What Being A Writer Means To Me
Author – (aw-ther) noun:
A person who writes a novel, poem, essay, etc.; the composer of a literary work.
Writer – (rahy-ter) noun:
1. A person engaged in writing books, articles, stories, etc.; especially as an occupation or profession; an author or journalist.
2. A person who commits his or her thoughts, ideas, etc., to writing.
3. A person who writes or is able to write.
You may well be wondering why I began this week’s blog with the definitions of the words author and writer. Many years ago I read a short story in an anthology of young adult paranormal romance stories. I was very interested in reading more by the author of that specific story so I paid a visit to the author’s website.
On her website she had a section about “how to be a professional author”. Being the aspiring author I was I was eager for any advice this author could give. Some of the advice was common sense: read a lot, write a lot, be patient, etc. Then I saw a bullet point that read “if you self-publish your book you’re not a ‘real author’”.
That line has always stuck with me, even six years later; so I’d like to explain what I think being a ‘real author’ means.
To me an author is any person who sets a pen to paper or their fingers to a keyboard (or any other method of writing) to tell a story. To me there is no such thing as a ‘real author’ or a ‘fake author’. If you have a story bouncing around in your head begging to be told then by all means let it out!
Writing can be a lot of things for a lot of different people. It can be therapeutic to write down your thoughts in a journal; I do every day at the end of the day. It can also be a way of remembering your observations; like the day I saw a woman walking a ferret down the street on a leash or the day we had to call the “squirrel whisperer” when a baby squirrel latched itself onto our screen door and wouldn’t let go. The things you wouldn’t believe if you didn’t know they were true.
It doesn’t matter what you write, whether it is a poem, a short story, a play, an essay, a novella, or a novel; that still makes you a writer (or a poet or a playwright).
You might just write for your own amusement or you might proudly show it off to all your friends and family. Hell, you might even post it online or yikes! send it in to a publisher to try to get it published. It’s all up to you.
For someone to say that a person isn’t a ‘real author’ because they do things differently is just someone being a jerk. We now live in a time in which self-publishing is much more accepted than it was five or ten years ago. With websites like Smashwords or Createspace and the ease of self-publishing eBooks on the Amazon Kindle or the Barnes and Noble Nook self-publishing has come a long way.
My first novel, The Haunting Love, was contracted by a small e-book publisher Whiskey Creek Press and is about to come out on February 17th. Does that make me less of an author than someone who was published by a big box publisher? No it doesn’t. I may not get as much exposure but this is an excellent starting point.
I’m still planning on self-publishing my second novel, Finding Elizabeth, hopefully by the end of 2015. It is my belief that the popularity of the ‘indie writer’ is rising.
As for me, my journey to becoming an author began in childhood. I’ve always been an avid storyteller. My favorite part of school used to be when we got to write short stories for creative writing or as a means to learn and understand our spelling words.
I started writing The Haunting Love when I was in high school. I was homeschooled for most of high school so I had more freedom with my English classes. I finished writing The Haunting Love during the end of my senior year, when I was seventeen-years-old. Now here we are, eighteen days until it’s release date. I couldn’t be happier.
My advice to anyone out there aspiring to be a published author is to never give up. I know everyone says that but do not get discouraged. If it’s meant to be it will be! I won’t lie to you and say rejection letters don’t sting, because they do, but if you want it bad enough you have to keep trying!
That’s all I’ve got for right now. Have a great weekend everyone! And try not to party too much at any of those Super Bowl parties!
A person who writes a novel, poem, essay, etc.; the composer of a literary work.
Writer – (rahy-ter) noun:
1. A person engaged in writing books, articles, stories, etc.; especially as an occupation or profession; an author or journalist.
2. A person who commits his or her thoughts, ideas, etc., to writing.
3. A person who writes or is able to write.
You may well be wondering why I began this week’s blog with the definitions of the words author and writer. Many years ago I read a short story in an anthology of young adult paranormal romance stories. I was very interested in reading more by the author of that specific story so I paid a visit to the author’s website.
On her website she had a section about “how to be a professional author”. Being the aspiring author I was I was eager for any advice this author could give. Some of the advice was common sense: read a lot, write a lot, be patient, etc. Then I saw a bullet point that read “if you self-publish your book you’re not a ‘real author’”.
That line has always stuck with me, even six years later; so I’d like to explain what I think being a ‘real author’ means.
To me an author is any person who sets a pen to paper or their fingers to a keyboard (or any other method of writing) to tell a story. To me there is no such thing as a ‘real author’ or a ‘fake author’. If you have a story bouncing around in your head begging to be told then by all means let it out!
Writing can be a lot of things for a lot of different people. It can be therapeutic to write down your thoughts in a journal; I do every day at the end of the day. It can also be a way of remembering your observations; like the day I saw a woman walking a ferret down the street on a leash or the day we had to call the “squirrel whisperer” when a baby squirrel latched itself onto our screen door and wouldn’t let go. The things you wouldn’t believe if you didn’t know they were true.
It doesn’t matter what you write, whether it is a poem, a short story, a play, an essay, a novella, or a novel; that still makes you a writer (or a poet or a playwright).
You might just write for your own amusement or you might proudly show it off to all your friends and family. Hell, you might even post it online or yikes! send it in to a publisher to try to get it published. It’s all up to you.
For someone to say that a person isn’t a ‘real author’ because they do things differently is just someone being a jerk. We now live in a time in which self-publishing is much more accepted than it was five or ten years ago. With websites like Smashwords or Createspace and the ease of self-publishing eBooks on the Amazon Kindle or the Barnes and Noble Nook self-publishing has come a long way.
My first novel, The Haunting Love, was contracted by a small e-book publisher Whiskey Creek Press and is about to come out on February 17th. Does that make me less of an author than someone who was published by a big box publisher? No it doesn’t. I may not get as much exposure but this is an excellent starting point.
I’m still planning on self-publishing my second novel, Finding Elizabeth, hopefully by the end of 2015. It is my belief that the popularity of the ‘indie writer’ is rising.
As for me, my journey to becoming an author began in childhood. I’ve always been an avid storyteller. My favorite part of school used to be when we got to write short stories for creative writing or as a means to learn and understand our spelling words.
I started writing The Haunting Love when I was in high school. I was homeschooled for most of high school so I had more freedom with my English classes. I finished writing The Haunting Love during the end of my senior year, when I was seventeen-years-old. Now here we are, eighteen days until it’s release date. I couldn’t be happier.
My advice to anyone out there aspiring to be a published author is to never give up. I know everyone says that but do not get discouraged. If it’s meant to be it will be! I won’t lie to you and say rejection letters don’t sting, because they do, but if you want it bad enough you have to keep trying!
That’s all I’ve got for right now. Have a great weekend everyone! And try not to party too much at any of those Super Bowl parties!
No comments have been added yet.
