What does it mean to be a “real writer”? 
Some time back, I wrote a post the discussed how someone didn’t think that I was a real writer. When I started writing for a living, I heard that more than I wanted to. Not so much recently, but the idea of it still stings a bit.
But what does it mean to be a real writer? Anne Wayman hits it squarely with this blog post. Anne writes:
My experience with would be writers tells me that of 100 people who say they want to write, no more than 10 will ever sit down and actually write. Of those only one or two will ever complete the process
Like Anne, I’ve known a number of people who fancied themselves writers or who claimed to have wanted to write but did little or nothing. If they started writing a piece, they never finished even a first draft. If they didn’t start, they’d have a ready-made excuse that explained why.
It’s simple. If you want to write, you need to write. And keep writing. And keep improving. The desire to be a writer will only take you so far. You have to put in the hours and the effort to actually get something down on paper or on screen. Then, you have to put in the additional effort to edit and proof what you’ve written.
Yes, writing is hard work. Everyone can write, but not everyone can write well. To write well you need to practice.
What did I take away from Anne Wayman’s post? I guess after around 250 published articles and over a million words documentation, corporate writing, reports, blogs, and the like that I’m actually a real writer. And that’s comforting.
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Comments
I think it finally hit me that I wasn’t a pretender to the throne after I finished my fourth novel - I didn’t have a difficult second, it was a horrendously difficult third - and now I’m having an even worse time on the fifth but I’m writing my fifth novel for Christ’s sake! How many people even get to write a sentence like that?
[...] week, Anne Wayman left a comment in a post in this space. To be honest, it’s kind of flattering to have someone whose work you read and [...]
Oh my goodness… you bet you’re a real writer… ever considered doing a book?
Thanks for the link.