“How do you become a writer?” people ask me. While many of my memoir-writing clients are one-time authors, not everyone is in that category. There are a whole lot of people who join The Memoir Network who secretly want to become “a writer” and are hoping that memoir writing will be their ticket into the […]

“How do you become a writer?” people ask me. While many of my memoir-writing clients are one-time authors, not everyone is in that category. There are a whole lot of people who join The Memoir Network who secretly want to become “a writer” and are hoping that memoir writing will be their ticket into the writer’s life.

I might, in all seriousness, respond, “Start calling yourself a writer and see what happens.”

“Does saying you are a writer make you a writer?” might be their comeback and likely will be.

Well, of course, the answer is no. Not ipso facto. But…

An example from my life

35 or so years ago when my wife said, “When people ask you what you do, why don’t you tell them you are a writer? You are always writing,” I was uncomfortable doing so. I felt like a phoney.

Well, even with her urging, it took me a while to gather the nerve to call myself a writer. In the interim, feeling the imperative to be able to say “I am a writer,” I began to ask myself, “What would I need to experience in my writing life to feel I could call myself a writer?” In short, I began to notice and make adjustments to actions and attitudes that I needed to feel comfortable with to call myself a writer.

In time, I did call myself a writer. I think it was a matter of volume of my writing and earning income from writing.

Emily Dickinson, who sold little while alive, was very much a writer, so being a writer is not dependent on income from the craft, but my intellectual understanding notwithstanding, I saw the separation between money and vocation in my life, and I wanted to unite the two. I knew it would make me feel better—and it did. Gradually I worked my way to being a writer who earns income. It did not make me more of a writer, but it paid the bills and made me feel integrated in my life. I was no longer working to support my writing habit. My writing practice was supporting me and my family

So, yes, calling yourself a writer will, in the end, probably make you into a writer.

I’m a better writer now for having done so but not more of a writer. How about you? Are you a writer?

Action Steps

1. Just say, “I am a writer” when people ask you what you do. Don’t say, “I’m a high school teacher who really wants to be a writer.” Be bold in your presentation. People will ask you what you have sold, and you, in turn, will ask them if it was income that made Emily Dickinson a writer.
2. Observe how you feel when you call yourself a writer Are there certain sorts of people you feel more uncomfortable saying that to? For instance, you feel more uncomfortable saying that to a high earner than to a low earner. What’s that about? What adjustments to your thinking (and to your writing activity) do you have to make?
3. Add “writer” to your email signature.
4. What  opportunities are available to you to earn income from writing? Would pursuing these even for a while help you to be more comfortable saying “I am a writer.” Or,
5. Is publication the magic bullet that will help you to valorize your work. Seek publication options. At first, they may be few and small but over time they will both multiply and become more significant.