When Do You Call Yourself A Writer?

[litfan10]

Over my desk for decades I have had a cork board with inspirational cartoons. One of my favorites is a four panel one. All four feature a couple enjoying a fancy dinner/date. In the first panel the woman asks the man "So what do you do for work?" In the second panel the man responds clearly happily "I am a writer." The third panel has the man smiling while the woman looks shocked. Last panel she asks him, "No, I mean what do you do for money."

 

[SamScribble]

Over my desk for decades I have had a cork board with inspirational cartoons. One of my favorites is a four panel one. All four feature a couple enjoying a fancy dinner/date. In the first panel the woman asks the man "So what do you do for work?" In the second panel the man responds clearly happily "I am a writer." The third panel has the man smiling while the woman looks shocked. Last panel she asks him, "No, I mean what do you do for money."

I can certainly relate to that. I have known some very good writers whose annual income wouldn't persuade a street sweeper to get out of bed in the morning. I guess I have just been lucky.

 

[KeithD]

I do think it's best to secure your money first and do your writing later. It frees you to write how and when you want to.

 

[litfan10]

I do think it's best to secure your money first and do your writing later. It frees you to write how and when you want to.

Absolutely. With my freshly inked degree in hand I blazed out into the writing world wanting to pay off my college loan debt as quickly as possible. That money need caused me to be much more of a journalist/reporter than a novelist/fiction writer in those early days.

 

[litfan10]

I don't call myself a writer, even though I do get paid for writing. I'm a researcher, and in my free time, I cook, I clean, take care of the garden, help people filling in forms, etc. etc., ... and I write and read.

When do you call yourself a cleaning man/lady, a cook, a handy(wo)man, ...?

I call you incredibly useful!

 

[Javahead]

Eh, if you golf, you’re a golfer. If you drive, you’re a driver. If you swim, you’re a swimmer.

Becoming a writer is easy: write. Becoming a professional writer is a bit harder.

I’m a writer. I don’t know if I’ll ever become a professional, though. There are days I’m still amazed they’ll pay me to do my day job.

 

[Voboy]

I write. I'm barely a writer, and I'd never think of myself as an author.

Ogg put it best. I'm many, many things in my life, and "writer" is quite far down on that list. People know I write, but the only people who know I write erotica are the people I've met here on Lit.

It wouldn't ever really come up in conversation, I don't think. So I've never really thought of a time I've thought about this question.

 

[sbrooks103]

Oh, I think if you spend a significant amount of your time writing, you're a writer, no matter whether you make a living (or any amount of money) from it. I think of an author as being published. For either, I look for any categorizing adjectives in front of the noun.

Keith, I don't disagree, per se, but the OP was asked "what do you do for a living?"

"spend[ing] a significant amount of your time writing" doesn't provide for a living.

So, yes, writing makes you a writer, but it doesn't mean to write for a living. I really don't mean to be pedantic, but I probably am, LOL!

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Eh, if you golf, you’re a golfer. If you drive, you’re a driver. If you swim, you’re a swimmer.

Becoming a writer is easy: write. Becoming a professional writer is a bit harder.

Bingo. The question didn’t specify ‘well-paid, successful, NYT top-ten writer’. You’re a writer when your first story is published.

 

[gordo12]

You’re a writer when your first story is published.

By ?????

 

[KeithD]

Keith, I don't disagree, per se, but the OP was asked "what do you do for a living?"

"spend[ing] a significant amount of your time writing" doesn't provide for a living.

So, yes, writing makes you a writer, but it doesn't mean to write for a living. I really don't mean to be pedantic, but I probably am, LOL!

What I do for living (what fills my time and keeps me alive) doesn't necessarily involve money. I'm living to write now. I have careers behind me, done and gone, that pay for what I'm living now, and they aren't how I'm living now. (If we want to get pedantic about this.)

 

[Rustyoznail]

By ?????

Does it matter? If I had 200,000 people watch me play squash badly anywhere, I'd be amazed.

But I write as a hobby and that number of people have at least glanced at my stories and think I do a pretty good job. So I now consider myself a competent fiction writer.

 

[gordo12]

Does it matter? If I had 200,000 people watch me play squash badly anywhere, I'd be amazed.

