I’m asked the questions all the time: What does it take to be a writer? How can I be a better writer? How can I be a more successful writer? They may dream of launching a blog or getting published in a magazine or completing their debut novel. My reply is always the same: Writers write.
It’s the most obvious advice in the world, I know. But it’s advice every writer needs to hear and take to heart. Writers write.
Nobody makes excuses like writers, nobody is more creative in finding reasons to not write. I’m too tired. I’m too busy. I’m too distracted. We’re out of coffee. I don’t have anything to say. Tomorrow will be a better day.
But writers write. Singers sing, runners run, painters paint, and writers write.
Writers aren’t defined by their desire to write or by the joy they feel when they do it. Writers are not defined even by their skill in writing. Writers are defined by actually writing. Do you see it? Writers write. They dream of writing, so they write. They enjoy writing, so they write. They feel a call toward writing, so they write.
You can’t call yourself a writer if you are skilled with a pen but never pick it up.
You can’t call yourself a writer if you are skilled with a pen but never pick it up. You can’t call yourself a writer if you love to write but don’t ever sit down and actually bang out some words. You can’t call yourself a writer if you have a deep longing to write but nothing to show for it.
You can’t call yourself a writer unless you write. Because writers write.
