“Writer” is the Word: All of This and More

What does it take to call yourself a writer? Sometimes, using this word is a challenge and an act of courage. Writer Selma Lynn Airy tells her story of accepting this part of her identity and balancing writing with other interests:

I can’t recall when I first took a pen between my fingers and started writing. I can’t recall when the first childhood dragon-invades-plushies’-village-and-super-plush-comes-to-save-the-world story bloomed in my head. I can’t recall when I started loving words and the imagination they awaken when one hears them.

I can recall, though,  how words became my best friends. But it took me a while before I called myself a writer. Even though people told me I had talent with words, the idea was far from me. I felt like bearing this grand qualification would cancel all the other things that made me who I was. As if it would take away my love for music (Linkin Park, anyone? Chester, anyone? *cries*), for stars, my angry side hiding my infinite sensitiveness, my messy inner child, and all the little things that piled up to make me… well, me.

How I changed my mind is a rather silly story, and it is all thanks to YouTube: I came across writers’ videos, and watching them I realized they were whole people, with whole feelings, actual lives, struggles, strengths, weaknesses. All of a sudden, the image of the old man trapped in a dim dark room with piles of papers and no colors in his life, the image that came to my mind when the word “writer” was uttered, vanished from my mind.

I came to the realization that I was a writer. Writer wasn’t all of me.

I realized I could be a writer and everything else I wanted to be. In fact, I soon discovered that my writer part fed the other parts of myself. Writing made me more interested in everything surrounding me. I learned and grew fond of loads of new things, from English history to the making of glass. The new symphonies I’d hear or learn how to play would become sources of inspiration. In fact, it’s always been that way. I just never realized.

So, I decided I was going to call myself a writer.

First thing you begin dealing with: people. Well in fact you’ve been dealing with them your whole life, but there is a whole new bunch of annoying stuff you’ll begin to face. You know that expressionless face that people show you when you say something weird? You’re going to start seeing it quite often when you’ll shout out “I’m a writer!” to the world. A lot of people would assume that you’ll basically starve. The alternative: the secluded image I described earlier. Because you’re a writer, all you know to do is… write. Which is completely wrong.

But here is the thing, this is solvable. Option 1: communicate. If you’re pursuing writing as a career, explain what made you choose that path, and let people agree or disagree with your choice. Show your other interests. Talk about stars, Chuck Norris, your favorite place to hang out, past experiences. This will show that you’re not that old person trapped in a dark room whose best friend is a cat and who hates everyone.

Well, maybe you are. So here’s option 2: ignore ‘em all.

But the challenges that arise don’t only concern the others,  they also concern you. Once you start calling yourself a writer, you’ll begin to feel the responsibility, rather than the need, to write. Your blank page periods will begin to feel like betrayals to yourself. Your “away from my paper” times will become times of guilt. You’ll feel it like a burden, this title you began to bear. You’ll feel like you have to stay true to it all the time.

And you do, just relax.

Being a writer doesn’t mean being in front of your work all your time. Artists need their space, they need breaks. In fact, the other parts of yourself help you out with staying true to your title. When life takes you away from your paper, you’ll find a great pleasure in going back to it. You may not sense it,  but even though you’re not writing, you see, hear,  and feel new things. And those things are what fuels us, writers, when we swing our special swords: words.

Selma Lynn Airy is a rising Fantasy author with an imagination that sometimes gets her lost. The things she’s fond of range from peace agents squirrels to terrific big bad dragons. If you want to take a look on how ninja squirrels rule her forest, you can visit her website, Facebook page, follow her on Twitter, or Instagram. Warning: her inner child has but a slight tolerance to coffee.

Top image licensed under Creative Commons from Nathan Marciniak on Flickr, desaturated from original, with added text.