OK, this is getting a little redundant. Let me ask everyone here. Do you often tell people you're a writer? Have you ever told anyone you're a writer? If yes to either, in what context did you tell them and why did you tell them? What sort of responses do you usually get when you tell people?
I say "I'm a bid writer" every time someone asks me what I do. I can only think of two situations in which I've referred to myself as a fiction writer, besides on writing forums: I went for a massage and the masseuse was asking how I got the horrendous knot in my back that's been there five years and will eventually become a life form of its own and murder me and all I hold dear. I told her I sit at a computer for about 12 hours a day. She was understandably horrified and I explained that I write for a day job and I'm a novelist. I felt like a pretentious twat. She was wholly focused on my lumpy muscles and thankfully didn't ask about my novels. I gave my book to friend-colleague to read and she went around telling every woman in the office to read it. So they keep coming up to me and saying, "I hear you're a writer?" and I usually mumble something and change the subject because I get embarrassed. But I usually have to agree that yes, I'm a writer. They are always very impressed and the next question is usually "What do you write?" or "What's your book about?" I mumble again. I like the word usually, it seems.
In grade four we did a poetry unit. I loved it, while everyone else hated it. I've stuck with it ever since. In grade eleven my Literary Arts teacher pulled my still-to-this-day-crush and I aside and told us we had to keep writing. That still inspires me to this day. My, the things a good teacher can do. Writing is one of the only things that gives me a sense of self, which is why I call myself a writer. I don't expect my style to have mass appeal so I don't often think of making it a career. I don't want to sacrifice my integrity to make sales. I am content to hold down a crappy job so I can try to focus on writing, with or without possibilities of publication (much to the dismay of my family). I write, therefore I am a writer.
Eh.. I modeled before (which I got paid for) and I acted before as an extra which I also got paid for, but these are not my passions and I cannot see myself trying to umph my way up in those businesses. I've "wrote" since I was 9 years old and continued to do so up until now. In college, I was taugh by several authors and journalists about writing (fiction, poetry, cover stories, screenplays etc.) but since I dedicated so much time out of my life to writing, I definitely identify myself as a writer and nothing less. The seriousness and fortitude behind the statement should always matter. And notice how I said writer instead of author because now that is plain silly. Yes, I've published books on smashwords and won poetry contests but I'll always identify as a writer. I think it's not until you see your books on the shelf that you can go for the author tag.
"I'm a writer" implies a state of being. "I write" implies doing. I never say, "I'm a writer" because it makes me feel like I need to be wearing an ascot and smoking jacket.
I never say, "I'm a writer." I identify as an economist because that's how I make most of my money. I do have a small steady stream of income that comes from magazine work, but not enough to live on. The only context in which I mention that I write for pay would be in connection with the magazine and runs along the lines of, "Hi, I'm working on a story for (fill in month) edition of Idaho Magazine and would like to schedule a time for an interview/tour/whatever." Most people don't care that you write, so why mention it? Generally speaking, no one wants to hear about my last story any more than they want to hear about an accountant's last completed tax form or the last will completed by an attorney. Like @Sack-a-Doo! mentioned above, saying you're "a writer" implies lounging around in a smoking jacket. I've met far to many "writers" in their 30's, 40's, & 50's who are still mooching off friends and family, setting up go fund me (or similar sites), who refuse to work because they are "writing their masterpiece," but never manage to actually produce anything. The last thing I want is to be lumped in with that crowd.