Friday, December 9, 2011

Becoming a Writer

I have a difficult time calling myself a writer. The idea of calling myself that seems false to some degree. I'm a teacher, a mother, a wife, a friend. Not a writer. I've been trying to write more, to work on this novel, but I can't call myself a writer. I picture a writer as someone who obsesses for hours about the written page, slashing it with edits, reworking the words with madness. I don't have that kind of time. I write one day a week at this point (although I'm thinking I need to write at least a little every night starting this next week) and my time is limited, as well as often interrupted. I look at different writing magazines and I struggle with the label of "writer." Will people smirk if I give myself that label, will they scoff? I've been published, twice. Nothing amazingly epic, but I've seen my work in print. I've written reviews for others' writing and my words have been in print regarding those opinions. But still, I can't call myself that name. In one article I recently read, "A Writer's Daily Habit," by Ellen Sussman (Poets & Writer's, DEC. 2011), she states that most writers don't make millions of dollars--they have regular jobs and regular lives, not some dramatized fantasy that I picture. So do I call myself a writer? Maybe not out loud because it feels like I'm speaking something inappropriate. But hopefully I'll feel more comfortable with it soon...maybe when this first novel is complete...