Becoming a Real Writer
It doesn't happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time.
It doesn't happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time.
Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit
"You're a writer, aren't you?"
Someone asked me that a few years ago, and I had to awaken myself to the reality. Yes, I guess I am.
Even after self-publishing five books, I mentally pinch myself to remind myself that I am a real writer.
What constitutes becoming a real writer?
Is it having a degree? Is it being published? Is it having someone tell you are? While these things might have something to do with being a writer, they are not what makes someone a writer. The answer may seem simple, but it is the answer.
Writing.
Writing can be public blogs or private journals. Drafts are stuffed in messy desk drawers and stored in computer files. Writing compels the writer to dash home from a nature walk to scribble on a Post-It note. It fuels the coffee and tea industries. It yanks the writer out of bed before everyone else wakes up or keeps the writer up after everyone has gone to sleep. Either way, writers write.
No, it doesn't happen all at once. It does take a long time. It also doesn't take a flower fairy waving a magic wand to make it real.
It takes you with pen in hand doing what you love and becoming what you believe you are. Those tears and that leap of joy will prove it so.