You are a writer if you are writing

Sounds simple, doesn't it? But that's the simple truth. I've seen debates online where writers wonder if they should call themselves a writer if they haven't been published, or if all they've got to show for years of their lives is a pile of rejection emails/letters and files of stories/novels that no one seems to value. And they begin to feel that both they and their work are valueless! Being reminded of how many times JK Rowling had her first Harry Potter manuscript rejected just doesn't do it for them any more.

'I'm not a writer! I've just been kidding myself!' they cry.

Well, I'm hearing you! Been there, done that, but there is a great Australian drinking song (we have plenty of these!), which goes 'I get knocked down, but I get up again, you're never gonna keep me down...' ad infinitum or ad nauseum (depending on your taste in music!). Love those fighting words. Words to live by if you're a writer. What brought this on? No, I haven't been drinking, I've been thinking! It's not midday yet!

I love Susan Breen's 'The Fiction Class', based on her work as a creative writing teacher in Manhattan. I was checking out her blog this morning and came across a wonderful interview with a fellow teacher/author Sonya Chung, who spurred me on to write my blog today. She says students always ask “When did you know you were a writer?” One of the best answers was: “You are a writer when you are writing.” No kidding. THAT is “how it feels” to be a writer.

I'll let Susan Breen be my inspiration today. She published her first novel after 25 years of marriage, 4 children and hundreds of rejections! I've got heaps of rejections to go yet!

Go writers!