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I always feel awkward about saying I write, it always sounds a bit pretentious to me! If I do admit, I tend to follow it up with, 'but only a bit of romance!'
PB, I've been thinking along similar lines this morning. My Twitter name @AuthorMJF -- I'm not selling anything on my blog, I'm still only "starting out" despite the years that have passed since I actually started (and couldn't use an apostrophe correctly), and have no professional credits to my name (yet). I'm working on it (something I haven't been doing for the past year since my Running Out of Ink publication, because I let a lot of stress with the day job consume me. Well, hey, I've quit that job now. Moving on.) I wanted to get myself out there. It's a bit of a push for myself.
But that Twitter handle was feeling a bit pretentious this morning . . . Only problem is my name was already taken on there, and I didn't want to take up the suggestion of adding a 2 after my name. I won't be a number! So I thought why not just put "author" in there. It's what I am. I don't see it as a hobby, even though it technically is until I start getting paid.
There's no pretence really; it is what we are if we write.
Many years ago when I worked for the BMA I once had a conversation with a Doctors husband.
'What do you do for a living?' I asked. 'I'm a writer.' he replied very proudly. I was fascinated, and genuinely interested, 'What sort of stuff do you write?' He paused for a moment or two before answering quietly 'Adult.' Mr enthusiasm and Mr naive probed further, 'Oh, like detective fiction, murders and stuff?' 'Not exactly no.' 'Oh.' I had progressed from naive to plain stupid. 'Would I have read any of your stuff do you think?' He sized me up, 'I don't know, maybe.' Just then his wife returned and I brightly explained, 'your husband was just telling me about his writing career.' She visibly paled and fixed her husband with a withering look, 'I've told you not to tell anyone about that, it was bad enough when my mum found out you write porn stories, you don't need to go around advertising it to the world.'
So maybe there are times when you don't want to call yourself a writer...
I was talking to a bar acquaintance this evening and she said she had seen my FB comment on someone else's page, followed the link to my blog, read some of my stuff and liked it! This felt like vindication to me of my self-styled title of 'writer'.
Great story! In my experience if you tell someone you're a writer they immediately assume (for some odd reason) you will have written something they've read. And when they realise you haven't .... they're disappointed.
But to get back to the original question: If you're writing something with the intention that other people will read it (whether for payment or not) that's good enough to call yourself a writer.
I think it's to do with the volume of time spent or the volume of writing produced that dictates whether you are a writer. For most people here, it's a huge part of their lives. They have work in progress or dedicate a large proportion of their free time to writing.
Someone who gardens once in a blue moon, someone who sings now and then, someone who has knitted a couple of things wouldn't call themselves a gardener/singer/knitter, but as soon as those pastimes become regular, then the title gets adopted.
Someone who pens the odd few lines every few months probably wouldn't call themselves a writer.
This is an intriguing one - being serious for a change - I (so far) have made diddly squat from writing having shelled out hundreds of quid for critiques and stuff. I looked on it as a slightly nutty hobby given that so many people were trying to be writers the odds seemed hopeless of actually ever getting anything in print. Most people seem to be vaguely aware of that fact and think of you as being slightly crazy to spend your precious free time immersed in a laptop indulging in flights of fancy.
Now that I've got a book out (well almost out) that will be available in bookshops as well as online I am probably entitled to call myself a writer - BUT I still don't feel like I am one - mainly as I don't derive a living from it - my other job pays for everything. I suppose therefore it is a state of mind. Maybe I need professional help - maybe everyone who dares to put pen to paper or finger to keyboard needs professional help. But you know what the world needs writers...
I think if you write then there's nothing wrong with calling yourself a writer. I play guitar in a band; we don't get paid but just do it to raise money for charity and to enjoy ourselves. People sometimes come up to me and ask if I'm a guitarist in Flashback (which is the name of the band) and I say yes. I don't say no I am one of the guys up on stage with a guitar just because I'm not getting paid. So I would say 'Yes' you can certainly call yourself a writer.
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"Topic!"
But that Twitter handle was feeling a bit pretentious this morning . . . Only problem is my name was already taken on there, and I didn't want to take up the suggestion of adding a 2 after my name. I won't be a number!
There's no pretence really; it is what we are if we write.
'What do you do for a living?' I asked.
'I'm a writer.' he replied very proudly.
I was fascinated, and genuinely interested, 'What sort of stuff do you write?'
He paused for a moment or two before answering quietly 'Adult.'
Mr enthusiasm and Mr naive probed further, 'Oh, like detective fiction, murders and stuff?'
'Not exactly no.'
'Oh.' I had progressed from naive to plain stupid. 'Would I have read any of your stuff do you think?'
He sized me up, 'I don't know, maybe.'
Just then his wife returned and I brightly explained, 'your husband was just telling me about his writing career.'
She visibly paled and fixed her husband with a withering look, 'I've told you not to tell anyone about that, it was bad enough when my mum found out you write porn stories, you don't need to go around advertising it to the world.'
So maybe there are times when you don't want to call yourself a writer...
This felt like vindication to me of my self-styled title of 'writer'.
No I don't think I'd read any of his stuff and to be honest I didn't get to 'probe' any further with him lol.
But to get back to the original question: If you're writing something with the intention that other people will read it (whether for payment or not) that's good enough to call yourself a writer.
Pretty sure Rod Stewart (or whoever) never asks himself if he's a singer.
Someone who gardens once in a blue moon, someone who sings now and then, someone who has knitted a couple of things wouldn't call themselves a gardener/singer/knitter, but as soon as those pastimes become regular, then the title gets adopted.
Someone who pens the odd few lines every few months probably wouldn't call themselves a writer.
*looks around*
I don't see any of those types here.
Now that I've got a book out (well almost out) that will be available in bookshops as well as online I am probably entitled to call myself a writer - BUT I still don't feel like I am one - mainly as I don't derive a living from it - my other job pays for everything. I suppose therefore it is a state of mind. Maybe I need professional help - maybe everyone who dares to put pen to paper or finger to keyboard needs professional help. But you know what the world needs writers...