Great post. I think I am lucky because I did call myself a writer long before I was published. But it sure helps to see 2 books on the shelf with my name on them!
I hope you get better soon. There are some real nasty bugs out there at the moment.
Yes! I've had the temerity to call myself a writer for years, based on the assumption that I have to name myself into existence. The process is ongoing.
I hope you feel better soon! Being sick is horrid.
I love this! I struggle with calling myself a writer. I feel like a fraud for having that on my FB page and Twitter and IG and now Post. After all, I'm JUST a teacher, right? But no, damn it, I'm also a writer. I will take this with me this week as I prepare to print my (GULP) third draft.
And get better. Sickness is everywhere right now. I'm just hoping to make it to finals!
I love the Tweet! I recently decided that I am a writer simply because I write. Let’s hope the confidence/lack of concern about what others think sticks!
We must be on different versions of the same life path. My entire family has been knocked out with some virus (my suspicion is RSV) for weeks now. My cough is the point of hurting my head. And the 2.5yo is a mess with it.
Anyway, I love this quote. And I think I did that, spoke my vocation into the universe and have spent the last 4 years proving it. I quit my job to write a novel, and the novel is coming out in less than 2 months. It feels good. ☺️
I wrote my first book pretty much on a dare over nine years ago, but realized it was something I actually had wanted to do for a long time. And now I can't stop ... just published book #16. I thought this might be the last because it really took a lot out of me ... or I poured a lot of myself into it ... but I'm five chapters into the next one. I'm not sure when I decided this passion for writing must mean I'm a writer. Maybe the fact that I can't stop writing, maybe because I hear from readers who appreciate my books...some even love them. The thrill is that I've shared stories that resonate with some people. It really doesnt matter how many, every reader who responds is a gift back from the universe. I guess that's what writing is about.
It may be the fever talking, but it's telling the truth! I was a farmer for more than a decade, but it was a small, boutique operation, so I thought I only deserved to call myself a market gardener. I spent years educating 5th and 6th graders about growing food but never called myself a teacher. I've been writing (and publishing, though not in book form) for decades, but still have to deliberately move past the catch in my throat when I go to tell someone I'm a writer. If I don't believe it, who else will? Thank you for this, Ramona, and I hope this awful illness clears out soon.
Thank you for this post!! I hope you feel much better very soon.
I had wanted to be a writer since the age of 9 or 10. But I always somehow felt that had to mean writing fiction. I've finally realized that's not the kind of writer I am. And I've finally started thinking of myself as a writer (just here and there, and still with the feeling that I'm somehow doing something I'm not supposed to be doing). As my career has progressed, I've been doing more and more writing, which for the last decade has been in clean energy communications. This year I started a Substack where I write about anything I want to, once a week, and it's helping me feel more like a writer. It's the one thing I'd keep doing if I won the lottery, so ...
Thanks for expressing what so many of us are feeling! I haven't published a book and may never do that, but I really am a writer — though I still find that hard to say! ;-)
Hey Ramona, you're definitely onto something here. I've done the same thing: I've declared myself a writer and now I'm willing it into reality. Just last week I celebrated my one-year anniversary, which discusses some of the ideas you mentioned.
I once wrote to a friend that it would be easier for me to call myself a "genius" or a "supermodel" (I am SO neither) than to call myself a "poet" -- but I have been trying lately to say the word with a straight face when someone asks. For better or worse, once you are over 60, not that many people do. ; - )
Ah, yes, my poet friends lamented about this, too. Even those who had chapbooks all over the place. LOL.
The first question, after you've said you're a writer, is 'What have you written?' Most of what I've written probably wouldn't appeal to them, anyway, and since I'm not widely published, I can't really name a place or a book, so it gets awkward. But I do it, anyway.
The other response is...nothing. No reaction. As if they've immediately erased whatever I'd just said. That's even more unnerving!
Thank you all so much for your comments here. I'm still struggling with this cough but I feel a little better. I usually respond to each one of you, but today I just want to say I love how you each deal with that question in your own way. I learn so much from you.
I had a lot of confidence when I was younger and more ambitious, and it paid off. I built a satisfying freelance career that eventually fizzled after I moved out of the dynamic city, where all of my writer friends were toiling, too, and became someone else entirely in the north woods.
I can't even say it was my 'fault'. No, it was my choice. And now that I'm old and lacking both the energy and the ambition, my insights have changed, too.
I would still like to make a difference, would still like to see my star shine, but writing is such a pleasure for me I often feel that holding down this little corner is enough.
So thank you for being here with me. You've helped me in ways you can't even imagine.
Great post. I think I am lucky because I did call myself a writer long before I was published. But it sure helps to see 2 books on the shelf with my name on them!
