I try as hard as possible to be original about these posts, but I guess most of us have a lot of the same insecurities.
However, I have discovered an insecurity that is a little more niche in the last few weeks. I started on my teacher training course a few weeks ago and one of the major concerns I have about teaching is getting the young people to respect me. I am blessed/cursed with a young face. At 21 I could pass for 16. Yet I am intending to go and try to impart knowledge onto people that I don't look any older than.
This raises a similar concerns around my writing. If I was ever lucky enough to get a work published would this change my students perspective of me? Would I lose whatever authority I held over them because of what I'd written (perhaps swearing, YA level romance etc)? Would my writing style become changed by my being conscious that young people I work with every day might read it?
A solution would be, I guess, to post under a pseudonym but I don't know if I'd feel comfortable about that.
This is probably a long way off from being something I seriously need to consider, but it's another niggling thing in the back of my mind.
Do you ever worry about loss of respect when writing? It may not be from a teacher point of view but maybe you worry what friends, family or colleges might think.
Sarah x
For one thing, you're blessed with a young face. Everyone wishes for that. My daughter is a high school teacher, and when she first started teaching, other teachers thought she was a student. And students were trying to pick her up. I use a pen name and like the anonymity, but since my debut novel has been released people actually get to know who you really are, at least in your own community. You have to just go for it. Write the book you'll be proud of, no matter what. Your students can deal with it.
ReplyDeleteI don't worry about losing respect. I cringe thinking my family will read about a kissing scene though. GAH!
ReplyDeleteAfter becoming published, I think your students would be in awe of you. In other words, MORE respect. Not less.