Do you consider yourself a writer?
By explorations
@explorations (1712)
United States
January 12, 2009 10:17am CST
Even though I've been writing since I was eleven (personal writing), and have been a published writer since I was twenty-four (I'm thirty-four now), I still have difficulty considering myself a "real" writer. My inner critic needs to give it a rest because, obviously I am a writer. I have a lot of personal writing I do on a regular basis, as well as professional writing. It's STILL difficult to define myself as a writer, though...
Do you consider yourself a writer? Is this diffult for you, too?
8 people like this
19 responses
@tinkerick (1257)
• United States
12 Jan 09
I consider myself a writer and a poet. Simply because I do write stories and poems whenever the fancy hits me. However, I do not consider myself an "author" as I am not a published writer other than contest anthologies and online blogs.
If I ever manage to publish an actual book, I would then classify myself as an author.
If you write, whether it be musings in a notebook, short stories, books or poems, I think you have every right to declare yourself a writer. Especially since you are a published writer. You should feel proud that you have accomplished a distinction that so many desire but cannot attain. 
2 people like this
@explorations (1712)
• United States
12 Jan 09
You make such good points -- I really should take pride in what I'm doing. I'm an author with two books from small publishing companies, I've been published in magazines, I write a lot of content for reputable website companies. I guess it's because I hear, "well, all you do is sit around all day...that's not real work." So much negativity surrounds me about how I don't work "hard" in comparison to those who have physical jobs. It's hurtful, really.
1 person likes this
@tinkerick (1257)
• United States
12 Jan 09
That is an unfortunate part of being human, we all have a tendency to look down upon those that seem to have it easier than we do as far as work.
Of course there are jobs that are less physical as well as jobs that are more physically strenuous. We sometimes pick what we want to do, and sometimes it picks us. Either way, we should not say hurtful things to those who appear to have easier jobs than ourselves. There is no glory in cutting someone down for how they earn their living as long as it is respectable.
You as an author have your own stresses. They may not be physical in nature, but you have your goals to finish, deadlines to meet, editors to please as well as the scrutiny of all the eyes that read your work. All of that can cause just as much stress as doing physical labor, it's just not as visibly noticeable.
Feel proud! Don't let others bring you down. Your accomplishments have allowed you to choose a path YOU enjoy.
1 person likes this
@GADHISUNU (2162)
• India
12 Jan 09
I consider myself a writer though I have not been published.If you consider getting published in house-magazines as no publishing that is. Most of my writing has been professional.In professional writing I have been appreciated many a time.To publish in the form of a book one needs to have something important to write about isn't it?
1 person likes this
@explorations (1712)
• United States
12 Jan 09
Professional writing still involves being published, even if it is not published in a book. I've been published over and over through many different forms of media, and then I finally started writing books after that.
1 person likes this
@GADHISUNU (2162)
• India
13 Jan 09
What genre of books of yours have been published? Fiction or non-fiction?
@Ravenladyj (22902)
• United States
12 Jan 09
I do consider myself a writer as well as an artist BUT in the eyes of others I may not classify - what they think though is irrelivent to me..I write, alot, I paint, draw and am creative in several ways..just because I dont get paid for it and am not famous etc doesnt matter, its still what I do ya know.
1 person likes this
@explorations (1712)
• United States
12 Jan 09
I really needed to read this today! Thank you! :-)
1 person likes this
@derek_a (10874)
•
12 Jan 09
I spent several years on adult education with our local university learning the art of creative writing. This was so I could write a book about my work - I am a therapist. Whilst I wrote the book, it never got further than the manuscript stage and I started raiding it to write articles for my website.
In Uni, it was all about fictional writing, and whilst I found it valuable in writing my self-development book, I got somewhat hooked on the fiction side of it and started writing about my life as a musician in the 3rd person adding a bit here and there to make it more interesting. I still don't "feel" like a writer, but considering I have written my articles, websites and blogs, I suppose, yes, I am a writer.. :-)
1 person likes this
@explorations (1712)
• United States
12 Jan 09
It looks like you and I share this feeling of "not being a writer" . . . but we really are writers . . . in common. I think this is such an interesting topic of conversation. I'm looking forward to reading how other writers feel about themselves.
