How to Know If You're a Writer

I thought doing a blog with this title may be helpful for lots of people. I know I myself have searched it using the Google search engine in the past. I'm going to start with saying if you actually take the initiative to google this, it means you probably are a writer because you care enough to question if you are one.

I wish I had a ton of writer signs to share with you, but I think there's one in particular that determines it, at least from my experience.

It starts with rejection. I've been rejected so many times and I've never even had an agent once, never had an offer. I haven't even gotten past the first step of querying, and I've sent out hundreds of proposals in my lifetime. It's enough to make me want to quit.

The difference is that someone who isn't a writer, who only seeks it for money or fame, they'll be able to quit like it's the easiest thing they've ever done. For people like me and you who are writers, we'll try really hard to quit but the paper and pen will gravitate back to us and haunt us until we start writing with them again. That's right. If you aren't out there writing ghosts to life in horror books, they'll come to you.

A real writer NEEDS to tell stories to stay sane. Every bad thing I've been through that has made me who I am today is in a novel I've written in some shape or form. When I can see a character I made making it through what I went through and what many others have gone through, it gives me hope.

Not only does it feel good to let it out (journaling also achieves this), but it's proof for me that, like characters, people can have character arcs too. They can learn life lessons and change within themselves. It's nice to have stories showing how I've grown to be a better person over the years. It makes me feel like I'm making progress, and for me, progress is what creates most (but not all) of my happiness.

I love helping people in so many ways, but there's something about writing that gives me an even better high. It's pure empathy. You take readers on a journey. Instead of telling them "you'll be okay," you're literally showing them and allowing them to identify with your character. You give them the resources, but they do the growing all by themselves. It's amazing to me how every person can take away something different from what you've written for them.

That's how I know I'm a writer is knowing that someday my words will help people like they help me. Even though I'm not published, I still need the writing for me. I can still reach people around me too. It's like what Hazel was telling Augustus in The Fault in Our Stars. Augustus wanted to be a global superhero and for everyone to know his name, but Hazel reminded him even if you touch the community or something small-scale, you can still make a great difference in people's lives.

So that's the simple answer. If you can't stop writing, then you're a writer. That includes if a teacher tells you to quit, if you get rejections from agents, or if you read a draft of your book and you're convinced it sucks. No matter how bad the temptation is to quit, you come back.

I have no doubt I'll come to a point when I want to quit again. It's inevitable. But I already know I'll fall asleep one night and get this super cool idea, and give in.

Knowing who you are is something everyone comes to in their own time. So does finding your writing identity.

I wish everyone the best. No matter where you are in your writing journey, you are making a difference!