Recently I went for coffee with a friend and among many things, we chatted about how we’re both weird. In my opinion there are two categories of ‘weird’: eccentric-weird and deviant-weird. My friend and I decided that we fall into the former category of eccentric-weird. We’re socially-acceptable weird, the kind that is creative and a bit offbeat, but generally fits in. It also happens that we’re both published authors, and that got me thinking about whether being a weirdo is good for creative writing.

I’ve always been considered a weirdo. Ever since I was a kid I’ve been called weird, and artsy, and a day-dreamer. At school I was often in trouble for doodling pictures of UFOs on my jotters instead of doing my schoolwork and it got so bad at one stage that my parents were called in for a meeting and I was assessed for my literacy and numeracy to see if I needed to go into the special needs class. Only when forced to focus during an on-the-spot test did I finally do the work and at that point my teacher realised that my problem is not with my academic ability, but with the fact that I prefer the world inside my head than the real one. Lol.

Don’t all weirdos feel the same way? We’re the creative minds, the ones who think outside the box. Eccentric weirdos are the makers and doers who come up with new and innovative ways of looking at things. I’ve never been normal; I can’t even pretend to be anything other than weird. In real life I’m a bit ‘marmite’ in that I either attract (some) or repel (quite a few) people; not that I care too much about that.

Yes, it seems to me that being a weirdo helps creative writing. Name me one fiction author who is normal and I think that’ll be a first, ha ha.

Posted by on February 27, 2026 in Random stuff and tagged , , , , .

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About Leilanie Stewart

Leilanie Stewart is an award-winning author and poet from Belfast, Northern Ireland. She writes ghost and psychological horror, as well as experimental poetry. Her writing confronts the nature of self; her novels feature main characters on a dark psychological journey who have a crisis and create a new sense of identity. She began writing for publication while working as an English teacher in Japan, a career pathway that has influenced themes in her writing. Her former career as an Archaeologist has also inspired her writing and she has incorporated elements of archaeology and mythology into both her fiction and poetry. In addition to promoting her own work, Leilanie runs Bindweed Anthologies, a creative writing publication with her writer husband, Joseph Robert. Aside from publishing pursuits, Leilanie enjoys spending time with her husband and their lively literary lad, a voracious reader of sea monster books.

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