Owning the Title of “Writer”--Whenever and However You Can

As we near the end of the month, maybe you’re realizing that you probably won’t make it to 50K. But that’s ok! Participant Christine Astor is here to remind you that your story matters–and you ARE a writer!–whether you wrote 50 words or 50,000 words during the month of November:

I struggle to claim this title, but I’m a writer. 

I struggle with it because it’s not my profession. I’ve been writing since I was about 11 years old and as much as I think I should probably call it “writing for pleasure,” it would feel disingenuous to do so. When I write, it’s out of necessity. I feel a surge of inspiration and need to get the words, stories, feelings out on paper somewhere. 

This is my first time participating in NaNoWriMo and I’m pretty sure I won’t be cracking that 50K this month. I didn’t think I would when I decided to sign up, and that wasn’t the point. My purpose was to give myself some discipline. 

I don’t have a lot of time to devote to my craft. My 9 to 5 job takes up most of my day. Now, also subtract the six hours of sleep I get a night. And don’t forget that I’m also working another part-time job, maintaining a long-distance relationship (thank god we’re at least in the same time zone), and occasionally even feeding myself. So when do I write? When indeed. 

I have actually been working on this novel since January. It will probably not be completed this month because most of the work I’ve done on it has been emailing the excerpts to myself from my phone during my morning and evening commute. That is when and how I write. That’s all I can commit to, given my schedule, and that’s what has been working for me this month. 

“The writing is what matters. And it does matter.”

I so rarely have the time to sit down and indulge in my writing. And in those precious moments that I can find to work, I don’t always have the inspiration to create. That doesn’t make me any less of a writer than anyone else who pulls words out of their brain parts and strings them together in the name of self-expression. Any time that you can carve out to work your magic is your own; it need never adhere to someone else’s word count. The writing is what matters. And it does matter. 

It’s easy to feel discouraged or give up if you think you’re not going to make the deadline. Don’t. Your story will come out when it’s ready; and it will never be ready with anyone else writing it. You are the only person who can write your story your way, and a gift like that can’t be measured by a word count or a 30-day mark. 

So, keep writing, whenever and however you can. Now, if you’ll excuse me, my train is arriving at my stop.

Christine Astor is a queer Puerto Rican and Dominican writer from New York City. Although she mostly writes poetry, last year she successfully self-published her first novel, The Actress . In addition to her great love of writing, Christine is extremely passionate about film and the ways in which this medium can be used to address social issues. She graduated from Vassar College in May 2013 with a BA in Film. Christine currently works as the Marketing Coordinator for a start-up company on Wall Street, and focuses on writing in her spare time.

Top photo by Flickr user Ritesh Nayak.