When did you fellow writers start to call yourselves writers?

What was the moment you decided that you were officially a writer/author?

I know we've all wanted this since we were quite young and personally, this has been my life ever since I graduated high school. It feels like a very lonely road as if I'm chasing something not many people care about but then I come on here and it's comforting to know that you're all doing what I'm doing.

So when was that moment? Has it came yet?

Let's discuss!

 

Um. Well I've been writing for over ten years, and I've been published in very small scale publications several times, but I don't know if I really started calling myself a writer until a year ago. I think because I committed to writing a novel for the first time, and actually started turning that into a reality, I began to tentatively refer to myself as a writer. Before that, I would say with a self-deprecating smile, "I like writing."

I think because so few non-writer people actually comprehend what it's like to have writing be such a big part of your life (whether personally or professionally) we tend to down-play ourselves so as to make ourselves more palatable to the general public. Also, I'm only 22. Nobody takes us younger ones seriously until we've proven ourselves. People have begun to realise that I'm serious about the novel thing (I've been steadily working on it for 14 months now) and the result is that I'm slowly working up the courage to call myself a writer as a more 'normal' thing. I don't know if I'll really feel comfortable using the term until my first book is published. I just don't know if I've earned it yet. Maybe that's wrong?

 

When I pressed the button to upload my first novel onto Amazon. Although it may have been when the first copy was sold.

 

I don't really call myself a writer. I write, yeah, but... to me, the label is more of a job designation, so unless I'm writing full-time and making my living at it, I won't likely attach the label to myself.

 

It's a hobby for me, I'm not a writer, just someone who writes in their spare time.

 

When I started my Doctor Who fanfiction, writing was just a hobby that I was never going to make any money off of. When I wrote a couple of original short stories, writing was just a hobby that I thought I might make a bit of money off of. To me, "writer" meant that it was the most important thing that I was doing.

When I came up with an idea for a novel that I would be able to follow with a lot of sequels, I realized this was what I wanted to do with my life

When I was writing Gemini, my plan was "Be a full-time math professor, write fanfiction and short stories on the side." Now my plan is "Be an Urban Fantasy writer, work full-time either as an English professor or at a grocery store on the side (while writing fanfiction and short stories)."

 

When I was in kindy-garter.

Seriously. Kindy-garter.

 

Guess when I took writing seriously and it became my most developed skill that I have - something I feel I actually know a thing or two about. When I started writing with an aim to publish rather than just writing for fun.

But I still find myself saying I'm only "a bit of a" writer often, because I haven't traditionally published anything yet. Self-published is fine too, of course. I guess I'd be more confident about the title once people actually read my stuff and pay for it

But being something that I do, that's important to me, that's part of my identity - yep, writer all the way.

 

I never have, and probably never will, fit the definition of a 'writer'. I don't really subscribe to this nonsense which states, 'if you write, you're a writer.'

That's like saying, 'if you change the spark plug on your car, you're a mechanic.'

 

Back when I wrote fanfic I would refer to myself as a "fanfic writer." So when I started writing original fiction, I just took the modifier off and called myself a writer. Interestingly though, I didn't feel comfortable calling myself an author until my first book was published. Why my brain decided to split hairs like that, I have no idea!

 

What @JE Loddon said... when you publish, however you come to that point, you got it.

 

I don't think 'writer' has a definition that fits all people. It is very much a personal thing.

But I kind of lean towards @Mckk 's definition: when writing defines what I am, I'll call myself a writer. That means probably never

 

There are very inspiring stories here! I could sort of feel the excitement that you all must've felt publishing your first books.

Now, I've been writing since I was nine but then it was only for me. I did show parents, family and friends but that was all it was.

Four years ago when I decided to self publish my short stories on smashwords I was surprised to get so many downloads. That was when I started spending 5-6 hours a day on source material, writing, editing, submitting and noting. When I got published in literary journals that was when I knew someone else besides me liked my work so that was when I could start to call myself a writer without lying to myself.

I understand that lots of you don't want to call yourselves that because it might seem pretentious but to me, I spend too much of my life locked away writing that it would be strange not to call myself a writer/author.

 

It's very much a personal thing, isn't it? Not for one second was I suggesting only published authors have earned the right to call themselves writers, but it's not for fear of being seen as pretentious that means I think this way - it's just the way I do.

 

That's absolutely fine!

I think we all perceive ourselves in our own way and have some kind of metaphorical plateau to live up to whether it be traditionally published, self published or even just to finish a manuscript. That's one reason why writing is something I can familiarize myself with. Everything is internal and personal. My expectations for myself are not naked but that's also why writing is very frustrating at times.

 

All the damn time if you ask me. That's why I gave up and turned to poetry.

 

Exactly my view.

 

Personally, I always called myself an aspiring writer to other people when I was young because I knew a lot of non-writers who would laugh if I called myself a writer before being published but I have always called myself a writer, even if it was when I was alone. Now that I have had a few short pieces published I call myself a published poet, at first, and then a published writer, after I finally had a short story published, but I probably won't feel comfortable calling myself a writer in the professional sense to the public until I have had either way more short pieces published or if/when I finally finish my novel and then, hopefully, get it published or at least attract an agent (if I decide to go down that route) ... but that's just my thoughts and, as it has been said before in this thread, it's different for each individual.

 

I am officially now a chef having cooked beans on toast for lunch.

 

Yeah, you'll probably have your own tv show soon.

Beans on toast *noise that Homer Simpson makes*

 

I have a plan for getting on TV, I'm going to get hold of a Kingon prosthetic and stick that on my forehead, then I am going to act like a certifiable prick, say f*ck every second word and shout and scream at anyone in the vicinity, and if they get irritated, I'll hide behind my security team. I should be all over the TV in weeks.

 

Not a fan of the man I like to call Sweary Chef either then?

 

I've been a professional writer for about five years, which muddies the waters for me. But when I talk about fiction I say, "I write novels," rather than "I'm a writer." But I do say, "I'm a writer" whenever someone asks me what I do for a living.

 

I prefer Dave Lister's answer when asked his occupation.