Ramblings: A Stream of Consciousness {On Writing}

This I know for sure; I am not a journalist. I am a commentator. It is not my desire to be in the trenches reporting the news. Instead, I wish to analyze it, study it, consider it and then provide a view of what it all means.

Isn't everyone a writer these days? At least it seems to me that just about everyone has a blog, giving him or her license to write and publish the written word. So, what determines who is a writer and who is not a writer?

I recently read a tweet that said, a person writing online is just a blogger until the minute he gets paid for his writing; then he becomes a writer.

By this definition, I am a writer.

What about value of the writing; does it matter anymore? Say, for instance, if someone writes for a small town newspaper and another person has published a few novels and another is paid to write a blog. Are all of these people writers?

Simply being published or getting paid to write does not mean that one writes really well. I've read some really horrid articles, books and blog posts before; of which all of the authors were presumably paid for the work.

To say, "I'm a writer" conjures up romantic visions of dark, smoke-filled bars occupied by the likes of Earnest Hemmingway and Mark Twain or a sunny meadow or bleak heath tread upon by Jane Austin and Charlotte Bronte as they spin hopelessly dreamy tales of love and heartbreak. I am neither of these kinds of writers.

As much as I love to read, I don't recall that magical moment that I knew I could read words, but I do recall the instant I realized I could write letters that became words. That moment is cemented into my memories. I know exactly where I was, what I was writing and how proud I was.

It is the writing and expressing that has always meant so much to me.

I have figured out what I want to be in my next chapter of life. I want to be a writer. But haven't I always been this if I am to be one at all?

Can one become a writer or is one simply born a writer; one day unfurling that bloom that has always been there, but had yet to be opened until the time was right?

Anna

 

Comments

[Marta]

Perhaps it's not correct but I don't think of bloggers as writers. I don't. I don't know why but its different in my mind. I need to hold book. A tangible book in my hand with paper and ink and think to myself this is a writer. This is someone who wrote and was published and now is read. But yes, I suppose with self-publishing anyone could do this.