What Does it Mean to Be a Writer?

Yes, I write. And so does everyone else, especially if they have an email account. But just because a person has the ability to write, does that instantly make him or her into a "writer"? A long while ago I mentioned to an acquaintance that one of the things that I enjoy doing is writing. The first words that came out of her mouth were, "Oh, you're an artist!", which I assumed meant that she considered all writers to be artists. Personally, I wouldn't go as far as to call myself an artist just because I wrote a few articles here and there in the past. But in my lifetime I knew a lot of people who would call themselves "poets" or "writers", when, for all I know, the only thing they could have written in their entire life was for a high school assignment many years ago. But then again, maybe writing just one thing is all it takes to be a "writer", right? Well, maybe not.

Being a writer seems to have a certain mystique about it. If you say that you're a writer that seems to imply at least a few things about you--some of these being that you're deep and profound, that you're creatively gifted in some way or another, or that you're all of the above. Though this mystique isn't necessarily true, it apparently still draws people into labeling themselves as "writers" when writing could be the one thing they actually don't do. I remember several years ago, I had a discussion with one of my creative writing professors on the idea of writing. One of the most interesting things that she told me, which stuck in my mind till this very day, was that she had heard so many of her students claim to be writers, when, for the most part, hardly any of them wrote at all.

In my lifetime, I've heard so many people express different ideas on what a "writer" actually is. Some have implied that you're not a writer until you're published. Okay, well, if that's the case then, how about the poor guy who's written thousands of pages of good writing, but is rejected by every publisher he meets, simply because of the lack of connections or the poor taste of certain people in high places? On the flip side, I've also heard of people who've published many scientific papers, but who are never once revered as "writers" (except only by name for cases of authorship). To me, that doesn't seem fair, especially with all the hours that a lot of these researchers place into their writing. But I've also heard of so many people who call themselves "poets" and "writers" when the only publications they have are in vanity presses (www.poetry.com, for one), with much of their writing being so awkward and choppy that it would cause Mark Twain's head to spin.

So, then, what does it mean to be a "writer"? If I spent my entire life writing instructional manuals for putting together Ikea furniture, would that make me a writer? If I received a degree in creative writing, but spent most of my life doing investment banking, while hardly writing at all, would I be qualified to call myself a writer?

To me, writing is just like anything else. If you do it for a living or if you do it for a majority of your life, then you are simply that. Just because you build one wall, doesn't actually mean that you're a bricklayer. But if you make a living laying bricks for a building, then you are bricklayer. Just because you plant one flower in a pot, doesn't mean that you're a gardener. But if you spend a significant amount of off-time tending your garden and truly devoting yourself to it, even if you may hold an unrelated gardening job, then I would say that you're a gardener, only not by profession. All in all, I feel that there seems to be too many people out there who mystify writing and label themselves as "writers", more for the attention rather than the reality of it (just like the people my professor mentioned).

In my case, I prefer never to actually call myself a "writer", at least not at this point. For one, I currently don't make any real living from it and, for another, I don't really devote myself to writing as much I could (subjectively speaking, of course). What I would probably call myself, though, is just an everyday guy who simply enjoys writing. Every now and then, for practical purposes, I may call myself a part-time freelance writer, given that I do make a slight income from my writing. But the point of why I mention all this, besides the fact that I'm trying not to be a writing snob, is because I think that the idea of a "writer" should be something more pragmatic as opposed to over deified--something sensible as opposed to a flaunted status symbol.

In various writing publications, whether online, such as Associated Content, or in print, such as various news periodicals, defining what a writer is, is simply a legitimate thing to consider. And in this wired age we live in, where people's personal writing is more available to the public than ever before, a firm idea of a "writer" is becoming endangered with time, which may or may not be a good thing. But that issue itself becomes another story, perhaps one that a "real" writer can someday write an ending to!