Do You Write? Then You're A Writer!

Julie & Julia is one of my favorite comfort movies. In the beginning of the film, Julie says to her husband, “You’re not a writer unless someone wants to publish you.”

Wrong.

You’re a writer if you write.

Period.

That doesn’t mean you have to be writing all the time, either.

You’re still a writer when you’re blocked.

You’re still a writer when your burned out.

You’re still a writer when you choose to take a break.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a writer is “one that writes,” which should say one “one who writes,” but you get it.

Another definition is that a writer is someone who “expresses ideas in writing.”

No matter which definition you choose, all of them say the same thing…that a writer is a person who writes.

“Published” is never mentioned.

Not even the definition for “novelist” mentions anything about being published, only that a novelist is someone who writes novels.

If you write anything at all (blog posts, included), you are free to call yourself a writer.

If you write novels, you can call yourself a novelist. 

Being published has nothing to do with it.

Now…

“Writer” and “author” are two terms that get confused.

An author is someone whose work has been published in some format (eBook, print, online, etc.). And you don’t have to be traditionally published to count as an author, either. Self-publishing is just as credible.

A writer is currently not published but someone who writes. And you don’t have to have career goals to call yourself a writer, either. Writing can be your hobby and you can rightly call yourself a writer.

You can be an author and a writer at the same time, too, meaning you’re published and you still engage in the writing process, even if it’s not regular.

Later in the movie, Julie says, “I’m going to be a writer!” 

And her husband says, “You already are a writer.”

Exactly.

QUESTION: Have you embraced the title of "writer"?