Am I a Writer? Seven Points

Am I a writer? According to my brother, David, who definitely is a writer, I am a writer. Now, it's not a matter of how many people read what you write, it is just a matter of whether or not you write. So, the litmus test is very simple. If you write, you are a writer. If you like to write, you are a writer who likes to write. I suppose there might be some people who write, but don't really like to write. I don't know. There appears to be much written about this. I just read that some writers don't like to write. Dorothy Parker is said to have not liked to write but she liked "having written." I find that very interesting, and, I suppose, could apply to many things. I don't particularly like to paint anymore, though I used to. But I do enjoy "having painted." When I'm painting, I always seem to run into all sorts of problems. I don't run into many problems when I'm writing, especially since I started writing every day. The only problem I usually have is getting started. I have read that some writers who have written books about writing say that publication doesn't make you a writer. So, you can't say you're not a writer if you haven't been published. In fact, some of them say publication was "not all it was cracked up to be," and they no longer enjoyed writing as much since they were published. I can see where publication would bring a whole set of issues that might take away the joy of writing. I don't know exactly what those issues might be, but I imagine they would involve business aspects, marketing, quotas, advances, all sorts of details such as these. I dream of finding someone who believes in what I write and wants to be a mentor to me. More specifically, I'd love to have an agent. But that is probably unrealistic. My understanding of success in anything these days seems to involve self-promotion, having a niche, a "brand," just like anything else. If you want to be a gallery artist, you have to have a body of work that identifies you as the painter of this or that style or genre or whatever. I haven't found that, either in art or in writing. I like the freedom of writing whatever I want to write. I have written a quantitative thesis for a Master's Degree. I have written a qualitative dissertation for a Ph. D. I have written dozens of articles for publication in weekly newspapers, both news and feature stories and had a column in one paper I wrote for. I wrote a monthly column about real estate for my local newspaper. I have not written for pay for a few years now, but I still like to write. I enjoy the freedom of just writing whatever I want to write. I wish I could sit down and make up stories like I did as an elementary school student, and as I did for a creative writing course when I was teaching child development at a university in Kentucky in 1997. I have tried, but I haven't been able to do that again. Well, maybe I just haven't been in a creative writing class again. Maybe if I took another creative writing class, I could do it. I don't know. I think a lot about writing. I take notes, I keep most everything that I write, hoping that I might pick it up one day and it will be something I can put together with something. Usually when I look at it, I think it's probably worthy of the shredder, but it's there and it could still be useful in the future. I don't suppose these thoughts I've shared are the definitive ones on the subject, but they are my thoughts about it. I'm going to share with you a summary of what I have just written. I hope it helps someone. There is something very important about writing to everyone who writes. If it's just therapeutic, that is enough. I'm glad for blogging and social media. If only 12 people read what you write, you are still a writer, and what you write is worth writing. Don't give up. So, to wrap up, here are the seven points: 1. If you write, you are a writer. 2. Even if you don't like to write, but like "having written," you are a writer. 3. Publication does not make you a writer. You are a writer if you write, whether or not you have been published. 4. It doesn't matter what you write about, fiction or nonfiction, songs or poetry, essays. Whatever you write, if you write, you are a writer. 5. If you write about writing, you most definitely are a writer. 6. If you think about writing a lot, you may just need to sit down and write. 7. It doesn't matter how many people read or like what you write. If you write, you are a writer. That is the sum of the matter. Don't quit and don't give up.