Well, since someone already said, "When you write...." You know you're a writer when you inwardly cringe at your classmates (and sometimes teacher's) rudimentary knowledge on character types. No, a that's not what an antagonist is *Mental Facepalm*. When you compulsively buy notebooks even though you know you'd never try dirtying them with your neurotic note-taking. And, when you're a member of WritingForums, of course.
(this one comes from being an artist as well as a writer) ...when you can't finish a painting because you get distracted coming up with a back story for every figure in the composition. Last night I wanted to draw. I drew a mermaid with an eel. Then I named the eel and started to write a story in my head. The painting is still not done.
For me, it's not that I wouldn't. It's just that I typically don't, because I've become so accustomed to writing via computer. But I still do sometimes buy the notebooks, anyway.
-you know you're a writer when in you're listening to music or watching something and you're like "omg!i just thought of something!i need a pen!"
Could also be --You know you've got Alzheimer's--when you just thought of the Appt. you missed 2 days ago!!.
When you get annoyed at the trailers in the cinema because Tim Burton's been in your brain and stolen your ideas... AGAIN... And when you're sitting quietly with your partner, he's on the Xbox, you're on the laptop, and having a peaceful night in, when he asks: 'What are you doing, darling?' you smile sweetly, gaze into his eyes and say: 'Just looking for reasons why a person's gums could turn blue/what a fear of armchairs is called/famous serial killers' modus opperandi.' Ahh, the looks I've gotten...
...when you tell yourself "Everything is going to be fine, Raenef (your character) is going to be right there with you. He would be so proud of you!" when you need to go to the dentist. ... when you absolutely love trafic jams, because they give you more time to ponder on new storyplots, that latest dialogue you're trying to write but just doesn't seem to work etc. ... when you are in above mentioned trafic jam with your windows wide open because of the warmth and you're still reading and editing your dialogues out loud to see what feels/flows right. (while your fellow trafic jam driver is wondering why you're repeating the almost exact same lines over and over again, and wonders if he/she needs to call a doctor after 15 minutes) ((One time someone even stopped his car completely, got out of it, and handed me his business card. He was a psychiatrist... I was too dumbfounded though to tell him I was writing a story. ))
Though one must admire his innovation, and traffic jams are certainly fertile ground for mental derangement, I would discourage visiting a psychiatrist who has to troll same for patients. And to think--here they give tickets for being distracted talking on a cell phone!!.
LOL, I should try that sometimes. I can see it now, imagining Heridon and Amos (my characters) watching me get my cavities filled (had to have two filled recently) and cheering me on for not running away. XD Or better yet, imagining Heridon explaining to Amos (Who's a boy from the 1770s) what exactly they're doing to me and why.
I'd like to add: when you're watching a music video or TV drama, and you start composing the novelization along in your head... incidentally, mentally narrating music videos are a TERIFFIC way of practising rhythm and metre
omg that is EXACTLY what I do when I listen to music. XD I've had climaxes resolved to John Denver's Country Roads or Vick Chestnut's I've Flirted With You All MY Life.
You know you're a writer when you find yourself correcting song lyrics, even if they're supposed to be written 'wrong'
When you pour water for tea and splosh some onto your hand, but instead of rushing to the sink to run some cool water, you stare at your hand and try to describe the sensation so you can accurately write about it later.
^Hmm...that's a little disturbing?? Don't you think? *edges away awkwardly* Hee, hee. JK. I've had plenty of experiences like that -- so I definitely know what the sensation is!
You know your a writer when..... Every conversation you have during the day (at work of course) is pertaining to your next big story idea, the characters, or plot. Everyone you work with comes into the office asking you what's happened NEXT.
You know you're a writer when the big questions in life bother you, and you set down your ornate journey on paper, as you try to search out the answer?
You base your characters from life experiences that have had profound impact on you. Let's say you have or have had a bully or a nasty teacher in school. You can take this person and create your own character based off of him/her. And here's the good part. This character is 100% at your mercy. You can do whatever you wish to them. I don't know what you'd do, and I don't think I want to know what you'd do. For instance, in a Heridon Copper mystery, the titular hero's cousin (who's deaf) has a horrible teacher who treats him like crap due to his disablity. In the mystery, Heridon has to work with this horrible teacher, but this teacher soon recieves her reward. One guess as to why I made this character.
Greetings from Red Boiling Springs, TN I have caught myself setting a place at lunch then realizing L'onya is up on the hill hunting deer and won't be back until supper.
when you feel the urge from within and out of a sudden you waht to vent your feelings on a piece of a paper.
... you become a connoisseur of writing equipment - pens, notebooks, paper, even word processing software. You see a friend using a pen and ask to try it out, judging its balance and smoothness, the quality of line. You experiment with software features nobody else bothers with, and try out Dvorak keyboards. You carry a Moleskine notebook with the elastic to hold it closed with you because it makes you feel like Hemingway, or Indiana Jones ...
... when you decide your story needs another character, you stare at the screen and whisper "who are you...?"
