The
question: “How do you know you are a writer?”
My
answer:
You know you’re a writer when you dissect a sentence for an hour
and decide it can be taken two different ways. Then spend the next hour
wondering which way the author meant it, and is it a trick. When you read
grammar books. When you write a story in two hours then re-write it for the
next six months. When you look up the definition of a word in three different
dictionaries. When the Thesaurus becomes your best friend and “Thesaurus it,”
your favourite phrase. You know you’re a writer when you make up lives for
strangers. When you take traits from five people and make one character. When
you have stacks of filled notebooks and empty ones waiting for their turn. When
you have an abundance of pens and pencils. When you read, not for relaxation
but to look at sentence structure and style. When you start writing at eight in
the morning then realize it's six in the evening, and you haven't eaten all
day. When the only light on is the one in your writing room and the rest of the
house is in darkness. You know you’re a writer when you’d rather spend the day
with your fictional characters than with anyone you know. When you feel you
can't deal with your characters’ problems anymore. When you are able to kill
your little darlings. When you step back to do what's right for the story and
not what you want. You know you are a writer when you detach from words and use
the simple ones that mean more than the impressive big ones. When you have
files and files of stories in your computer, binders on bookshelves, mounds of
printed work in a cupboard and in file drawers. When you can remember exactly
where you put the paper with a sentence you wrote three years ago, but you
can't remember an appointment made last week. When you grow a thick skin. When
you can accept critique. When you question your writing. When you don’t give
up. When you step out of the box. When you get rejection or acceptance letters.
Most important, you know you are a writer when you sit down and write.
January 2014
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