It is an age-old question: when do you think you can consider yourself a
writer? Is it when you wrote something, published something, or got paid for
the final product? Mind boggling, I know!
I have wrestled with this issue many times myself on writers' panels and
been in great debates with many writers, from Rebecca Ore and Alan Wold to
Mike Allen and the late Hal Clement. My personal thoughts on this subject
are:
you are considered a writer when you write something and finish it, not
publish it. You have vested yourself into the magic of words. You have
vested your time in writing something that has meaning to you. Publishing is
still very important. However, the idea of finishing a piece of work is an
awe-inspiring feat for anyone. Many writers have false starts of their
supposed "Great American Novel," which lies dormant in a file cabinet with
old business records and tax returns, just gaining dust. So finishing the
work is very important as a goal.
However, I figured my opinion wasn't good enough for all of you. So
I asked many people from the known to the unknown this immortal question.
Here are their thoughts - some edited for space and/or content - but for the
most part their words appear as written. This column and one other future column
will be devoted to this topic . . . and maybe you can decide this issue for
yourself! Note: I have left web sites, future book releases, and some
writer's notes for some of these people, if you want to discuss their opinion
or network with them.
I used to think that in order to be a writer it meant that you have
had something published. I realize now that we are all writers in one
way or another, although many of us do not realize this. I used to write
when I was in high school but did not consider myself a writer. I just
started writing again. The difference is that now I consider myself a
writer. I am able to write about my life's experiences, my children, and
my business. I have not had anything published and I do not know if I
ever will, but that does not matter to me because I know that someday
the important people will read what I have written and those people are
my children. ~Lisa J. Noel [Writer's note: Lisa has some
outstanding works including one about hurricane Ivan which she has been
trying to get published . . . It is amazing to read her stuff. I do hope
she publishes soon.]
I believe you are a writer when you glue your butt to a chair and
stay there, and you do this on a regular basis, whether or not you
publish, because you love to write. I believe you are a writer when you
don't brag about being a writer, but when asked, you proudly admit you
are a writer-published or not published. I felt like a writer when I
received my first rejection. ~AngelFuror
Since writing is my passion, I believe I always knew in my heart I
was a writer, but it wasn't until I was invited to a writer's workshop
conducted by Mr. Bennet Pomerantz [Writer's note: these are her words, not mine-but
thanks Mel] that I discovered I truly was a writer and needed to share
my inspirations. ~Melody Ravert, author of Shadow of Death and
Avenging Sword (www.mysticrose.us)
[Writer's note: Melody is a
marvelous Christian fiction writer, worth checking out her books...also
she writes under the pen name of Ashley Katz.]
At forty-one years of age, I returned to college to attempt a
creative writing degree. I had been a bookkeeper/secretary who could
write the best business letter a boss ever sent out. My friends and
family often asked me to write a poem for their business or special
occasion cards. I was happy to oblige. Also, being a voracious reader
and former community theater actress, I always dreamed of being a
writer. After journaling and writing essays for an audited English Comp
class at the local college campus, an English professor told me I was a
writer. Not my mother or my best friend being polite after reading one
of my stories or poems, but a real, honest-to-goodness college professor
was telling me I WAS A WRITER! Validation. That was it for me. I'm proud
to say I've published several creative nonfiction essays (some for
money, some for copies) and a poem was accepted for an anthology (and I
didn't have to buy the book!). ~Sandra Chapman
I felt like a writer when . . . I saw my first byline in a
publication. ~Dena Dyer
www.denadyer.com (Author, Grace for the Race: Meditations for Busy
Moms (Barbour, now available at your local bookstore), Co-author, The
Groovy Chicks' Road Trip (TM) to Peace (Cook Communications, May '05)
Responding to your question (and ignoring the typo), here's when I
knew I could consider myself a writer--In 1980, I bought my first
computer, to use as a word-processor. I had to take out a three-year
bank loan, with stock certificates as security, because banks didn't
consider personal computers to be sufficient collateral. Once I had it,
though, I was able to write, edit and print much more quickly than I
could with a typewriter. I could also, and easily, rewrite articles,
adapting them for different markets, and thereby multiply my sales. It
was so valuable a tool that I was able to pay off that three-year loan
in just 13 months. There is a famous English one-act play by Phillip
Barrie (of "Peter Pan" fame), called "The Twelve-Pound Look." In it, a
woman realizes that when she can earn 12 pounds as a typist -- 12 pounds
being the price of a typewriter -- she can afford to divorce her husband
and live independently. In the same way, when I knew I had earned back
the cost of my word-processing computer, I knew that I could support
myself as a published writer ~Hal Glatzer [Writer's
note: Hal's book, based upon his audio presentation Too Dead to Swing,
is an exceptional piece of mystery noir (www.toodeadtoswing.com), and his latest opus A Fugue in Hell's Kitchen is
a great spoken word
project to listen to. (www.audio-play.com)]
When I was nine years old and wrote a complete Hardy Boys Novel . . .
that never sold. ~Rhonda Gibson (www.rhondagibson.com).
