I'm not a writer...

[ostarella]

And I'm beginning to think I don't want to be. Because once again I find myself faced with such obstinate elitism it makes my head spin. See, I'm not a writer because I don't earn my living by writing. Even if I were published and getting paid for it, I wouldn't be a writer unless I supported myself by writing. Otherwise, I'm just a hobbyist. Or, in a more generous mood, I could be called an 'aspiring writer'.

The earth will shatter if I call myself an author.

Comments

[beckyblack]

Wow, by those standards there aren't that many writers around at all! Makes you wonder where all those books on Amazon come from. There must be a lot of hobbyists out there. And there aren't many painters, composers, dancers, musicians or actors either.

It's a weird attitude, as if writing is nothing more than a job. Artists have always had to balance their creative work with work that will put food on the table and buy shoes for the baby. If they were really lucky they had a patron or a relative to support them.

Don't let the bastards get you down! If you write, you're a writer. It's just a matter of degree how much of a part of someone's life "being a writer" is. A sliding scale from genuinely "hobbyist" and not interested in anything else, and full-time writer making their living from it. But if you write at all you're somewhere on that scale.

[billy-shriner.livejournal.com]

I agree with Becky (went to call you Jfm then ;-P). Whoever you've been talking to seriously has their head up their own arse! lol!

Isn't it, "I think therefore I am" ? Therefore, "I write therefore I am a writer" ;-p

It's hard. I'd like to make a full time living out of writing. But I'm a realist too. And you can make a living out of writing, it just takes a while. And what you call a living. We are all not going to become J K Rowling or Stephen King over night.

And depends how you want to do it. Reading Writing Magazine, there a lot of writers who make their living out of articles and short stories, getting letters published etc. Some can't even face the idea of writing a novel.

You keep at it and don't let the bastards get you down ;-)

[ostarella.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's what I figured. I asked these guys who wanted to volunteer to tell all these imposters, but so far no takers. LOL