Who Is Called A Writer?

What makes me a writer? And when can I call myself a writer? Do I have to be published first or well-known in order to say that I'm an author?

Let me break the news for you. YOU are a writer the moment you decide to write. The moment you put action and thought together and compose a series of words, you are a writer. The words that come together and form creativity tell you what kind of writer you are. There are many different kinds of writers, just as there are different people. You have the relaxed writer. The one who writes by mere chance, writes for fun and jots down anything. Then you have the mediate writer--the one who is serious but in the same tense relaxed. He writes when he can and tries to be serious but at the same time, he has a relaxed mode about him. And then there is the serious writer. This person sees himself as a Bestselling Author, climbing steps at a recognized publishing house and writing columns for New York Times. Figure out which one you are. Are you comfortable with where you are? Staying in your hiding spot and writing from your bedroom or do you wish to work downtown in Chicago, LA, or New York with a publishing company? The person within you has to decide this. Do you want your voice to be heard, or are you perfectly content with your solitude? Both are good factors, deciding which one is you is the point.

Your Writing Determines YOU

So again, what makes me a writer? This is a question many new writers ask. Do you have to have ten books published, working for Chicago Sun-Times and go on book tours in order to be called a writer? No. The moment you decide to write that manuscript, the story that has been brewing in your mind for the past few months, you are the writer of that piece. The project doesn't have to be published in order for you to be a writer.You might be the kind who likes to write for fun, sharing your work with family and friends and keeping it in your circle of reach. You are still considered a writer. You will know that you are a writer when you figure out that you cannot live without writing.Your characters have such a pull on you. They begin to talk in your mind, interact with your thoughts, and make you think differently about things. Aside from that note, a writer is one who is has the self-motivation to write endlessly. The one who is okay to live in solitude for a few hours or days. The one who builds a connection with his/her audience. A writer is the one who wants to make a difference with his/her voice being heard. If you want to make money and gain fame, then this is the wrong profession. There is no guarantee that you will make millions the moments you write those words down. And there is no knowing if you'll be a well-known author. It comes with experience, patience, and determination. If you want it, you will run after it and catch it.

A writer is often confused, but this makes us the WRITER. All of those thoughts and crazy ideas jump up and down in our mind making everything unclear. The writer is a person who doesn't give up even on the tough days. The days will come where nothing seems right and no words will form. But those days are there for perseverance, questioning our ability if we can do this. You can if you want to experience the journey of creativity, adventure, and flexibility in day to day life. A connection starts the moment you form those words, the second you decide that you are a writer because you can't imagine doing anything else. Writing books, short stories, articles, devotionals, scripts, essays, and so on are a variety of writing you can do. Perhaps you're the writer who will explore or maybe you're the one who will stay with one specific niche. Whatever it is, you can write because you want to and you will be that writer because you can!

You are a writer by practice and determination. Not everyone has this talent, so call yourself blessed and special. A writer sees life from different eyes, they understand incidences with a much deeper acknowledgement. You are an author the moment that manuscript is complete and a writer the second you devote time to your creative thoughts. Something magical happens the moment you start writing. Everything else can wait but those ideas. This special assignment is assigned to only a few, so grasp it if that is you. You will know in your heart if you are a writer, I promise you, you will just know!

I'm a Writer and am not ashamed! Because at the end of each day, I feel accomplished and if you are a writer, you understand.

Writing Regularly

Is it important to establish regularity in the craft of writing? What difference does it make? Is it essential or a waste of time? Is there actually a certain time in the day where your ideas flow easier and faster? And what is the point of setting a certain time in your day to write?

These are questions that most "beginner writers" have asked themselves or others around them. We all know that there area only 24 hours in a day and each one of those hours are very valuable--at least to me. There is hardly enough time in my day to do anything extra so this is why I write a planner every weekend before I start my week. To start with the very first question: Is it important to establish regularity when writing? Yes. I believe so very much. I know that it is important to write at a set time everyday because the mind and body will get used to it and know, "Oh this must be the time that I write!" and believe me, the ideas will flow like never before. I didn't believe it at first, it actually took me a few weeks to realize this but sure enough it was true. The time is up to you and what works for your schedule. I work on the side and I'm in school so I write every day from four o'clock in the afternoon until six o'clock. However, I start my days with writing at seven in the morning for half an hour. It's not very long but it's just enough time for my thoughts to get rolling and steaming. Once I mess with this routine it takes me awhile to think of something. I'm still trying to figure out if this is all psychologically, whatever it is I won't change it. But for you...you need to figure out when that time is JUST right. You may be an early bird writer, a late morning person who writes before noon or one who writes from evening to midnight. Or perhaps you're the writer who wakes up in the middle of the night and grabs the journal to jot down ideas and thoughts. I'm not saying that this hasn't happened to me before because it has. It has occurred far too many times, but I don't ignore the action to write down an idea (which can easily turn into ten ideas). Discovering that perfect time for YOU is a very important element for the life of a writer.

