
4 Signs You Might Be a Writer (in Addition to a Reader)
This is a guest post from Cecilia Lyra. Cecilia is a writer with a reading addiction, a lover of wine and all things chocolate, and the proud mother of Babaganoush, an English Bulldog. She is also a recovering lawyer, but asks that you do not hold that against her. Follow her on Twitter: @ceciliaclyra
I’ve been introducing myself as a writer for almost two years (1 year, 7 months, and 3 days – but who’s counting?) and it hasn’t gotten any easier. I’m a member of enough writers’ communities – both online and in-person – to know that the sentiment is fairly common: unless one is Published (yes, with a capital P), calling oneself a writer is always a little uncomfortable, in no small part because a lot of folks look at us, writers, in the same humoring way they look at a six-year-old who claims she’s going to be an astronaut when she grows up. But there’s one identity that I’ve always been comfortable with: reader. I am a reader. And, if you’re reading this, you most likely are one, too. But how, you might ask, did I make the transition from reader to writer? And, furthermore, is it even a transition? Are good reads a gateway for good writing? I say it is! Or at least it can be, for certain people. And perhaps you’re one of them! Here are a few signs that might indicate that, in addition to being a reader, you are also a writer (even if you haven’t written anything yet):
I’ve been introducing myself as a writer for almost two years (1 year, 7 months, and 3 days – but who’s counting?) and it hasn’t gotten any easier. I’m a member of enough writers’ communities – both online and in-person – to know that the sentiment is fairly common: unless one is Published (yes, with a capital P), calling oneself a writer is always a little uncomfortable, in no small part because a lot of folks look at us, writers, in the same humoring way they look at a six-year-old who claims she’s going to be an astronaut when she grows up. But there’s one identity that I’ve always been comfortable with: reader. I am a reader. And, if you’re reading this, you most likely are one, too. But how, you might ask, did I make the transition from reader to writer? And, furthermore, is it even a transition? Are good reads a gateway for good writing? I say it is! Or at least it can be, for certain people. And perhaps you’re one of them! Here are a few signs that might indicate that, in addition to being a reader, you are also a writer (even if you haven’t written anything yet):
- When you read a really good book, your mind begins to narrate your life (usually using the same narrator’s voice as the one in the book you are reading).
- As a child, you dabbled in fan fiction (before you even knew what fan fiction was).
- You Pollock your books.
Whether you use an e-reader or read on a paper book (which should not be referred to as a proper book, thank you very much), you are in the habit of highlighting, underlining, writing on the margins, and even adding a post-it (or twenty) to your otherwise black and white pages. You do this because, as a reader, you appreciate good writing, and because, as a writer, you instinctively know that guided reading is arguably the best way to improve one’s work.
- You occasionally collaborate with your favorite authors