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The Writer's Compass » Becoming A Writer, About Writing, The Writer's Life, Critiques and Feedback » You Might Be a Writer if…

You Might Be a Writer if…

You might want to be a writer if…

  • Your dinner conversation is about your latest plot.
  • Your characters are your best friends.
  • You pitch to three agents who all want the completed manuscript–that you haven’t written yet.
  • You insist all your family and friends read this draft, even though they’ve already read the last three drafts–so they can compare and tell you how much better it is.
  • You have a quote for every occasion from the brilliant dialogue of your characters.
  • You have a million story ideas until you sit down to write.
  • You are working on your 27th draft and still don’t know how to fill in the middle
  • You have 38 rejections and counting.
  • The only people who understand you are others who want to be writers.
  • One criticism wipes out a dozen praises.
  • You measure time by the number of words you’ve written.
  • Your favorite authors wrote “how to” book on writing.
  • Your critique group members are on speed dial.
  • You have a collection covering several years of the annual Writer’s Market.

 

You might be a writer if…

  • You’ve moved your writing beyond most of the items above.
  • Your motivation is money–and you are making some.
  • You consistently spend a set amount of time writing or revising.
  • You ignore rejection.
  • You know when to listen and when to ignore criticism.
  • You don’t allow anyone to cut the “bad scenes or dialogue” out of your story until you know why you wrote it that way.
  • You search for the heart of your story in the good and the bad and the ugly of your writing.
  • You don’t let anyone else define your writing or you as a writer.
  • You are writing for that one person to whom what you write matters, and all the better if that one person multiplies.
  • You stop talking about writing and do writing.

 

by Nancy Ellen Dodd, September 28, 2013, thewriterscompass.com

 

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