“What makes you a writer?”

There are so many fears and struggles in saying you’re a writer. So much so that we often discourage ourselves, from going down that road, because we are scared we won’t be able to do the impossible. To make a living off of it. But I don’t think writers write for money. In fact if we did, then a lot of us would have quit the day we started, because it’s definitely not the easiest money making route, so I’ve learned. I’ve heard so many people say different things about writing. Some say if you write…then you’re a writer. Which I like to believe. And some say, if you don’t write everyday, then you’re not a writer. Which I understand, but I highly doubt that. I’ll confess I don’t write everyday. I may write blurbs here and there everyday. But solid pages upon pages writing every day, I don’t do that. Yet I consider myself a writer. And I think that’s ok.

What I’ve learned as I begin researching fellow writers and reading scripts, and listening to overall writer’s advice, is that you are going to hear a million things from each writer that has come before you. But that’s their story, their path. That may have gotten them to success but that doesn’t mean it will or won’t work for you. You have to make your own path. That’s not to say that slacking and never writing, or not researching makes you a writer, because we all know it doesn’t. You do have to practice your craft. But missing a day or two here and there of writing, doesn’t not make you a writer.

A community which struggles to even consider themselves writers shouldn’t be so hard on ourselves. We all have good days, we all have bad days. We have days when we can write for hours, and days when we just can’t put it into words. But trust that you will get there, maybe not today or the next day, but maybe the day after that. And if you can’t than maybe you move onto your next brilliant idea. There are so many times when I have ideas upon ideas bouncing around in my head and I don’t know which to start with. The pros will tell you, just write it, stop worrying, and just get it on paper. And I totally agree. But that still doesn’t silence that voice in our heads that tells us, it’s safe in my mind. It’s perfect. What if I put in on paper and I ruin it. But what if you don’t? What if you write it, and begin to see it even more clearly? What if it’s a masterpiece? We need to learn to trust ourselves. There are delete buttons, and backspace, there are pencil erasers, and whiteout. Hell we can do this. If you really think about it, we have no choice. We are writers.

What constitutes you as a writer? The amount of pages you’ve written? The amount of hours you spend writing? How many years you’ve been writing? What you’ve been writing? How you’ve been writing? Where you’ve been writing? Winning an Emmy or Oscar? Writing a bestselling novel? Writing newspaper articles about what’s going on in the world? Or can it simply be sharing your ideas between the pages of a journal, posting to a blog? Or just writing from mind to paper? If your thoughts are your own and if you speak from your heart. Why should there be any hesitance.

I’m a writer. I write about my life, my heart, my interests, my hopes, my inspirations, my aspirations. I write about actors, and the love stories they portray. How simple actions can make love blossom on screen. I write reviews about music, music that can move emotional mountains. I write poetry about the world around me. I write about things that inspire me or that make me ask questions. I write about feminism and how believing in it only makes you wiser. I write about what I love, or what matters to me. I write. That’s what I do. And I love it. That doesn’t mean that it’s always easy. Hell some days I can’t even think about writing a sentence, because either writer’s block is kicking my ass, or my brain is fried. Or I just can’t find the words to tell the story that has been running through my mind. But I always manage to find myself back here, writing for you, writing for me. So I guess that’s what makes me a writer. Because no matter what it keeps me coming back. Does it keep you coming back? Because hate to say it, but you’re a writer too. We’re all in this together, just like Troy and Gabriella, (points if you caught that reference haha). God help us all. 😉

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 “Selfishly Humble”

Writers are a uniquely selfish yet humble bunch. We write to set our thoughts free. We write to make things make sense for ourselves. We write little bits of us and people we know or people we see around us into storylines without permission. We drag out inspiration from the slightest acquaintances. We write. That’s what we do. Yet we never actually consider or have the guts to call ourselves writers. Because maybe if we say it out loud, someone will judge us or worse we’ll judge ourselves for trying to achieve the nearly impossible; making a living off of writing. And yet here I still am, writing. And if you’re still reading this maybe you are too. So observe, feel, and write. Just keep writing. Even if it’s crap…something will come from everything you write. And whether or not you use everything you write doesn’t matter. Write anyway. The more you write the more you find out who you are.

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