When can I consider myself a real writer?

Don't worry about calling yourself a writer. Let others call you that.

What's a real writer?


I'm sure some of the most talented people in all areas of the arts, never get recognition for their work.

Just because you don't get paid to do it.......doesn't mean you aren't good at it.

My husband is a fantastic painter, artist. He can call himself an artist, even though he makes his living in a 9 to 5.


I'm no longer working for a company, so therefore I have no title. I make money doing one thing, and do many other things, including raising children, gardening, volunteering, and so on. But, I'm not a saleperson, a waitress or an accountant.



Good question!

Ah yes, the moments when you think the writing police are going to burst down your door and tell you to step away from the keyboard. The wondering when someone is going to find out that your a fraud and out you for it. LOL. We've all had those. Do you put words to paper? You're a writer.

UJ said it best - let someone else give the titles. You just keep doing what your doing.

I'm a carpet salesman. I am not a writer.

If you write, as in actually putting words on paper, (not as in talking to everyone you know about "this cool idea you'll eventually turn into a bestselling novel" without ever applying heiny to chair and fingers to keyboard/typewriter/pen) you are a writer.

Writing something accepted for (paid/edited) publication makes you an author, as far as I'm concerned, but writing, even in a private journal or a book of poems nobody sees, makes you a writer. (Though the latter examples won't likely lead to becoming an author, they're still writing-as-hobby, which is still writing, just a different branch.)

Lenora, I clicked your link.. what do you mean you don't hit your friends with sticks? You must try it, at least once. LOL.
Or you can always be a water bearer

I'm with you though, I'll stick with my bow and pointy sticks.

With greetings from the East Kingdom,

the first time you took pencil in hand a wrote a complete sentence
(unlike the line above)

Diviner said:

I've been working on my writing fairly hard for the past seven years and really intensely for the past two.

Click to expand...

Right then.

You sound like a writer to me. What, in your mind, disqualifies you?

Hitting people with sticks is fun (well, so is poking them with long slender metal things too, but that's another story).

If you put words on paper, you're a writer, just like someone who hammers nails into wood to make something is a carpenter.

One person may be happy just to build a bookshelf that doesn't wobble while the other person turns out works of art that sell for hundreds of thousands.

Success (or lack thereof) doesn't make one a carpenter and the other not. Why should it apply to writers.

Richard White said:

Hitting people with sticks is fun (well, so is poking them with long slender metal things too, but that's another story).

If you put words on paper, you're a writer, just like someone who hammers nails into wood to make something is a carpenter.

One person may be happy just to build a bookshelf that doesn't wobble while the other person turns out works of art that sell for hundreds of thousands.

Success (or lack thereof) doesn't make one a carpenter and the other not. Why should it apply to writers.

Click to expand...

But would you hire nyone who can do no more than drive a nail to build a house for you? When I want something built, and I decide to find a carpenter, my standards are a bit higher than finding someone who is satisfied with merely building a bookshelf that doesn't wobble.

And I sincerely doubt that guy would call himself a carpenter, whatever you call him. Should someone walk up to you and say, "I'm a carpenter," you wouldn't for a scond think he was someone satisfied with building a bookshelf that didn't wobble.

By your definition, my first grader is a writer, and that simply isn't so.

I would tend to agree with James, even though I'm nowhere near being published and may never be. Calling yourself a writer depends on the context. If you're at a ritzy coctail party, and people ask you what you do, they are asking what you do for a living.

For me to say "Oh, I'm a writer!" would be more or less a lie.

If you're 22, at a coffeehouse, and a college undergrad asks you what you do, she's asking what you aspire to - what your passion is. Saying you're a writer in that context is perfectly legit.

To go with Uncle Jim's definition - what do people call you? I'm officially, "A pretty good writer." or "Could be a great writer." but nobody calls me a straight-up writer, and shouldn't.

Hmmm... This is another subjective question.

I think there's a point within each of us, a threshold, that once you pass it - you feel inside yourself that you are a writer.

I know I saw this question come up almost a year ago somewhere else and I had to laugh at the idea of me being a writer. But since then, I have passed my own personal hurdles and proven to myself my dedication and commitment to the craft.

Now, to myself and others here - I refer to myself as a writer due to the facts above and the fact that I am a member of a writer's forum.

But I have yet to pass the hurdles that will allow me to say to a stranger on the street:

Hello, I am a writer....

I've made furniture that doesn't wobble, and I'm not a carpenter.

