Thinking of yourself as a writer

[Voboy]

The day I got my first writing paycheck was pretty damn satisfying, actually.

 

[SeraphNocturne]

I’ve always been a writer, something about the process of words just resonates with my soul in a way very few things do. My earliest memories, those I expressively hold precious, have always involved literary activity.

My third grade teacher offered a writing prompt every Monday as a year long project and chose a few to be read every Friday, requesting students to develop a story of their own. Mine was so expressively well received with my peers that it became a staple of the class for my story to continue as a series with new “chapters” every week. She sat me down and told me that I should stick with this talent, because she believed I would make a phenomenal author one day.

I have likewise instances of a thirst for expanding my vocabulary, spending hours reading through anything I could get my hands on and creating exercises with the dictionary to learn new descriptive words…

Will I ever truly become successful in the world with my writing? I surely hope so. But overall striving to be better at my craft is my goal here, and I don’t really care if it ever makes it anywhere beyond a fond hobby/pastime.

 

[Cagivagurl]

What quantifies a writer?
Why is the label even important?
For most of us, well, OK. I speak only for myself here.
I write words, create sentences, sometimes (Rarely) They make sense. Does that make me a writer?"
No more than pulling weeds out of a garden makes me a gardener. I've painted my own house. Does that make me a painter?
I write what I do not for platitudes, not for fame or fortune. I write with no expectation other than I enjoy it.
So long as that remains true for me, I will write. I post the stories here in Literotica, not because I think they are good, but because it is fun. It's interesting to see other peoples reactions.
Do they like it? I don't really care. I write for myself...
If getting paid is the requirement, I'll never be a writer...
If having books sitting on the shelves of a local book store is the requirement. I will never be a writer.
While I enjoy it, I call myself nothing, because it means nothing. Whilst I write for fun, all I am doing is enjoying life....
My advice, unless you want your writing to become a job, simply enjoy it for what it is.... FUN.

 

[nice90sguy]

When my first royalty check hit the bank.

That's my dream! I still get (tiny) royalty checks from the stories my father wrote back in the 1970's.

 

[Klqka]

Now hard work does not guarantee success, but a lack of hard work guarantees failure.

Very true. And as someone else said, the moment I started getting paid was the moment it clicked for me.

 

[Athalia]

For me, it was when I was hired for my first magazine job. It was actually a "re-write" job, where I'd take other people's articles (most assuredly by non-writers) and re-write them in such a way as to make them presentable to the editors. After that, they let me pick my own projects and gave me a by-line. That was when I truly called myself a writer.

 

[MyBareTorso]

So there is the utilitarian POV. You write, therefor you are a writer. But I’ve never felt like that. I felt like someone scribbling away, doing their best.

I think today, I’m beginning to think of myself as a writer. Why?

Well Laurel just accepted my Geek Pride submission for publication. I sent it in early as I was worried it might trigger the review bot. I also PMed Laurel and wrote an accompanying note. As my fictionalized self says in the story: “I am nothing if not thorough.”

But that’s kinda beside the point, save that it was accepted. Why was this a milestone for me?

Well it’s my longest story at over 30k words. And the trilogy it is part of is over 60k words. Those are chunky numbers. But size isn’t everything .

More so is that - though I have dabbled in a limited way before - these three pieces were my first wholly creative ones. Not based on personal experience (well some elements onviously). Not based on other people’s ideas. Not with the safety blanket of familiar settings. Made up in entirety.

That’s not something I thought I could do and that’s why I now think of myself as a writer.

Next to become a good writer .

Have you had any similar seminal moment?

Em

You are already a good writer!

 

[EmilyMiller]

You are already a good writer!

That’s sweet of you to say .

Em

 

[AchtungNight]

My “On Writing Celebrity Fantasies” contains much of my thoughts on this matter.

 

[Northstar4695]

I don’t consider myself as a writer, as I think of it as a professional title and I am squarely an amateur. This is entirely a subjective view and I actually don’t apply it to others. If you think of yourself as a writer, I would say that is great.

 

[MissPrim]

This is an awesome thread.

We all suffer from the delusion of our inadequacies as writers.

The day I thought of myself as a bona fide writer was the day after I scored my first ghostwriting job. The prior three years had been miserable— getting laid off from my corporate job in 2011 (still a recession year,) a second open-heart surgery, a fall that shattered my tibia, the bank trying to foreclose—twice (still have my house. I'm that stubborn,) my husband and my mother passing on in the same year—the hits kept rolling. Because of my health issues, I was unemployable. But I used my time to write two book-length stories I posted on Literotica, and one of them, on its last chapter, won a monthly award. So, emboldened and needing food money, I dusted off my Elance (now Upwork) profile and turned it to romance writing. I found a client right away, to write a science fiction romance, for a penny a word. Terrible, yes, but when I woke up that next morning, I said, "I have a job, and it's writing." Never looked book.

 

[onehitwanda]

This is an awesome thread.

We all suffer from the delusion of our inadequacies as writers.

The day I thought of myself as a bona fide writer was the day after I scored my first ghostwriting job. The prior three years had been miserable— getting laid off from my corporate job in 2011 (still a recession year,) a second open-heart surgery, a fall that shattered my tibia, the bank trying to foreclose—twice (still have my house. I'm that stubborn,) my husband and my mother passing on in the same year—the hits kept rolling. Because of my health issues, I was unemployable. But I used my time to write two book-length stories I posted on Literotica, and one of them, on its last chapter, won a monthly award. So, emboldened and needing food money, I dusted off my Elance (now Upwork) profile and turned it to romance writing. I found a client right away, to write a science fiction romance, for a penny a word. Terrible, yes, but when I woke up that next morning, I said, "I have a job, and it's writing." Never looked book.

There are times I wish I could hug distant people. This is one of those times.

 

[MissPrim]

There are times I wish I could hug distant people. This is one of those times.

(((((((Big Hugs))))))