On Cleanliness

No, I'm not about to go biblical on y'all, but when I was fishing for a topic over on twitter, Paolo suggested: "How often should the average writer shower?"

This isn't going to go Dear Aunt G, though it certainly could. There are strong opinions.

First off, we're going to have to leave this whole "average" business out of things. Let's just get that out of the way now. Writers are too neurotic to get cozy with that word. "Me? I'm not *average*?" Or, ten minutes later, "I'm not even average. I'm below average. I can't even see average from here." And that leaves aside if we're talking about some mean of age/sex/race/etc. Which we aren't.

So, then we're left with just: How often should a writer shower? Scalzi proposed that if Paolo had to ask, he probably ought to go ahead and do it. This is true. If you're wondering, Do I need a shower?* The answer is almost certainly yes.

But, in my experience, it's the writers who don't wonder about this that truly need the guidance. In our house: I'm saying every one to two days. In your house: I don't care so much.

At any rate, Mr. Rowe (and Paolo and Catherine) can pretend it's about conservation all they want, but I know the truth of the freelance cave. It's the same impulse that leads people to grow beards until they finish a book, or to build elaborate sink pyramids. To order wingzone when the missus is out of town.

On a more serious note: Not completely losing touch with reality, even when you work at home, is important. Bathing regularly is part of that.

Hey, I made an entry. Now I'll just go hug my Lush bath products.

*I, personally, shower daily. At least.

Comments

[Tim Pratt]

I shower daily, usually. When else am I going to think about plot and dialogue?

[Matthew Shields]

For the record, I shower daily as well. #cmonsillies #warmwaternsoapisgood

[Rae Carson]

Thanks for taking a stand, dude.

[Edward Champion]

I showered twice today. And that was due to the humidity. I don't know if this is a confession of my cleanliness or the fact that people with my genetics tend to sweat. Sometimes I need to shower to rue over an idea, even if I don't know if I'm ruing. A writer can never shower too much. Ideally, writers should shower in pairs to demonstrate how creative they really are.

[Jillian]

This made me giggle. And also covet some Lush!

[clairelight]

How often to shower is not my conundrum, but rather how often to wash my hair.