people. Maybe you collect bottle caps or you make cut and paste collages from old calendars, but if you're committed to it, if you treat it seriously, then I think people have a little bit of respect for it.

And if they don't? Personally, I think that means they're jealous.