On Being A Writer

Lately, I’ve been mulling over the question of what it means to be a writer. Most of us write something in the course of a day whether it’s an email, a tweet, a text, a document for work or part of a book or story. Should we all be labeled writers? In some sense, we probably should.

I’d been writing short stories and books for a while before I would answer “I’m a writer” to the question “What do you do?” I hadn’t yet had a story published when I finally declared I was a writer, but I had started sending my stories out for consideration. By doing that, I think I’d changed my mindset from something I was going to try to do to taking it seriously as a career.

So, for me, being a writer means having a certain mindset. Here are some indications you might be a writer that I came up with:

• You write even on the days you’d rather watch episodes of the Great British Baking Show or Ice Road Truckers.

• You continue to write even after your publisher cancels your series and you no longer have a deadline.

• Your characters are so real to you that, when a reviewer complains that a character doesn’t work enough, you immediately start defending her to all who will listen.

• You read a book or short story differently than before you started writing. You notice how a story is constructed as well as how the writer describes things. You even take notes and jot down a passage you particularly like to study later.

• Every person you meet, everywhere you go and everything you do is fodder for possible inclusion in a story.

• You read an article in the newspaper and tuck it away in the back of your mind, thinking that would be interesting to include in a story some day.

• You have discussions with others or write blog posts about what makes a good character and story.

• You don’t have to be published to be a writer, but you do take your work seriously and you write regularly.

• You feel a sense of accomplishment after you finish a book or story or write a particularly fun or interesting scene.

That's my list. What about all of you? What do you think it means to be a writer?