One of my biggest PET PEEVES....anyone else have one??
"So...what do YOU do???"
Ok. You make soap for a living, but you're also in a rock band. When you're out at a club, and someone asks you "What do you do?" you say "I'm a musician." WRONG!
You are an Assistant to the Secretery of the Assistant Secretery at Mirimax Films. You go out with your friends to a bar, and someone asks you "What do you do?" You say "I work in film." WRONG!
You like to read a lot. That's good. You write a lot yourself, but you've never been published. You have a blog, which is swell and dandy, and you contribute regularly to your private LiveJournal. Your daddy pays your rent. Wow. Great for you. What a big apartment you have in the Village. When you're out on the town, whoring it up, someone asks you What do you do?" and you say "I'm a writer." WRONG!
THE PROBLEM:
"What do you do?" is a question about your financial situation. Sure, it is no reflection of who you are as a person, what your interests are...it is no reflection of your tastes, style....nor does it reflect, in anyway, a minor tidbit of your soul. But for the love of god, STOP EMBELLISHING SHIT! If you say "I'm a filmmaker" then you better damn well GET PAID TO MAKE FILMS, otherwise you just come off as a fucking clown. Don't you get that reaction from people? That's how they talk about you behind you backs, trust me...and if you tell people "I'm a writer!" then YOU BETTER HAVE NOVELS OR STORIES OR ARTICLES PUBLISHED FOR CASH otherwise I'll know that you do it in your spare time, because it's damn 'effin hard to make a living as a writer these days.
THE LOWDOWN:
MY ADVICE to all you out there? Let's dive right into a fictional situation, and illustrate how you should handle it. For the sake of argument, let's say my name is Suzy, and for cash I work for American Apparel. I also write short stories, and in my offtime I play acoustic guitar at a bar down the street. We're at a bar, and some chump approaches her, extra drink in hand.
Let's see how Suzy handles this situation, shall we?
DUDE: Hey there....what's your name, Sweet Tits?
SUZY: Um...well, it's not Sweet Tits. It's Suzy.
DUDE: Oh, like, my bad and stuff. Huh huh. Well, there, SUZY-Q, what do you do?
SUZY: What do I do? Well, I do a lot, actually. I work at American Apparel, their clothes are really awesome, I'm sure you've check'd them out, or maybe not judging from your cargo fleece. I also write songs...you can come see me play sometime, actually, down the street.....oh, I write as well, nothing major just private stuff, some of which I hope to publish someday....[blah blah]
RESULT:
Ok, see how Suzy handled that situation? Instead of SKIRTING AROUND THE TRUTH she used the opportunity to talk about herself, and shyed away from FALSE LABELING. What a cool chick Suzy is, wouldn't ya say?
BE LIKE SUZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
STOP LYING TO YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
"So...what do YOU do???"
Ok. You make soap for a living, but you're also in a rock band. When you're out at a club, and someone asks you "What do you do?" you say "I'm a musician." WRONG!
You are an Assistant to the Secretery of the Assistant Secretery at Mirimax Films. You go out with your friends to a bar, and someone asks you "What do you do?" You say "I work in film." WRONG!
You like to read a lot. That's good. You write a lot yourself, but you've never been published. You have a blog, which is swell and dandy, and you contribute regularly to your private LiveJournal. Your daddy pays your rent. Wow. Great for you. What a big apartment you have in the Village. When you're out on the town, whoring it up, someone asks you What do you do?" and you say "I'm a writer." WRONG!
THE PROBLEM:
"What do you do?" is a question about your financial situation. Sure, it is no reflection of who you are as a person, what your interests are...it is no reflection of your tastes, style....nor does it reflect, in anyway, a minor tidbit of your soul. But for the love of god, STOP EMBELLISHING SHIT! If you say "I'm a filmmaker" then you better damn well GET PAID TO MAKE FILMS, otherwise you just come off as a fucking clown. Don't you get that reaction from people? That's how they talk about you behind you backs, trust me...and if you tell people "I'm a writer!" then YOU BETTER HAVE NOVELS OR STORIES OR ARTICLES PUBLISHED FOR CASH otherwise I'll know that you do it in your spare time, because it's damn 'effin hard to make a living as a writer these days.
THE LOWDOWN:
MY ADVICE to all you out there? Let's dive right into a fictional situation, and illustrate how you should handle it. For the sake of argument, let's say my name is Suzy, and for cash I work for American Apparel. I also write short stories, and in my offtime I play acoustic guitar at a bar down the street. We're at a bar, and some chump approaches her, extra drink in hand.
Let's see how Suzy handles this situation, shall we?
DUDE: Hey there....what's your name, Sweet Tits?
SUZY: Um...well, it's not Sweet Tits. It's Suzy.
DUDE: Oh, like, my bad and stuff. Huh huh. Well, there, SUZY-Q, what do you do?
SUZY: What do I do? Well, I do a lot, actually. I work at American Apparel, their clothes are really awesome, I'm sure you've check'd them out, or maybe not judging from your cargo fleece. I also write songs...you can come see me play sometime, actually, down the street.....oh, I write as well, nothing major just private stuff, some of which I hope to publish someday....[blah blah]
RESULT:
Ok, see how Suzy handled that situation? Instead of SKIRTING AROUND THE TRUTH she used the opportunity to talk about herself, and shyed away from FALSE LABELING. What a cool chick Suzy is, wouldn't ya say?
BE LIKE SUZY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
STOP LYING TO YOURSELF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!