am I a writer?

17 April 2017

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Am I really a writer? I've been trying to answer that question about myself. Trying to gauge whether I should consider myself a writer or not anymore. 

It's been a long time since I've felt joy from my writing, since I've felt that sense of satisfaction I used to get from writing my thoughts down on a page. It's been over two years since I last remember staining paper with my story ideas. I've been thinking a lot about my writing, where I'm going with it, if I will ever write a book like I've always dreamed of, or whether I am a writer anymore or not.

Writers are suppose to write recklessly with fervor and urgency, like they must form words and sentences and paragraphs in order to simply breathe and survive. Whatever spark for writing I used to feel has dulled. I haven't had any bursts of inspiration to write. My mind is as blank as the pages in my journals.

I think I've finally come to the conclusion, though, that it isn't an issue of my not being a writer anymore. Just sitting at my laptop right now composing this insignificant little blog post is enough to nudge the storyteller living within me into action... I'm just a different sort of writer now than I once was.

I'm a cautious sort of writer now. I don't have a lot of time anymore to write for myself very often, so when I do, I pressure myself for it to be great, something that I will be proud of. But that rarely happens. I don't want to take any risks in my writing.

It's hard to get back into something when you're so out of practice. But I'm trying. Maybe I will write a book someday, or maybe not. Maybe I will write something else in a format that I haven't thought of yet. I'm trying to learn how I write now and how to utilize my writing the way it's meant to be shared.

Writing will always be something that is important to me. Whether I feel like a writer or not.

4 comments

  1. Great thoughts! I wonder sometimes, too, but I think I've sort of come to a similar conclusion -- I love writing, but mainly just jotting down thoughts/poems, etc. I'm not big on writing fiction like I did when I was younger.

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    1. It's definitely a struggle sometimes, especially when you don't have any inspiration. Remembering why we love writing is the most important. We don't have to write beautiful fiction all the time to be writers. That's what I've been really struggling with.

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  2. Same! I'm more of a reader now but I'll try and see if I can publish anything but even if I can't, I have to write stories. It was just what I was meant to do because I feel really weird when I haven't written in a long time :/

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    1. Exactly. Even if you don't hate a story to tell at the moment, just writing something can feel amazing!

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