Are you a writer?
There are a few things that I have been asked that have been pretty thought-provoking. I decided I would blog about the biggest one. This one is something that a lot of aspiring authors ask themselves. I guess they ask others too because here I am blogging about it.
In my early career, I refused to tell anyone I was a writer. I thought you had to be a NYT bestseller to call yourself that. I thought you had to have a bazillion books out at bookstores. I thought you were someone akin to celebrity status.
Ha. Them was the days, I tells ya. So much has changed though. Now if I were just starting out, I would be a lot freer with answers.
So, what is this big question? Are you ready to think? It’s a toughie.
When can you officially say you are a writer?
Contemplating the writing life
Well, that’s an interesting question. First, when someone asks that of me, I tell them the answer lies in the question.
You can officially say you are a writer.
Yes, that is the answer.
And the sooner you do that, the better. You can call yourself a writer at any time. You write, right? Then you are a writer. The question really should be-what do you write? Because when you introduce someone to the fact that you are a writer, you will be bombarded by the oh really? what do you write? thing.
So, you are a writer. You take a pen and pad with you everywhere because you like the tactile experience of writing. Or you have a cool app to facilitate that habit you have of jotting down ideas when they strike you. So, at what point did you decide that doing a longer work should happen?
No – that’s a real question.
Leave your answers in the comments below. I want to know!