Not only is it a good habit for you, it's a good indication for others. When you set this time family and friends will notice that you are busy and don't need to be bothered right now. Put the phones away, lock your door if you must, and stay away from the temptation of the internet. Write! Write! Write! If you have a dream to write a book you must start now. You need to put aside the thought of later and do what you can now because you may never know when later will arrive. Once you establish this routine you will realize that you can't be without it. It's almost as if you get dependent on that schedule and when you slip a day or two, you feel incomplete. Take the time to write--whether it be five hundred words to start or five thousand words, write. I started out with writing two hundred words a day and now I'm typing out five thousand words a day and counting.You may start out writing for ten minutes a day and eventually excel to thirty minutes, and soon an hour. A good practice is to set a goal before you start writing. Maybe you want to write one page everyday or ten pages in your book, or whatever project you are composing. I write a set amount of words daily and once I reach that, I call it a good day of work. Write every day. Mark it in your calendar to keep you accountable and eventually it will become an unnoticeable pattern that has become a normal manner.

Track your writing progress daily 

You must get your feet out in that writing world in order to have the feeling run through your body. I promise that somehow and in someway you will understand what all of this means. You will acknowledge and your mind will perceive that writing is not only a hobby it's a job, a career. If you want to become professional in this endeavoring task then you must act professional, even if you are working for yourself at first. It all starts somewhere. The best selling authors didn't start with the highest positions and working alongside with editors, they started with an idea and put that idea to action. They implanted a routine, a schedule in their daily lives.

Allow the passion of writing to slowly live within you. Allow it to overflow your soul and compel engaging styles and risks. Let the act of writing conquer the writer within your heart and soon you will become the well-known author.

Why Writing?

Why Should We Write?

Why do I write? I wonder if I only say this or if there are others out there who have the same question (comments are acceptable!). I ask myself one question every single morning of my week, "Why do I work out?" Well, I have an easy and an appropriate answer for that question: I want to look good! So if working out makes me look good, then what does writing do? Ah, I almost think that this sort of question would take far too long to be answered. A composed list of answers would be the only acceptable thing with this question. Writing...well, let's see. Writing makes me feel good. It somehow strangely soothes my soul on a crummy day. I don't know about you, but there are some days where I feel terrible. I feel like I've lost my purpose, my path. And then there are the days where I happily skip along, allowing the sun to kiss my face. Before my day even starts, I take however long I must and jot down 1,000 words. Now, this can be anything--mostly my thoughts--sometimes my inspirations. Once I reach a 1,000 words, I either stop or go on for more. This is the kind of writing for my soul.

Then there is the kind of writing that is set on a deadline. I have a date to reach from my publisher and must put my mind to nothing else but writing. That's the kind of writing that can often give me nothing more but stress. But I'm talking about the kind of writing that is good for you, the one that feels good. I notice that I'm rambling, getting off my track. So, why do I, or you, write? What is it about writing that makes us want to write? Do we do it to impress ourselves, to tell ourselves that we can form sentences? I don't. Do we do it for recognition? I won't answer that. Or do we do it because we can't NOT write. Ha, read that again. We do it because we can't NOT write! There is an urge within my heart, my soul, and in the depth of my mind that makes me write. Because of that feeling, that sensational element makes me write. Again, I have no idea if you feel the same way, I can only speak for me. But when I eat, I feel satisfied, complete. The same goes to when I get a goodnight rest, I feel rejuvenated. When I write, it's as this calm and restful spirit settles over me.

My spirit doesn't sleep when I write. My mind doesn't rest. I only feel peaceful. My mind is wide awake with numerous ideas crowding my thought-life. I like that feeling though. It reminds me that even when I'm thinking up a storm, I can still feel placid. Writing is one of the few things that can do this to me. I can't remember the last time I went a day without writing, it must have been a really, REALLY bad day. I have to write because it's my passion, my desire, my living. There are times where I doubt this, I really wonder if I'm made for the writing lifestyle, but when I ask my friends, they honestly state that I wouldn't be who I am without writing. Writing is contagious. I write because I want to touch other lives, I have too much on my mind to remain silent. When I write, I gain a chance of freedom. When I put my fingers to the computer keyboard, another voice comes out of my heart; a voice that is willing to take a risk to be heard.

So why do I write? I write because I cannot NOT write. I have to write in order to be satisfied, pleased, and content. Now, I ask you: do you think you can develop this passion, this unknown desire you didn't know was in you? I believe everyone can write if they are willing. The mind can be willing and the heart can agree, but the actions must ACT. Don't wait until it's too late and life is over--start now--now when you can.

Endless Ideas




Think! Imagine! Listen! Write!

