Blog
What Makes A Writer?
by Writing Workshops Org Admin
5 years ago
If I asked you to give me the definition of a writer, what would you say? Is it someone whose books line the most popular bookstore shelves? Maybe it’s someone who writes for the most prestigious news outlets. Do you think it’s an author that everyone seems to love? I don’t know about you, but I have read books and articles before that I didn’t like. Yet, that doesn’t discount the fact that someone wrote them.
I may not have sold thousands of books. I may not be a name that avid readers are familiar with (yet), but I think of myself as a writer because I write. I enjoy the process of creating something with the ideas in my head and my laptop in front of me. Whether I am in my dining room or at a corner table at my local coffee shop, I thoroughly enjoy the process of writing.
In school, English was always my best and favorite subject. I didn’t love the research as those types of papers became regular assignments, but I loved sharing the information I learned. As I grew up, I had numerous friends and family members who lived out of state, and I loved putting pen to paper to tell them what I had been doing. Over the years, I’ve had a handful of blogs. I have written and self-published five books. Success as the world sees it doesn’t make me a writer. Writing does.
One of the main reasons I love this field is that I am a much better communicator on paper than I am in person. When I’m speaking to someone new or when I feel like I need to make a good impression, my words often get jumbled in my head and then come out of my mouth the same way. However, when I write, I’m able to edit and revise what I want to say so that it makes sense the first time someone reads it.
Can you imagine having a conversation with someone and trying to take back and reword each sentence you thought sounded odd? That person would probably not want to speak to you very long. But when writing an article, say like this one, no one would have any idea how many times you rewrote it or moved your words around. I am thankful for that.
As a person who also loves to bake, I often compare writing something new to baking a dessert from scratch. In my kitchen, I can take several different ingredients that each have little use on their own and put them together to create something beautiful. When I hand a friend a homemade cake or a loaf of bread I made myself, there is often much joy and love exchanged between us. In the same way those desserts come from my heart, so do the words that spill out on the pages before me when I write.
If you find yourself full of ideas and dreams and words you want to share, I encourage you to pull out a pen and paper or sit at your laptop and get to writing. The world needs to hear what you have to say. Don’t wait for someone to call you a writer. Just write! As I wait for my name to be at the top of that bestseller list, I will be doing the same.
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Author Bio: Shara Goswick is a married mother and grandmother who lives with her family in Texas. If she's not writing or baking, you will probably find a good book in her hand. You can learn more about Shara at instagram.com/writersharag.
