So, the other day Sela asked on her blog - When did you really become a writer?

Not when did you start writing, but when did you become a writer.

I didn’t answer the question because, honestly, some days I still don’t feel like a writer, regardless of those 13 books over on the sidebar.

I started wondering if the reason I don’t feel like I may be a real writer is that I don’t treat it like a real job.

But, the thing that I like the most about being a real writer is that I don’t have to treat it like a real job. I can make random trips to Target in the middle of the day. I can work in my jammies. I can go for a week without leaving the house or spend a few hours a the mall, whatever floats my boat, as long as the writing gets done.

Which, luckily, it seems to.

Maybe it’s because I enjoy it so much (sure, it sucks sometimes, but I still love it) that it doesn’t feel like a real job which means I don’t feel like a “real” writer.

I don’t know.

I do know that occasionally I wonder what it would be like to have a real 9-5 job again, or maybe even a part time job somewhere at the mall. And then I realize that nope, I couldn’t do those jobs in my jammies, and I’d have to deal with people, and there’s lots of other crappy stuff I would have to deal with.

And I wouldn’t want any other job now, even if sometimes I feel like I’m a big faker and not a real writer.

What do you think is the greatest thing about being a writer?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 17th, 2007 at 7:46 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.