A Writer Writes

Today I am thinking about what makes a writer a writer.
A writer is someone who writes right?
If that’s the case, why do the people who read what I wrote say, “You should be a writer.”

I looked up the definition of writer and found these statements:
1 - A person who writes or is able to write
2 - A person who commits his or her thoughts, ideas, etc., to writing
3 - A person engaged in writing books, articles, stories, etc., esp. as an occupation or profession; an author or journalist

For my thinking process, I analyzed each: A person who writes or is able to write – Although I have been told I can be an animal at times, I am a person. Check!
My handwriting due to my disability is illegible but the typing diploma I received from LaGuardia Community College at age five is proof of compensation. I hand type instead of hand write. Is typing then writing? Back to the dictionary - Writing: that which is written; characters or matter written with a pen or the like. “The like” is the keyboard so check!

So far so good, the next statement was: A person who commits his or her thoughts, ideas, etc., to writing. As I said, I am thinking so therefore I have thoughts and ideas and am writing this blog so again check!

The last is where it gets a bit tricky: A person engaged in writing books, articles, stories, etc., esp. as an occupation or profession; an author or journalist. From the time I learned to put words together I have been writing songs, and poems. In high school I wrote articles for the school newspaper and of course in college I wrote the required research papers with which I earned a Bachelor of Arts degree. I volunteered my time as editor of a newspaper that advocates for the disabled and developed Martensnetwork, an in-depth website depicting what life with a disability is like. I also had a poem published in an anthology.

Doesn’t all this mean I am a writer or does money have to be my reward? The definition did say occupation or profession. Is this where I fall short of being a writer? Ok I admit it who wouldn’t want the big payoff for their talent of being able to relate an idea by way of story or the ability to report daily happenings from whatever part of the world they are in and then return home to money in the bank.

Money however is not the only reward for using one’s talents to the best of their ability. Reward is when your poem is chosen out of 200 others, to be published. It’s having your thesis be used as a teaching guide for college students. One of my greatest rewards was being interviewed for Associated Content by Kat Mitschke after she read something I wrote about being a disabled mother.

Is the payoff the paycheck or is it people knowing the name of an author and saying, “What a great writer he or she is.” What happens then to all the writers that became famous after their deaths? Anne Frank had no idea her diary would become a book that has been translated into forty languages. How big was her book deal? She’ll never know!

Come to think of it the market for traditional published text is decreasing daily. Years ago you could buy a newspaper for twenty-five cents. Now they cost a dollar on weekdays and two dollars on weekends. Book and magazine prices have also done nothing but increase. Not only is the internet responsible for all this but those writers who are publishing and marketing themselves.

Therefore, when people say, “You should be a writer.” They mean I should market and publish my writings because then people would know me and what I think about. For them fame and fortune is what defines a writer.

Using words to express my thoughts, ideas and experiences and have people read them, make them think, feel and somehow make a difference is why this writer writes.

To those who have read my works and said, “You should write a book.”
That’s another story!