I'm going to be honest here and say, for as long as I can remember I have wanted to be a writer. I love the idea of crafting a story, creating characters, letting them live their lives, turning them evil and unleashing their wrath on the world... wait... that's Stephen King's dream...
I have always written for myself, meaning aside from the work I do for the various websites I have mentioned in my first post, I enjoy creating these worlds and the characters in them for my own amusement as much as anyone else's.
Does that mean I don't like my life and want to escape it? Not at all! Life is good! But when I write I find I can drift away into other worlds, create whatever I want whenever I want. There is something about the written word which some marvel at and become completely enthralled in whilst others just see it as a way of communication. I don't think I need to specify which category I come under.
It is only in the last couple of years I have found myself publishing work which can actually be read by other humans (gasp!), and it wasn't something I did without a lot of thought.
So the question I've asked myself is, when do I stop saying I'm an aspiring writer and start just calling myself a writer?
The truth is, assuming you have written something (or at least started to write something - grocery lists don't count - unless you're writing a story about someone going shopping I guess...), you really should call yourself a writer; it's good for morale. Okay, it's best not to call yourself a 'published novelist' because the conversation at a party with a stranger could go something like this:
"What do you do with your spare time?"
"I'm a published novelist." [Nods thoughtfully whilst trying to act as casual as possible.]
"Oh really, what's the name of your novel?"
"I'm sorry, would you mind repeating the question?"
"Where can I get your book? Who's your publisher?"
"Publisher? Interesting word publisher..." [trails off.]
"Err... yeah... fascinating. So who is your publisher?"
"Hey look! Cake!". [Gets up from chair and spends the rest of the party hiding in the pantry in the kitchen handing out serviettes to those who walk by.]
The truth is, if you have written anything you find worthy of being called yours and it's creative, you ARE a writer. I read somewhere (unfortunately I can't remember where and therefore can't quote it), that a writer is a writer if they've written something, they're an 'aspiring writer' if they have never written anything but one day plan to. Something like 'one day I will quit my job and write that novel everyone will love'. Let me be clear, there is nothing wrong with aspiring towards something, but why wait?
Being a writer is something you can do without a degree to prove you are qualified (courses can be great, whether they are through university, TAFE, or a short online course, but they're not essential) - this is where writing and many other professions differ. For example, law enforcement officials frown upon you being an 'aspiring police officer' (that's called impersonating an officer and the courts don't appreciate it), NASA isn't keen on sending an 'aspiring astronaut' into space on the pretence they are actually an astronaut, hospitals aren't all that enthusiastic about allowing an 'aspiring surgeon' to operate...
Okay, I think you get the idea. Writing is something you can do without having to spend your life aspiring towards it. Sure, you might need to work on the published part, but it doesn't mean you can't be creative.
It took me a long time to change my Twitter information from 'aspiring writer' to just 'writer' but when I did, I realised it wasn't really that scary after all. My twelve followers (yes that's right - I have twelve - awesome right! And no, that's not sarcasm) didn't react strongly, accuse me of lying or I can only assume, even notice it had changed.
So before you get arrested for impersonating an officer or operating on the wrong end of someone (hello Doctor Nick!) take the time to think about whether you really are 'aspiring' or whether you are already there.
Again, I stress, I'm not saying formal education doesn't help your writing (I've done some TAFE certificates - granted all but one had nothing to do with creative writing), but you don't have to spend years studying to start learning how to write. The best step is to just start... that's all there is to it.
Just start...
[Pep talk to self for the week - CHECK]