But I write as a hobby and that number of people have at least glanced at my stories and think I do a pretty good job. So I now consider myself a competent fiction writer.

Yeah the perp that outed me at New Years was asking me questions one night in a bar. When I told him over 300,000 people had viewed and almost 14,000 voted he just about fell off his chair. (I understand view does not mean read)

Still, I shied away from identifying myself as a writer Thus the original question here.

 

[oggbashan]

Yeah the perp that outed me at New Years was asking me questions one night in a bar. When I told him over 300,000 people had viewed and almost 14,000 voted he just about fell off his chair. (I understand view does not mean read)

Still, I shied away from identifying myself as a writer Thus the original question here.

In our local library, I met one of my former Creative Writing tutors about a year ago. She knew, from 2003, that I was writing erotica. She asked how it was going. I said that I was doing well with over 300 stories published.

She had her laptop open so I told her about Literotica and my user name as oggbashan. She looked and was startled by the number of views for some of my stories. She sells her self-published fiction and poetry as paperbacks. She loses money on every book and her largest sale has been 120 copies.

But she calls herself a writer. I didn't tell her that one of my non-fiction textbooks from my earlier career had gone through three editions and sold 85,000.

 

[gordo12]

She loses money on every book and her largest sale has been 120 copies.

But she calls herself a writer. I didn't tell her that one of my non-fiction textbooks from my earlier career had gone through three editions and sold 85,000.

85,000 wow. That's a hell of an accomplishment.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Gordo, I appreciate your reluctance to self-identify as a writer. Moi aussi. But if you have something published, no matter where, IMO you’re a writer. Now, if you want to ask about being as successful writer...

 

[gordo12]

Gordo, I appreciate your reluctance to self-identify as a writer. Moi aussi. But if you have something published, no matter where, IMO you’re a writer. Now, if you want to ask about being as successful writer...

Ah yes, thus my wife coming home and screaming, "Where's the cheque?"

 

[eroticstoryspinner]

Jerry Pournelle famously stated in his article "How to Get My Job" that you had to write a million words to be writer. Its a good read by the way https://www.jerrypournelle.com/jerrypournelle.c/slowchange/myjob.html John Ringo said that if you are able to write 50K words ypu can call yourself a writer.

I have done work for hire, paid and unpaid work under my own name and the work on LIT. I am past the million word mark, so yeah I am a writer, although i think of myself to be storyteller as others have posted.

All that said i think that anyone who has posted a story on LIT is a writer paid or not.

Whether you tell people about it is up to you. I don't because I have some extremely evangelical family members and I don't need the drama.

 

[KeithD]

Do you really require someone else to declare you a writer for that to be valid? If so maybe you aren't one.

 

[gordo12]

All that said i think that anyone who has posted a story on LIT is a writer paid or not.

Whether you tell people about it is up to you. I don't because I have some extremely evangelical family members and I don't need the drama.

That was an issue. There was at least 3-4 bible thumpers there. Talking about their bible study group.

Do you really require someone else to declare you a writer for that to be valid? If so maybe you aren't one.

Keith you've been writing for a long time. But I'll bet you had your moments starting out when you weren't just all that sure about something. Don't try to tell me otherwise I wouldn't believe it.

 

[KeithD]

Keith you've been writing for a long time. But I'll bet you had your moments starting out when you weren't just all that sure about something. Don't try to tell me otherwise I wouldn't believe it.

Perhaps you give me too much credit for deep thinking. No, I don't remember agonizing over writing in any way. Maybe because it wasn't my career (although my career included research and writing--an at times writing very succinctly for very high-level consumers and on life-and-death topics). Even my career wasn't my do-or-die livelihood.

I don't even agonize over whether you or anyone else believes me.

What I'm thinking about this thread is that some folks spend much too much time thinking deep thoughts. It's like those I see here agonizing over statistics and I look and they've posted like six stories in four years. Big fricking . . .

 

[Matt12191982]

When I sold my first one.

 

[ElectricBlue]

Keith you've been writing for a long time. But I'll bet you had your moments starting out when you weren't just all that sure about something. Don't try to tell me otherwise I wouldn't believe it.

I don't think I've ever doubted myself as a writer. Fucked up from time to time, sure, but doubt? Not this little scribbler .