When I was a kid, I was always told I had my head in the clouds or that I spent too much time daydreaming. Mind you, my mother never said these things to me. It was always a teacher or school counselor even though I was in accelerated classes and never had a grade lower than a B. (Except for Algebra, but that's a story for another day.)
I would ask what was wrong with daydreaming, with wondering what would happen if... I was told people in life that were considered successful were those that worked hard and didn't spend time spinning tales in their head. What if you did both, I'd ask only to be told it wasn't possible. Either you worked hard in life and became a success or you would end up a drain on society. In less than polite words, you'd be a loser, a good-for-nothing that amounted to nothing and a shame to your family and, if you were lucky to still have any, your friends.
Now that I'm years out of high school, I wished I had the bravery and knowledge to ask what those teachers and counselors thought of writers. Most writers I know, published and unpublished, well known, best-selling, or just starting out with a small following of readers, are among the hardest working people I've ever met. And yes, they spend a lot of time daydreaming.
How else are they able to come up with plots, characters, dialogue, plot twists the reader doesn't see coming and more? If a writer works at a day job for 8 or more hours a day, loses time commuting to said job, then comes home and makes dinner or takes care of the yard, or does any other household chores that need to be done nearly every day, if not every day and takes care of their children, or elderly parents, or both and yet still manages to find time to write on a regular basis, how is he or she not hard working even though they are daydreamers?
So for all those naysayers out there who say you can't be both, I say yes, you can. You just need to believe in your daydreams and in yourself.
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