Are you Really a Writer?

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Are you Really A Writer?

That was absolute clickbait, I have no idea if you’re really a writer or not. In fact, I have no idea if I’m really a writer or not. When do you decide to call yourself a writer? I’ve had two books traditionally published and I have an agent, yet I still struggle to call myself a writer.

The problem with a writing career is there’s no typical path to success, there’s none of what HR people call a career roadmap. So, am I a writer when I get a book deal, when I get an agent, when I finish a book… even if no one reads it? Yes, yes, yes. Yes to all of the above.

This article is for all of you writers and those of you who are not sure. It’s my way of saying, I’m here, I get you, I feel your pain, understand your frustration and chances are, I’ve experienced something similar, so let’s keep going together.

It’s me telling you, it’s okay to be mad, to rant and rave, to threaten to quit writing and really mean it, because if you’re really a writer you won’t and the reason you won’t is because nothing in the world feels better than writing... and that's how you know.

 If you’ve experienced even one thing on this list, you’re definitely a writer.

• You’ve refreshed your email at least twenty times an hour in case you’ve missed a response to the agent query letter you sent three months ago.
• You’ve started a novel at least once and feel guilty every day because you can’t carve out more time to write due to work, or minding your kids, or taking care of your parents, or a million other things.
• When you do finally snatch some precious writing time, you’ve spent it scrolling social media.
• You appreciate that book agents and editors are very busy people but a tiny part of you can’t help thinking why the hell haven’t they bothered to respond to your email?
• You’ve been offered representation by an agent and celebrated because you knew your world was about to change forever and you were just one tiny step from publication.
• You soon realised having an agent is no guarantee that you’ll be published – and that one will knock you off your feet, so you may have taken a break but you got back up and kept on going.
• You’ve refreshed your email twenty times an hour when your agent sent your book on submission in case you missed an offer of a book deal.
• You’ve felt gutted when, after years of slogging, and querying agents and books dying on submission, you finally got an offer and the advance was so low you couldn’t survive a month on it.
• You can’t understand why your publisher offered you a deal, then did absolutely nothing to market your book.
• You’ve lost all hope and sworn you’re never writing another word because this industry has chewed you up and spat you out.
• You realise that your agent has super-hero powers and that having her in your corner to edit your book lifts your writing into a whole new category.
• You’ve seen your book in a real book store, beside all the other real books.
• You’ve walked away from a writing session feeling all is right in the world because today you got those words down, you moved your story forward and this great idea came when you were making lunch and you can’t believe you didn’t think of it before… and nobody can take that from you.

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