Do you suppose people with varying amounts of experience making wooden things sit around chewing on the question "When are you a real carpenter?"

I'm a writer in training.

Heh...any trekkers out there?

"Dammit, Jim, I'm an engineer, not a writer!"

Sorry, couldn't resist...

I have had some poems published and self-published a book that I sold on my own locally, but I am still an engineer. I consider myself an aspiring writer I guess, but I would not tell anyone I am a writer, per se. That's a good question, when can you call yourself a "writer?" I guess it depends on what you mean by it. Are you making your living by writing? Is is a hobby? Or is it something you do in line with your job (Max Lucado, for example)? hmmmm...I do not think there are any hard and fast rules. If your not comfortable calling yourself a writer maybe hobby writer?

KP

LOL Richard. I tried fencing, but I just couldn't get the hang of it. I tried, I really tried too.

There's a difference now. You can call yourself a writer if you write. Poetry in a notebook that no one will ever see is writing. Blogging can be writing. Now, if you write books for a living, then you might be called "author" or "Professional writer."

What you do for a hobby is not the same as what you do for a living. Is the person who dabbles in watercolors on the weekends NOT an artist?

Dunno about carpenters, but sailors (at least some of 'em) hang around talking about what makes you a real sailor. You aren't a sailor unless you've crossed the Line. Nah, you ain't a sailor until you've rounded the Horn. Nah, you're ain't a real sailor unless you've rounded the Horn in a gale....

Well, I know some one named Gail, but where am I gonna find a round horn? I guess, I shall never be a real sailor. I'll just shoot for writer then.

diana

My I am a writer for reals! threshold was my first rejection slip. I rejoiced in it. I thought, I'm doing it! Publication came later.

I considered myself an "aspiring" writer when I was still working my day job, writing, and trying to get published. I was a writer -- a good writer, even -- just not a professional writer. I wouldn't be caught dead saying, "I'm a writer" at a cocktail party.

Now, after a few paid gigs, a regular column and a new book coming out, I can comfortably call myself a "writer" without the "aspiring" part.

Writer

We each draw our own lines, but never are the lines so broad as in writing. No one would claim to be an electrician because they changed a light bulb, a doctor because they put a band-aid on a cut, or even a musician because they banged away at a piano for three days in a row.

I can do a lot more than drive a nail in straight. I can frame a house, and have. I've framed a house, put in all the windows and doors, put the roof on, and did a job that passed inspection. I've even built a three room log cabin from the ground up, including putting in a stone fireplace and chimney. But I'm sure as anything not a carpenter, and there isn't a real carpenter out there who would mistake me for one. Not for a second. I'm not even close to being a real carpenter.

I have no doubt the general public would demand the title of "writer" be earned by being published, and by earning money. They would demand the same level of expertise and training for writer as for doctor or lawyer or electrician. And they would demand money.

For me, it's a level of dedication. Diviner would certainly qualify with me. But I like the fact that diviner has doubts. There's nothing at all wrong with thinking of yourself as a wannabe. It's a good term, and it means the writer knows there's another level, another plateau, to reach. "Wannabe" is a term that can keep the person working hard, growing, stretching.

There are still areas of writing where I consider myself a definite wannabe. Screenwriting is one of them. I've written several screenplays, and I've even had a couple optioned, but I'm in no sense of the word a screenwriter. Not yet. I may never reach that goal because I've found that while I like the writing, I hate the world of screenwriting. Because of this, I honestly don't know if I can put in the level of dedication necessary to reach that final plateau.

I do think dedication is the key. If the person is serious enough to write darned near every day, to read darned near every day, to study, to work hard, to keep at it no matter what, good, he's a writer. But there are dabblers and dilettantes who are quicker to call themselves writers than even some who have published regularly.

I like hesitation in calling yourself a writer. I've found it usually means seriousness and dedication. It's frequently the dilettantes who call themselves writers the quickest, and with less reason.

I will now reveal the secret of the pros, one so closely-held that it is worth my life to tell you.

Watch for the Omens.

When three crows fly from north to south and you see them over your left shoulder, and a black dog that you do not see barks three times, you must make and drink a cup of green tea.

Then watch for a man wearing mis-matched shoes holding a trade cloth book with a red cover. If he is holding it in his right hand, you are a real writer. If he is holding it in his left hand you are not yet a real writer, and must do 100 pushups to clarify your spirit before returning to your keyboard.

Finally! A straight answer!

Thank you so much Jim!!!