Aspiring Writer v Writer

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]

Helloooo...

[Sits staring awkwardly at screen for a while... knowing that at least one person (hi Mum!) is waiting for me to say something - anything!]
 
Hmmm... how to start a blog...
 
Dear Diary,
 
Wait... no... too teenage girl - and I didn't even do that as a teenager...
 
To whom it may concern,
 
Nope... too formal.
 
Okay, well I appear to be having some creative difficulties as I'm not all that familiar with writing a blog.  While I consider my options and wonder how I'm going to start this blog, I'll tell you a bit about myself.
 
In case you can't tell from the title, my name is Samantha.  I live in South Australia with my husband and my ginger fluff ball cat Cookie. 
 
I write for www.weekendnotes.com.au, www.recipeyum.com.au and various other websites on occasion.  I also work as a freelance writer which can be quite interesting and test me in ways I haven't experienced before. 
 
I have always had a love for writing and reading and started writing my first novel when I was around 16.  Yes, I know, nerd right? 

Sometimes I would like to say I'm a party girl, but that is so far from the truth it's almost laughable (go ahead, laugh, you know you want to).

As much as I love catching up with friends and socialising, I'm going to be honest here and say I've recently come to the realisation that I'm actually a hobbit (to any friends that might read this, love you!  Want to catch up on the weekend?). 

I'm not a big eater so seven meals a day might be a bit of a challenge, but the staying home reading and sitting in the garden suits me just fine.

Not so sure about the hairy feet though...

I'm pretty sure if I was in Bilbo's position the story would have been far shorter.  Gandalf arrives, gives me the contract, I say no, wake up the next morning, make my breakfast and go and sit in the sun.  Some months later I receive a nice post card from Middle Earth, singed on the edges, with a note that reads 'Really wish you had come.  Farewell'.
 
I joke.  My friends know I'm a hobbit.  And yet they hang around anyway... something to ponder later.  (And to those die hard Hobbit fans, I apologise in advance if I got those references wrong.  I have seen the movie, liked it, but don't have a Gandalf fake beard hiding in my cupboard - that's where my Doctor Who scarf is!).  And to those Die Hard fans... um... how weird does Bruce Willis look without hair?!

As I mentioned earlier, I'm not knowledgeable in the ways of blog writing and therefore am not sure if it is socially acceptable to write a blog about my writing life (or sometimes lack thereof), but this is my plan.

I have created this blog to document my thoughts on writing, to add some information that might help others, and, let's face it, as a way of distracting myself from actually doing that editing I so desperately need to do.

There are a lot of things that can distract you on the internet, but if you have run out of funny memes, finished stalking your favourite celebrity on Twitter, and have watched all the funny animal videos you can stand for now, I will hopefully have something useful on here to distract you (although I do recommend looking up Maru on YouTube, that cat is hilarious!)

To start you off, and to shamelessly self-promote, here are the links to my writer page for Weekend Notes and Recipe Yum.
 
http://www.weekendnotes.com/profile/170008/
 
http://recipeyum.com.au/cookbook/100/
 
Now to stop procrastinating and get some writing done... right after I check to see if Maru has found another box.

Until next time...

[Hey, look at that, seems I found a way to start the blog after all!]