Who do you think you are?

So, I am a writer.

A Writer.

Or just a writer…?

Mr Stephen King says I am allowed to call myself a writer so that must be the correct term for it. In fact, he says that anyone who writes can and should call themselves a writer.

It all depends on how you present it, I suppose. Do you say it with confidence or as some kind of apology? Are you looking for confirmation, praise or permission?

It is a strange job to have and an almost unbelievable thing to be doing. Surely real writers live in gothic mansions and are always away on book tours or being interviewed on television? It’s either that or they’re sitting in a dingy attic room somewhere sweating over mounds of handwritten notes and living off pot noodles.

But being a writer has changed a lot over the years. There are now more ways to be a writer than ever before because we not only have the paper version but the high-tech online version.

I know people who make a living from writing novels and if you’d told me when I was young that I’d be a writer, that is what I would have assumed I would be doing. But I also know people who make their living by writing blogs, online content or marketing spiel.

I’ve also heard of people who make a very good wage by producing low or medium-content books, ghostwriting or doing CV’s…the list goes on and on.

I started out thinking I should write a novel. Not necessarily The Novel but certainly something ‘worthy’ and big enough to use as a doorstop.

I have now come to realise that I love writing sketches, short plays, blogs, short stories and novellas. I can’t cope with a loooooong project – I want to get in, get it written and then move on to the next idea.

Hence the reason I plan to release books of my plays, short stories, more novellas and such. Even though every reasonable “how to make money writing books” guide tells me this is a very bad and not good idea.

Tough nuts.

I might as well write the stuff I love to write and enjoy myself. Could I write a full-length novel? Yes. Would I enjoy the process? Nope. Would that come out in the writing and probably make it stink? Yup.

I’m even going to look into copywriting as a goal – I think that might play to my strengths quite nicely.

So…are you a writer?

Am I a writer?

Yes, we are both writers….or Writers.

Whatever you write and however you write it – wear the badge with pride.