On Being a Writer
Feb. 5th, 2014 05:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bonny_kateI think of myself as a writer. I am, perhaps, not a very good writer. I am not (and probably won't ever be) one of those writers who write every day. I will never be as prolific as Seanan McGuire, who writes at least two novels a year (and another a year as Mira Grant). I've spent years working (off an on) on outlining one novella, which may yet grow up to be a novel, and it isn't finished yet. On a really good day I can write around 800 words.
But I'm going to claim the title of writer for myself. I am a writer because it is what I am, but also because it is what I'm striving to be. Last year, for a bit, I tried to write for an hour a week. That isn't much, but it was still an effort because I was spending so much emotional and mental energy on job search (a truly heartbreaking task). I wasn't very good at keeping it up. I'm going to try again this year, anyway. After all, I did manage to write a few stories last year, some of them rather decent.
I am also going to work on editing some of my short stories. There is one in particular that I have a few markets in mind for. (I planned on sending it out by last July, but, well, work was insane and then I was sick, and then I was recovering from being sick, and that seems to very neatly sum up my year.) As I keep telling myself, if I can handle being rejected for so many jobs, I can surely handle being rejected for my stories (and I least I have the consolation that story markets tell you that you are rejected, instead of just never getting back to you).
I am going to ignore those people who mean well, but who say that you are only a writer if you are committed to writing. If you write every day, or every week, or always set aside the time for it. I am going to set aside time, but I am also going to recognize that life gets in the way, and that I won't currently prioritize writing that highly. But I am a writer.
But I'm going to claim the title of writer for myself. I am a writer because it is what I am, but also because it is what I'm striving to be. Last year, for a bit, I tried to write for an hour a week. That isn't much, but it was still an effort because I was spending so much emotional and mental energy on job search (a truly heartbreaking task). I wasn't very good at keeping it up. I'm going to try again this year, anyway. After all, I did manage to write a few stories last year, some of them rather decent.
I am also going to work on editing some of my short stories. There is one in particular that I have a few markets in mind for. (I planned on sending it out by last July, but, well, work was insane and then I was sick, and then I was recovering from being sick, and that seems to very neatly sum up my year.) As I keep telling myself, if I can handle being rejected for so many jobs, I can surely handle being rejected for my stories (and I least I have the consolation that story markets tell you that you are rejected, instead of just never getting back to you).
I am going to ignore those people who mean well, but who say that you are only a writer if you are committed to writing. If you write every day, or every week, or always set aside the time for it. I am going to set aside time, but I am also going to recognize that life gets in the way, and that I won't currently prioritize writing that highly. But I am a writer.