After the massive project of compiling all my posts on writing (okay, so it wasn’t that tough), I started to reflect, again, on what it means to be a writer.
- Is a writer a person who makes money from writing? If so, does slapping a few ads on a blog count, even if it only earns a few cents each year?
- Is a writer a person who gets published by a major publishing house or in a popular magazine? If so, does Amazon still count, even if the book’s “only” digital?
- Is a writer a person who studies writing, earns the degrees, maybe even teaches others the art? If so, does passing on the skill of journaling to your seven-year-old girl count?
- Is a writer a person who has business cards that say so, who signs books at a bookstore? If so, does it still count if no one shows up to the signing, if no one ever calls the number, if no one remembers their name?
Or is a writer just someone who writes?
I’m going with that last definition, and saying, “Yeah, then I guess I’m a writer,” though I’ll probably always think of myself just as someone who writes.
