How long have you been writing? How did you start? Why do you want to be a writer? I tend to ask these questions—though not always directly—to anyone I meet who says they write.
In one of my English classes this semester, I wrote a research paper about the growing trend in writers. Everyone seems to be a writer. Everyone. Even those who you would never have thought to be writers. And though, in my paper, I discovered that the benefits of having more writers around outweigh the inconveniences, when I come across someone who thinks they can write, but really can’t, it annoys me.
I read a webcomic the other day where the characters come across a trucker who writes all different kinds of genre fiction (he’s done romance, fantasy, science fiction, etc.), and everything he writes is garbage. He can’t write to save his life, yet somehow, he’s getting published. This is just a webcomic, but it holds true in real life. There is so much stuff that is extremely badly written. So many people think they can write, but they can’t.
But then, of course, I feel bad and start to wonder, how am I different from them? Am I? I believe I am. I have been writing stories since I was four years old—even before I could read. My stories are not just clichés piled on clichés. While I use some tropes (one story has, heaven forbid, a prophecy), they are not the central themes or plot points to the story. The hero of the prophecy isn’t the main character. The main character is her sister. My stories are more about the interactions between the people.
How do these people think about writing? Do they think about it all the time? Do they struggle over making their writing the best it can possibly be? If they do, they can be real writers. I guess what I’m thinking is, if they don’t have respect for writing, they are not writers. I try to withhold judgment from those who don’t seem writerly until I know whether they really love writing or if they just do it.
Some with the talent don’t think anything of it. It’s like a pianist who says “I’m already good.” As soon as they say that, they stop progressing. They digress, in fact. Writers are the same. Even if you’re good, you have to keep working to be better.
At any rate, I love writing. I want to be the best I can. I know I have to keep working on it. That’s why I’m here. I am a Writer.
