Battling Being Boring

I wonder if all my fellow writers and editors run into the same issue I have had for quite some time. I spend so much of my time editing and writing that I fear I have nothing to add to any conversation.

Ask my friend who retired a few years ago what she’s been up to, and she’ll regale you with her stories about her travels to Colorado, Iowa, and Florida. She’ll tell you about her hiking trips with her husband and her newfound interest in identifying mushrooms in their natural habitats.

Other friends are on a safari in Africa and post impressive photos on Facebook.

Ask another friend what’s new in her life and she’ll expound on her creation of a new business that helps companies hold more effective, interesting, and inclusive meetings.

Another friend has created an extensive network of people who like to play board games. She gives parties for gamers and is filled with funny stories about things that happened while her groups shared food and played games.

Ask me what I’ve been doing, and I say, “Writing and editing.” That’s it. I believe that if you talk about what you’re writing, you drain energy from it. You must write first and may talk about it later. In addition there’s confidentiality about manuscripts I edit. I won’t discuss details of their contents with anyone other than the author until the books have been published and are available to the public.

“What have you been doing lately?” my friends may ask, so I’ve taken to answering, “The usual. Writing and editing. What have you been doing lately?” On the bright side, my “boring” life makes me a good listener, because I ask questions of others. I’m not bored with my life; I just can’t talk about it, but as a listener I’m a good friend while maybe also gathering potential material and settings for my next story or book. Maybe the joke’s on my friends.