Anyone not want to be "a writer?"

Harper Lee comes to mind.

I have written many stories, none having any publication success, and am working on others. I don't give penguin piss whether anyone calls me a "writer" or not. I served in the u.S. Army in a foreign war, and I got called lots worse.

I would, however, like to get something I made published in a respectable venue.

caw

My Dad thinks everyone has one good story within him. If you only want to write one, then only write one! But make it good!

I love to write, and so I'll setlle for several good ones.

There are no rules in what you must do or what your options are for aspiration. Be who you are, and roll with it.

Well, I'm not a writer and I admit it. I write boring crap. I'll never get published. And I have a daytime job. I am a graphoman- just because I like writing...

I got stories to tell, but I don't know how else to tell them other than to write them.

It seems I've mostly been writing my stories on P&CE.

Eh. We'll see. I enjoy writing, but I'm not sure yet that I want to do it professionally. I really love my job. But we'll see where life takes me.

There have certainly been a lot of fabulous writers who really only wrote one thing, and that was all they needed to write.

Libbie said:

Eh. We'll see. I enjoy writing, but I'm not sure yet that I want to do it professionally. I really love my job. But we'll see where life takes me.

There have certainly been a lot of fabulous writers who really only wrote one thing, and that was all they needed to write.

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Kesey would be one of them.

I have no desire to become a professional writer. I enjoy writing what I want, when I want and not having to worry whether it will pass muster with some publisher.

This might be me, yeah. I enjoy writing other things, but the only writing I take very seriously (as in, really care what many readers might like) is my WIP. I can't think of another novel-length story I'd be so interested in writing.

I hope I have another compelling idea for a novel later. I'm just not sure that I will. I'll always write shorts, I'm sure, but mostly for fun

I've wanted to write books for a living since I was five, but I can see where you're coming from. There's no way I'd pursue writing professionally if I didn't feel driven to do it, and if I weren't so stuffed full of stories.

Tell your story well. Just don't get addicted to the power of bringing stories to life, or you might end up like one of us poor souls, chained to our laptops for life

No.

Not everyone has a book in them (this notion is clearly bullshit), but if you do then great! Write it.

The only problem I can see with this is that writing well takes practice. Unless you write your one book over and over again, chances are it won't be very good. Because it would be your first manuscript. And first manuscripts tend to be crap. I know all my ones were.

It could also be brilliant, of course. Odds are against it, but I'm sure it could happen. If, however, your main goal is simply to get it on paper, the above probably won't matter.

Good luck.

For the record, I want to be "a writer".

I didn't mean to start writing fiction, although I've been a paid writer for almost my entire working career. Funnily enough, I felt I had a story to tell, and for the first year of writing, I thought that would be it. Now I have a queue of stories waiting to be told. I wonder if the same will happen to you...

I haven't made up my mind yet.

I can't imagine wanting to write only one story. For me, learning to write is a lifelong pursuit, a vocation. I believe it was Carolyn See who remarked that learning to write to put out one book was like learning to be a surgeon to perform one operation.

If I had just one story to tell, I'd hire a ghostwriter. However, I've got so many stories a lifetime of learning won't be enough to get them all out, so I'm looking for a nice vampire to make me immortal.

Volunteers? Sparkles are okay, though no-sparkles get preference.

Strange Days said:

Kesey would be one of them.

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I think he wrote two.

Willowmound said:

The only problem I can see with this is that writing well takes practice. Unless you write your one book over and over again, chances are it won't be very good. Because it would be your first manuscript. And first manuscripts tend to be crap. I know all my ones were.

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Yeah, I totally relate to that...

Libbie said:

There have certainly been a lot of fabulous writers who really only wrote one thing, and that was all they needed to write.

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Yet, there have been quite a lot of writers who really only should've written just one thing, but foolishly, kept going. It takes a certain level of introspection and intelligence to realize when you've written all you want to write, and all you really can write.

Delhomeboy said:

I think he wrote two.

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While he SHOULD HAVE written only one... None of my friends who read his second work actually enjoyed it...

sleepsheep said:

Yet, there have been quite a lot of writers who really only should've written just one thing, but foolishly, kept going. It takes a certain level of introspection and intelligence to realize when you've written all you want to write, and all you really can write.

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Why the heck do you have the characters from "The arm full of brilliants" on your avatar?

Canticle for Leibowitz comes to mind as well.

I am sure that there are plenty of author's who had that one great story to tell.

Heck, I didn't consider myself a writer for a long time, then you know what? After that first big story ... I realized I had many, many more.

One is definitely not enough for me. But like what the others have pointed out, there are a few brilliant examples where the author had only one story to tell and told it well.

Strange Days said:

Why the heck do you have the characters from "The arm full of brilliants" on your avatar?

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It's actually "The Diamond Arm," and because it's freakin' hilarious. Duh.