What Does It Mean To Be A Writer?

What does it mean to be a writer? That is a question I have wrestled with for years.

Do you have to be published?

Do you have to have a degree?

Is there some special quirk that identifies the writers of the world?

How do you know?

There are so many answers; so many opinions. I may not be a writer who will someday be published. I may not be a writer whose words will be remembered forever. But I am a writer all the same. I know because I cannot stop the words from coming. I know because stories echo in my mind. I know because characters whisper to me to give them life. I know I am a writer because words are beautiful by themselves. Because words are music that I hear somewhere in my soul. And when those words are strung together, they make a song. I know I am a writer because I hear the music and am compelled to make my own.

I write because I cannot help myself. That is how I know I am a writer, because that is what it means. I may never be good; but I can be better. So, I write.

Before I was a writer, I was a reader. I suppose that is true of most of us. I started reading at such a young age, I don't actually remember a time before I read. My mother and father are both readers. They are both eclectic in their tastes as well. I have read books published this year, but I have also read books that are hundreds of years old. I have read Fantasy, Science-Fiction, Historical Fiction, Romance (unfortunately), Children's Books, YA; I've read these and many other genres. I have grown up appreciating books and the unique magic spell each one has. It was only a matter of time before I started trying to create my own.

I think reading so many genres from so many eras has helped me tremendously. Reading is the best thing you can do to become a better writer. But you have to expand and reach for all kinds of books from all kinds of people. You have to find books that span across the decades. Then, write what you love. That sentence echoing in your mind? Write it, then add some more. The character that just won't go away? Bring them to life. Write because you have to. Write because you want to. Write because no matter what, you can't help yourself. Write because in this whole world, no one else can do it the way you do. No one else knows those characters like you do. No one else can stay in the world you've created in your mind. They can visit, if you let them. But you live there alone. So write

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