I hope you get better soon. There are some real nasty bugs out there at the moment.
Thanks for the reminder - and take care of yourself.
Yes! I've had the temerity to call myself a writer for years, based on the assumption that I have to name myself into existence. The process is ongoing.
I hope you feel better soon! Being sick is horrid.
I love this! I struggle with calling myself a writer. I feel like a fraud for having that on my FB page and Twitter and IG and now Post. After all, I'm JUST a teacher, right? But no, damn it, I'm also a writer. I will take this with me this week as I prepare to print my (GULP) third draft.
And get better. Sickness is everywhere right now. I'm just hoping to make it to finals!
I love the Tweet! I recently decided that I am a writer simply because I write. Let’s hope the confidence/lack of concern about what others think sticks!
Love that, me too!
We must be on different versions of the same life path. My entire family has been knocked out with some virus (my suspicion is RSV) for weeks now. My cough is the point of hurting my head. And the 2.5yo is a mess with it.
https://niccisnotes.substack.com/p/notes-from-the-sick-bed
Anyway, I love this quote. And I think I did that, spoke my vocation into the universe and have spent the last 4 years proving it. I quit my job to write a novel, and the novel is coming out in less than 2 months. It feels good. ☺️
I hope you feel much better very soon.
NK
I wrote my first book pretty much on a dare over nine years ago, but realized it was something I actually had wanted to do for a long time. And now I can't stop ... just published book #16. I thought this might be the last because it really took a lot out of me ... or I poured a lot of myself into it ... but I'm five chapters into the next one. I'm not sure when I decided this passion for writing must mean I'm a writer. Maybe the fact that I can't stop writing, maybe because I hear from readers who appreciate my books...some even love them. The thrill is that I've shared stories that resonate with some people. It really doesnt matter how many, every reader who responds is a gift back from the universe. I guess that's what writing is about.
It may be the fever talking, but it's telling the truth! I was a farmer for more than a decade, but it was a small, boutique operation, so I thought I only deserved to call myself a market gardener. I spent years educating 5th and 6th graders about growing food but never called myself a teacher. I've been writing (and publishing, though not in book form) for decades, but still have to deliberately move past the catch in my throat when I go to tell someone I'm a writer. If I don't believe it, who else will? Thank you for this, Ramona, and I hope this awful illness clears out soon.
Thank you for this post!! I hope you feel much better very soon.
I had wanted to be a writer since the age of 9 or 10. But I always somehow felt that had to mean writing fiction. I've finally realized that's not the kind of writer I am. And I've finally started thinking of myself as a writer (just here and there, and still with the feeling that I'm somehow doing something I'm not supposed to be doing). As my career has progressed, I've been doing more and more writing, which for the last decade has been in clean energy communications. This year I started a Substack where I write about anything I want to, once a week, and it's helping me feel more like a writer. It's the one thing I'd keep doing if I won the lottery, so ...
Thanks for expressing what so many of us are feeling! I haven't published a book and may never do that, but I really am a writer — though I still find that hard to say! ;-)
Hey Ramona, you're definitely onto something here. I've done the same thing: I've declared myself a writer and now I'm willing it into reality. Just last week I celebrated my one-year anniversary, which discusses some of the ideas you mentioned.
https://agowani.substack.com/p/celebrating-an-entire-year-of-madness
I once wrote to a friend that it would be easier for me to call myself a "genius" or a "supermodel" (I am SO neither) than to call myself a "poet" -- but I have been trying lately to say the word with a straight face when someone asks. For better or worse, once you are over 60, not that many people do. ; - )
Ah, yes, my poet friends lamented about this, too. Even those who had chapbooks all over the place. LOL.
The first question, after you've said you're a writer, is 'What have you written?' Most of what I've written probably wouldn't appeal to them, anyway, and since I'm not widely published, I can't really name a place or a book, so it gets awkward. But I do it, anyway.
The other response is...nothing. No reaction. As if they've immediately erased whatever I'd just said. That's even more unnerving!
Thank you all so much for your comments here. I'm still struggling with this cough but I feel a little better. I usually respond to each one of you, but today I just want to say I love how you each deal with that question in your own way. I learn so much from you.
I had a lot of confidence when I was younger and more ambitious, and it paid off. I built a satisfying freelance career that eventually fizzled after I moved out of the dynamic city, where all of my writer friends were toiling, too, and became someone else entirely in the north woods.
I can't even say it was my 'fault'. No, it was my choice. And now that I'm old and lacking both the energy and the ambition, my insights have changed, too.
I would still like to make a difference, would still like to see my star shine, but writing is such a pleasure for me I often feel that holding down this little corner is enough.
So thank you for being here with me. You've helped me in ways you can't even imagine.