 

I find it humours how sometimes the greatest ideas come to me during the strangest hour of the day. I have queer story ideas pop in my mind during the middle of the night, the ideas that stir me out of bed. Or I'll have book projects provoke my mind when I'm running on the treadmill, the kind of thoughts that require a notebook and pen. Then there are the times where I'm purely exhausted and a random sensation pops in my mind, the kind where I must fight to think of something else. At first these thoughts used to bother me, but I now realize that my mind is performing a normal routine. My mind is only telling me that something creative has sparked my interest. Do I choose to listen at all times? No, I fail this act all the time as a matter of fact. I'll be in class, reading books, listening to my teacher, in the shower, driving down the road, taking a brisk walk when the ideas strike me. I used to write the ideas down on my hand, the idea causes me to chuckle now. But if we all think about it, the greatest ideas come to us at an odd time of day. The time of day where we cannot but help to chuckle. We are either occupied or simply lazy to adhere to those thoughts. I used to be annoyed, more irritated. Those ideas had a quest, their own quest was to distract me until I listened to them.

Yes, I gave in and listened. I carry notebooks with me and jot down the idea when it arises. There are times where I will type a message in my phone and save it, only to look later on and remember what it was about. I'm thinking of storing a water proof template in the shower...I have to admit, I often think best at that time. My thoughts give me imagination, creativity, and energy to think new things. When we give our thoughts the freedom to creativity, something great can be composed. Choosing to ignore those ideas and putting them aside can be the greatest temptation, but also the greatest risk. We are hampering our mind, the thoughts that roam around. I have heard too many times from people who would love to write, who have the time, but no ideas. Their ideas have been killed, shut down, and put away.The first time an idea arises and you put it away and try to think of it later, it won't be the same feeling as the first occurrence. Stepping into this new realm, this new height of catching your ideas is one of the greatest tasks we can achieve. How we all love stories that captivate us, must I remind you that the author captured his thoughts first and then shared them? Wholesome ideas, thoughts that mean something great and powerful, are worth the time thinking. The thoughts and ideas that destroy the mind, are worth killing. We must be able to decipher between the two.

Words are food. Our words eat off our ideas, and the readers gain from the ideas. It goes hand in hand, quite complex, but in the same thought, understandable. Pen the words down, mark them in any way that you can. It may not make sense to anyone else at first, but you will know what you're thinking. Having that intimacy with our own mind seems ironic for we all believe that we know our mind. No, no we don't. Understanding the mind would mean you listening to the first ideas that come alive. Free your mind, give it space, more space so more can be thought of. Write from your soul! Think as you've never thought before! Explore with those imaginative ideas, the ones that form the being within you. Live your life to think of those thoughts...the ones that design a purpose and inspiration.

"Ideas can be life-changing. Sometimes all you need to open the door is just one more good idea."

~Jim Rohn

Only the Beginning



Write your thoughts first!



What is writing and what does writing have to do with life? Ah, such a question I hear far too often. Writing is more than composing school papers, essays, resumes, and term papers. Writing can be life. As a matter of fact, writing is life. Everything resolves around writing. There is such beauty in words, words that have meaning, life, vibrancy, and joy. Writing has been around longer than we can think. People have been writing since the day they wanted to express their thoughts. Life and emotions come around when a pen is placed to paper. People have the desire to express their emotions, few can exact this task.

 One cannot explain the beauty and freedom in words. Joy and sorrow can be expressed, as well as anger and happiness. The pen is the tool, our thoughts are the master--we choose what to write and how to write such things. It is an unexplainable task, something so exhiliarting, perfect. It is a mystery, but also a miracle when we allow our thoughts to roam.

Writing is beautiful. It's a task that takes us away from every day life. There are the moments where we have to escape for a time, may it be five minutes, twenty minutes, or a whole hour. Writing exacts this for us. It causes us to be higher in thinking and brighter when it is complete. Writing is one of those things that take practice. It takes time to let go, time to cast our thoughts on paper. At first the hands and mind aren't in sync, but over time the two go hand-in-hard, hardly inseparable. Writing must come from the depths of our souls, you must be real to your own self before you can accomplish this practice. Just as practice makes perfect, writing daily makes your writing perfect. Eventually you will notice that you can journal or jot down ideas wthout much thinking--it happens. You will soon become a person lost in the land, the mysterious, winding, miraculous, creative land of writing.
I encourage you to pick up your pen (or computer/laptop in this sense) and write away. Write for ten minutes nonstop, anything you can think, anything on your mind. It doesn't matter what it is, as long as it is for ten minutes. When the ten minutes are over, stop. This is only the beginning to a life-long journey of excitement, pleasure, and an emotional race. Writing, let it become part of your life. Live life as though everything you do is being written down...make it important and interesting. Make it worthwhile!

Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.

~Benjamin Franklin