What Does it Mean to be a Writer?

Photo credit: Nate Smith

"I want to be a writer."

That's what I would always tell people.

That's what I always wanted to be when I "grew up."

Being a writer has always been my dream. Something about it just thrilled me to my core. A writer. That's what I wanted to be.

And yet it was always out of reach. I entered small contests and won a couple, but I wanted a novel that I could hold in my hands and that people wanted to buy. It was not that I sought fame, but I did wish for something physical, proof that I had written something worth reading. I wanted proof so that I could tell people "I'm a writer" instead of "I want to be a writer."

I defined "being a writer" as being officially published, having a book on my shelf to look at and flip through that I made.

But this is not what it means to be a writer. This is, in fact, the definition of the word author. Being a writer and being an author are two very different things. Being an author is everything I just described. I am not yet an author, although that is certainly a goal for me.

I grew up homeschooled, so my mother was my first teacher. I'll never forget what she taught me about writing. She'd say, "Did you text a friend today? Write an email? Then you wrote something."

Did you write something today? You are a writer. You don't need a book to hold in your hands.

Language is important. Words should be used with the utmost care. I still find myself saying to people "I want to be a writer," and I have to remind myself that I am a writer. I am a writer and that is not a status I can easily lose. The thought of that thrills me to my core. Being an author will come. For now, being a writer is more than enough.

Not only that, you should be a writer first and an author second. Write because that’s what you love to do. Write because there’s a story inside of you waiting to be told, and you’re the only person in the world who can tell it. A piece of advice I recently received from a beloved professor of mine is that you should never get into the business of writing for the money, because the market is incredibly over-saturated. She told me to write because it's what you love to do. I firmly believe that everyone has something inside of them to create, and if it is your dream to tell stories, you should do so. Remember that it is not difficult to be a writer. Use language carefully and remind yourself that you are a writer.

Most are not content with being a writer only, and now we come to the perhaps less appealing idea of sharing your writing with others. This is the most unpleasant business of writing, having to confront the idea of what someone else might think of what you have poured your heart and soul into. However, this is a topic for another time. I will address this topic in the next post.

For now, tell your story.

"But the call, it always comes

and the songs like children begging to be born"

~ Florence + the Machine