When can you call yourself a writer?
Do you call yourself a writer?
Do you feel comfortable calling yourself a writer?
Imagine you’re at a party and someone asks, “What do you do?”
It’s an almost mandatory question when humans gather together. It’s not an arbitrary question, no matter how you might feel about small talk. How a person spends their days provides insight into that person. That’s why we ask it as a getting to know you talking point.
Most people have no trouble answering the question. They answer with honesty, with confidence. They answer without hesitation, they answer without qualification or justification.
“I’m a teacher.”
“I’m a plumber.”
“I’m in data entry.”
“I’m an electrical engineer.”
“I’m an Uber driver.”
“I’m a real estate agent.”
“I’m a ….”
There’s one person standing in the back. This person’s heart goes into overdrive, their stomach squeezes when they’re asked this question. They swallow hard.
“I’m a writer,” they say.
And the person asking continues with genuine interest.
“Really? That’s cool. What have you written?”
“Er, I’m working on a novel. I’ve just had a couple of stories and articles published. I’m not a real writer.”
“Oh.”
End of interest. End of conversation.
Why do we never hear the teacher qualify or downplay their job?
“I’m a teacher, but I only teach English.” Or “…But I only teach part time.” Or “…But I only teach first grade.”
So, when can you call yourself a writer?
You Know You’re A Writer When…
You only have to be online in writer’s circles for about two minutes before you encounter one of the gazillion “You know you’re a writer when…” memes. Here’s a Reddit thread of the same…
Some of them are tongue in cheek (You know you’re a writer when you’ve mastered procrastination as an art form). Others are more action definable (“You know you’re a writer when your handbag content always include a notebook, a pen and a book to read). These are just silly Internet memes, they have no bearing on real life? Right?
There’s a reason why the “You know you’re a writer when…” meme has made such an impact.
It reflects a very real anxiety among we writers who want to know if and when it’s okay to call ourselves writers and whether we’re doing it right when we do claim the title.
Why Do Writers Have A Hard Time With the Title “Writer”?
Perhaps you’re not published, or you’re self-published so think you’re not entitled to call yourself a writer.
What’s your idea of what “writer” means? What are other people’s ideas?
Writers are not common. It’s rare to meet a writer.
Most people who aren’t writers or who don’t live in literary circles don’t understand what it means to be a writer. They have a certain idea of what being a writer looks like. This idea usually looks like Stephen King and or J.K Rowling. You’re not anything like either of these writers, ergo you fear you are not a writer.
There are a lot of obscure niche professions in the world. Let’s go back to that party and meet the Electronic Data Interchange Specialist. It’s a real job and a real job title, but most of us have no idea what it means or what the work involves. Does the EDI specialist have difficulty calling themself that? I doubt it. It’s a job, they do it, therefore they are it. They don’t need to feel the understanding or acceptance of others’ perception of what their job should be like to own that title.
I have been a professional writer for over a decade. I write all the time, I make money from my writing; I have no plans to do anything else (professionally speaking) for the rest of my life. I have found my calling and I heed the call, I do the work daily. Yet, it has taken me a really long time to call myself a writer.
When I was working as a copywriter, calling myself a “copywriter” was so much easier than calling myself a “writer.” Why?
In small talk situations, I had a much easier time explaining to people that I write marketing copy or websites or blogs for other people than I did explaining my own work, my true work – my fiction, my blogs, my books. In public, I was more comfortable being a ghostwriter and talking about the books I’ve written that don’t have my name on the cover than the books I put out into the world under my own name.
Why?
Because a “copywriter”, like a plumber or a teacher and even an EDI specialist is an easily definable thing. It’s a job description with a clear set of qualifications, results, career path, and expectations. The definition of what makes a teacher a teacher and even a successful teacher is so ingrained in our world that we don’t need to think about it.
A writer is an infinitely more complex and variable role.
When Can You Call Yourself A Writer?
The simple answer is “whenever you like.”
A more meaningful, helpful answer takes a bit more unpacking.
“Do you need someone to make you a paper badge with the word WRITER on it before you can believe you are one?”
Stephen King
Being a writer, working as a writer, living as a writer is different for every writer. Margaret Atwood is a writer. I am a writer. That does not mean we are working at the same job. The writer who pulls out one novel a year around raising her kids is different from the writer that pulls out twelve novels a year. They are both still writers.
You can call yourself a writer when you define what that means for you. And please stop calling yourself an “aspiring writer.”
Do you want to be a novel writer? A super prolific novel writer? A non-fiction writer? A freelance writer? A short story writer?
The reason I had difficulty calling myself a writer, as opposed to a “copywriter” is because I hadn’t defined my own idea of what that meant. I hadn’t defined my own success or goals.
As soon as I defined what being a writer meant to me did that, it was easy.
“What do you do?”
“I’m a writer.”