1 person likes this
@AndrewFreyne (6281)
• United Kingdom
12 Jan 09
I absolutely class myself as a writer! I don't have a book published or anything, I would love to have a book published, this would be a wonderful thing. Like you, I have been doing a lot of personal writing and I just love keeping private journals. My journals act as a release for me! I have also published quite a few articles for the likes of Helium. I have several articles published on Triond as well and I have one piece of fiction published on Associated Content. I love to read and I find that this also helps you when you are writing. I like to think of myself as an author and so I am! If you have anything published then you are an author. Good luck with your own writings. Andrew
1 person likes this
@venkataraman_vc (5293)
• Chennai, India
12 Jan 09
I am a programmer and two of my articles on C language have been published in a popular magazines. It is not for this reason I considered myself a write, since still there were some areas where I had to improve.
When I got selected by a local magazine for Sub-editor post, I started considering myself a writer.
1 person likes this
@tammytwo (4298)
• United States
13 Jan 09
Some days I do and others I don't. Weird I know. I worked for our local newspaper for nearly two years until we got new management and because I wasn't a journalism major and didn't hold a degree in journalism she let me go. Although I was meeting the requirements of the job she said an editor without a journalism degree is like a teacher without a teaching degree. I didn't agree with that either because we have plenty of teachers that teach at our school and hold a degree in another line of work. They seem to do well but who am I to say. Anyone, yes there are days I feel like you and don't always consider myself a writer.
@Idlewild (6090)
• United States
13 Jan 09
I've been writing since i was a kid, and then did writing in college and now as a professional. So I definitely consider myself a writer. Some people might not consider me a "real" writer because I don't write fiction or magazine articles (I mostly write marketing copy, blog posts, etc.) But to me, I'm definitely a writer.
@dodo19 (47315)
• Beaconsfield, Quebec
13 Jan 09
I haven't published anything. But I have been writing some personal writings, since my early teens. However, I do call myself a writer. It doesn't matter if I haven't published anything yet. I have plans to try and publish, therefore I would call myself a writer.
@insulin (2479)
• Philippines
13 Jan 09
Hi there..:-0 Well yeah I consider my self an artist writer well lets say song writer and I am doing it for almost 8 years and and I just made a lot of projects but anyway I cannot still say that I am a good.You can check my song in www.myspace.com/flodawny
@rajini2385 (51)
• India
13 Jan 09
I am not a writer but I sing, paint, dance and I consider myself good for that as I am doing this for my happiness and I am happy with that. I won't compare myself with others especially for these things as it comes from our inner self which can't be improved or changed according to others. So believe in urself, you are a good writer and be proud of that.
@ronnyb (6113)
• Jamaica
12 Jan 09
I am not a published writer nor do I consider myself a writer. I think like you say my inner critic never gives me that confidence .Furthermore I had some trouble with writing when I got to high school and became more interested in science, a preoccupation that caused my English to suffer in a number of ways. Firstly I didn’t read as much as I used to .Secondly ,I found myself reading only science books and finally I found that English suddenly became a burden. I hope to improve my writing skills this year by reading more and seeking help from more accomplished writers on the web.
1 person likes this
@unusualsuspect (2602)
• United States
12 Jan 09
I consider myself a writer, though not a professional, since I don't earn a living from it. I doubt that I'll ever write a book, and I'm not particularly interested in writing for print publications, so some people might say that I'm not a writer. I have a paid blog, and I write articles for a couple of content sites. I think everybody has a different idea of what "writer" means, and of what a professional is, so I don't really worry about it. I just do what I do, and let others argue about definitions.
@moumitamazumder (817)
• India
13 Jan 09
I used to write poems and small stories when I was in my growing up years. Up till the age of 17 I wrote. But then I suddenly lost all interest in writing, and just stopped writing. I will thus not say myself a writer, but yes I could have been one if I had nurtured the talent in me.
@Frederick42 (2024)
• Canada
13 Jan 09
I am a sort of writer, since I am writing discussion sover her and I am also writing reviews and other articles for a blog. Still, it is little bit difficult to consider myself as writer because it has entered my head that a true writer is he who writes a big novel and earns a name and fame.
@thanxiang (126)
• Philippines
13 Jan 09
I consider myself a writer even if other people say i am not.I love writing diaries,stories etc.Despite my poor knowledge in grammar coz English is just our second language,i dont consider it as a problem.In writing i can express my thoughts and ideas.So i guess i am a writer...Being a writer doesn't mean only that u have some published works but it has something to do with how you put your ideas and thoughts into writing.
