How to Interpret Your Author’s Bizarre Behaviors

Authors are weird.

It’s okay. We know. No need to beat around the bush. Author brains are wired to interpret reality differently from people who don’t tell stories, and sometimes that can be confusing and overwhelming for non-authors.

But never fear! Fortunately, most authors share similar traits, even if they don’t write similar books. So, it might be a good idea to keep a reference guide handy so you can understand the strange behaviors of the authors in your life.

1. Talking to themselves

It’s a fairly common occurrence for an author to have entire conversations when no one else is around them. They can be sitting in a room all alone, and they may have complete conversation with themselves. Not that we ever want to encourage eavesdropping, but if you do listen in, you might learn some interesting tidbits about their latest project. Because Your Author isn’t talking to themselves, not as far as they are concerned. They are talking to their characters. The people who populate their novels are alive and often sassy, and sometimes it requires a strong hand and a firm word to get them to behave.

The only time you need to be concerned is when two characters in Your Author’s head start arguing with each other while Your Author is stuck between them. But, don’t worry, as that usually only happens in the shower or when Your Author is trying to go to sleep. (Side Note: If Your Author tells you about “someone they met” and it turns out to be a character, don’t worry. Authors usually talk about their characters as though they are real people. Just make sure you are aware of the difference, otherwise you might buy birthday presents for someone who doesn’t actually exist.)

2. Making weird faces at their computer screens

Now, this is one that non-authors can do too, but the reasoning behind it is different. A non-author might make faces at a computer screen in frustration or irritation. If Your Author is making weird faces at a computer, there’s a high likelihood he/she is acting out a facial expression a character is using. It’s an important step to ensure that a character doesn’t give the impression of having a seizure when all they really want to do is flirt with the love interest.

3. Listening to the same song over and over and over

Yes, this is a thing. Music often provides inspiration for specific scenes or character moments. Sometimes a song can generate a character out of thin air. So if Your Author starts listening to a song on repeat, just let them. If it’s bothering you, stuff some cotton in your ears. It’s all part of the process.

4. Carrying around random scraps of paper

To a non-author, these scraps of paper may be pieces of trash, but to Your Author, they are a lifeline in a storm of ideas. You never know when inspiration will strike. That’s why Authors can sometimes be found scribbling on napkins, post-it notes, and the backs of offering envelopes in the middle a sermon. They just had an idea for a story, and if they don’t write it down, they’ll lose it. (Pro Tip: If you love Your Author, always keep a pen handy so you can provide a writing instrument to them when they need to jot down an idea.)

5. Obsessing over journals and notebooks (and then never actually use them)

Give Your Author space to love office supplies. Pretty paper goods, shiny fountain pens, random goofy stickers—all of it brings joy to many authors. You may struggle to understand, then, why Your Author doesn’t actually WRITE in their notebooks. From the perspective of Your Author, though, a notebook is a glorious, sacred thing. They can’t just write anything in a beautiful, shiny new notebook. They have to write the RIGHT thing in it. So until they figure out the right thing to write in that notebook, they may treat it like a work of art. And that’s okay. Let them. There are much more expensive addictions they could struggle with.

6. Keeping word count statistics (even though they can’t do math)

It’s a stereotype that Authors aren’t good at math, but stereotypes exist for a reason. However, many authors find enormous encouragement by keeping track of how many words they write in a day. It’s a measurable record of accomplishment, and that really does matter to a person who “works” by sitting at a computer for hours on end. The problem is—well—they may need help adding up the numbers. So, if you’ve got a calculator on hand, it would mean a lot to them if you’d help them do the math.

7. Spying on people

It’s not really spying. It’s people watching. Your Author might go sit in a Wal-mart parking lot with a notebook (an ugly one) and a pen and spend hours scribbling about odd behaviors they observe in people. Yes, the irony is lost on them. But there’s nothing better to inspire ideas for characters than actual people in the wild. The best thing you can do for this behavior is make sure they stay hydrated.

There are many other bizarre behaviors Your Author might display the longer you get to know them, but it’s honestly part of their charm. At least, we hope it’s charming.

What is a strange behavior you’ve seen in the life of Your Author?

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Meet A.C. Williams

Author A.C. Williams is a coffee-drinking, sushi-eating, story-telling nerd who loves cats, country living, and all things Japanese. She’d rather be barefoot, and if she isn’t, her socks won’t match. With fifteen published books in both fiction and non-fiction, she is a Realm Award winner and a Selah Award finalist, as well as the 2022 Arise Daily Writer of the Year.

Learn more at her website or via her BRRC author profile page