When did you know that you were a writer? This is a question I get within the first few minutes of every book reading I have ever done. It is an interesting question albeit sort of annoying after the 100th time. I use to wonder why people feel they need to know the answer to that question. I mean if they are asking are they just being nosey or are they thinking that they too may still yet have some moment of clarity where they can declare that they too are a writer and want to know what that moment might look like? Whatever the reason, it has made me look in the mirror once or twice and ask myself.
I don’t remember a moment when I realized that I was a writer. I can honestly say that I have just always been one. I have never desired to be anything else nor have I apparently been capable of being anything else. I tried bartending, retail sales, radio hosting; I even did a stint at McDonalds as a French fry cook in my early years (got fired from that one for stopping a robbery with hot French fries but that’s a story for another time)but I have always come back home to the pen and paper.
I think that many things can make you a writer but I also believe that if you are a writer, you know in your heart that you are a writer. I have always been long-winded when it comes to story-telling. I have never been able to leave a “simple” note for anyone; mine are always at least a half a page….”went to the store and while I’m gone I’m going to…” I read books like most people eat Lay’s Potato Chips…never just one but the whole book shelf.
So my answer to the question of when is simply always and I believe that’s a great answer because it is true. If you are a writer and you find yourself in front of a curious non-writer asking that same question answer honestly; if you have just always been, then say so. I have found over the years that many people who ask that question are in awe of what you do and that’s okay, trust me, your writing ego needs it; that validation wrapped in admiration for the craft. I believe that many of us are born to do what we do and despite those who insist that it can be taught one need only look at the successful writers out there and what they say in their interviews about why they do what they do…almost every one of them answer the same way, “I can’t not write” which is simply writer code for, “I’ve just always been a writer”.
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