I have believed that I was meant to be a writer since my third grade
teacher encouraged me to write down a story she overheard me telling
some younger kids in the recess yard. It took 25 years to finally see my
name in print in an international trade journal, but I never Doubted it
would happen ~Jeanne Spicer Evans [Writer's
note: Jeanne is the most creative mind I know. Her no-nonsense ideas on writing, will make you think. I know she and I have
had many a chat - butting heads on the subject to use a better term. Have
her on any writer's workshop and it will be electric, she knows this
craft well. She has also written spec scripts for "Airwolf," "The Equalizer"
and "Babylon 5" first season]
I considered myself a writer the first time I wrote something that I
intended to get published. If a person is writing for publication,
whether it gets published or not, he or she is a writer. ~Dan Case (the
editor of www.writingfordollars.com.)
In 1940 I was seven years old. Eddie, Bernie, Jean and I played
newspaper. Our office was a huge cardboard box. I was a writer. ~Jim
Connelly, Avalon, NJ
I have the same definition of a professional writer as the Mystery
Writers of America (I serve on their national board) -- a writer gets
paid for her work. Wasn't it Mark Twain who said, "none but a blockhead
ever wrote for money?" Anyway, I was so proud of the first paid article
I ever wrote that I hung it up. Not on the wall -- on my front door --
until it curled up and blew away . . . PS: Now there's paid, and paid.
The motto of the MWA is "Crime doesn't pay -- enough." ~Elaine Viets (www.elaineviets.com)
I considered myself a writer when my grandmother, back when I was a
mere twelve or thirteen, proclaimed in a short message to me in my diary
that she knew in her heart I was a real writer and that she expected to
see me a published author some day; she died just prior to my first book
being published. ~Sarah E. Lingley, Historical Nonfiction, Freelance
Editing (www.themovingpen.com)
Actually, this question has haunted me for quite some time. It's hard
for me to answer. My inner belief is that anyone who devotes time to
putting writing implement to paper is a writer. Whether anyone ever
reads your work, you are a writer. Emily Dickinson was a poet all of her
life, though no one knew. I've been a writer for 20 years. I make my
living as a technical writer - churning out hundreds of pages each year.
Whenever I introduce myself as a writer, my friends and family correct
me as if I were not really a writer, but putting on airs. "Oh, she's a
technical writer," as though that doesn't count. I suppose professional
musicians go through the same problem - no one supporting you until
you've had your first hit. But I AM a writer - and very tired of
being corrected! ~Carol Lindsay (Administrator
www.coffeehouseforwriters.com)
A radio station in Croatia picked up one of my plays a few years ago,
translated it and broadcast it throughout their listening area. I signed
a contract in a language I couldn't read, never heard the final product,
and deposited the check. That's when I knew I was a writer. ~Brian Price
[Writer's note: Brian is an amazing audio
writer/producer/director and sometimes an actor. His Involvement in the
National Audio Theater Festival board of directors is one reason the
Mark Time Awards run smoothly. If you want a great laugh, get a copy of
Peter Galaxy, his SF audio theater satire . It's available at Great
Northern Audio Theatre (www.greatnorthernaudio.com)
with more of his audio theater works.]
Sometimes it's difficult to see yourself as others do. Accepting the
reality that I am a writer and that others view me as such has been a
life-time journey of discovery, helped along the way by friends and
strangers both. Acknowledging the gift brings acceptance of
responsibility. ~Gay Ingram
I knew I was a writer when I emailed my very first query with a
writing sample and the next day the newspaper editor called, offered me
my own paid fiction column with a two-year contract. ~Cindy O'Halloran, (www.cohalloran.com)
[Writer's note: Cindy can write a good audio script as
well - a very multitalented lady.]
I felt called to begin putting words on paper in Jan 2000 - New
Millennium, new career. I started dabbling, outlining a book, and
attended a writer's conference, but I didn't consider myself a writer
until I had the courage to answer a new acquaintance 's question "So,
what do you do?" with the assertion "I'm a writer." All I had at the
time was an unpublished manuscript, two obscure magazine credits, and a
lot of ideas, but I knew I was a writer from the passion that flowed in
my heart. ~Tim Burns (www.timothyburns.com)
I believe we all are writers . . . and as we go thru life the writing
changes . . . at times we may do very little, little yellow sticky notes
for basic communication. Other times we may be Journaling to see where
we have been and where we are going and where we are at the moment we
are entering in that journal. We find ourselves writing bits and pieces
throughout our lives, papers for school, postcards from that far off
place. When is it when we truly become a writer . . . does it start with
the bits and pieces and the ending when these parts are put together in
a story form. Perhaps society recognizes it when it's published. Maybe
we need to look at the big picture, and maybe it truly starts with the
first color book picture we did for Mom that so proudly was taped to the
refrigerator door with a few words scribbled on. What the writer is
after she or he is published is only an accumulation of all that has been.
Where does it truly begin? ~Alice Stacionis CHT, (www.SRS-Consultants.com)
Well, if you like some of these comments, there is always room for more in
my second installment of "When do you consider yourself a writer" coming
soon. Please, if you do wish to comment, try 3-4 sentences MAX! So if you
want your voice heard for this topic or any other you want addressed in this
column, the email is [email protected]. Always put the word WRITER in the
subject line of your email.
I would love to see more from those who already commented, if you wish to
share it with me! Send it on with the title WRITER REDUX (you got to love
French!) depending on space I will put those in the second installment. If
you already sent your comments and they ain't here! I got them (thank you!),
and I will try to use them next time. I always think feedback is a great
idea to learn from, no one is perfeckt! (I KNOW ITS
MISSPELLED and I ain't changing it!)
So 'til next time, REACH FOR THE STARS.
