Elle, you have a keen sense of perception. Answering "What do you do?" with details like "I'm currently writing a children's fantasy trilogy" focuses their attention on what you do, rather than some fantasy about writers.
Terri, 4 a.m. seems to be the hour for writers. Until his dying day at 65 years old, British beer & whiskey author Michael Jackson always arose at 4 a.m. to begin his writing day. I can not say I consistently get up at 4 a.m. to write, but I often get up in the middle of the night to start or finish an article. It's in our blood as storytellers.
When I tell people I write about beer, they often say, "Wow, how do you get a job like that?" or "Do you need an assistant? I love beer." I also get the odd look, as images of novelist Hemingway (famous for his drinking),cascade into their brains. (Translation: She probably has a drinking problem.) Beer journalists, for the most part,respect beer and drink LOTS of water while doing beer dinners or tastings in order to detoxify the body and avoid dehydration. (Inside joke: "That's why we call ourselves 'urinalists.'") The water also gives you a feeling of fullness, so there is a diminished desire to drink more than is absolutely necessary.
The "I would do that if I had the time (or the patience)" is an ageless comment, certainly not exclusive to writers. After all, we all have 24 hours, right? We, as writers, have developed skills that maximize our time. We can find information on the internet at the speed of lightning, (knowing full well not to trust everything we read), we have learned how to ask questions that draw out a story from those we interview, we have developed good grammar, spelling and punctuation skills, and we are continually learning how to tell a story in a way that holds the attention of our readers. That takes time to develop, so be proud, writers! Whether you get paid or not, you are part of an exclusive guild.
