Professional writers are often asked, “Just when did you realize you were a writer?” This question is different from, “When did you begin viewing yourself as a professional writer?” This second question is easier, so I’ll dispose of it by saying the first time I received pay from someone who bought what I wrote, I became a professional. In the early days the dribs and drabs of money I earned as a freelance writer was less, on an hourly basis, than I could make mowing lawns or driving a delivery truck. (I know because I have done both.) Still, when you look at writing as a craft, and you are willing to write for a client according to the client’s specifications, you are a professional. You can write professionally even if the money you make from it is a drop in the bucket compared to what you earn from your “real job.”
But going back to the first question; a person knows he is a writer, or knows that he wants to be one, when he or she first realizes that people like what you write, and encourage you to write more. For me it goes back to grade school. “Mrs. Kley, read Kenny’s story first.” That fifth grade fan club morphed into writing skits for the seventh grade follies, and productions in scouts or at church. If this sounds like you, you will by your own motivation work on the paper and the literary magazine in high school and college. You do it because you get positive strokes from it. If writing is difficult, and you don’t enjoy it, do something else.
You really know that you’re a writer when you enjoy it, and draw satisfaction from the praise you get from people who read you. My true love for writing lies on the creative side, meaning fiction, plays and poetry. Yes, I enjoyed expressing myself writing essays, provided I could pick the topic. However, my imagination is my strongest asset. Research and referencing source material draws less on what I do best as a writer. I like to make things up. You can’t do that in analytical, or scientific and technical writing. I made a living for years working in that realm, but it was work with a capital W.
Finally, you’re pretty sure you’re a writer when you can spend hours at it with no one making you do it. The process of beginning with an idea and writing a few brave sentences excites you. A writer works on a story and puts it away. You think about it when you aren’t writing, and jot down notes to incorporate in your story as soon as you’re back at the desk. This business of being kind of sure, or sort of sure, dissolves for all time the moment a writer you respect validates you by saying You’ve got it. Stick with it. This is good stuff. Even before the first check comes, you are a writer.
Till later,
Ken