Someone on Facebook yesterday asked me what I do, and as I considered my answer, I realized the truth: I am a stay-at-home-mom, and a writer.
I have never thought of myself as a writer before; sometimes I have considered myself an aspiring writer, but I think now that I write for two blogs voluntarily and one blog on a paid basis, that counts as being a writer.
How can you tell if you're a writer? I think it's the urge. This blog is almost never a chore for me, I am so full of stories about Maeve, and you can only do so many Facebook updates about funny stories about your daughter. (At least I assume that to be true, I may be pushing the limits already) And the Husband likes to hear the stories, but I still have the urge to write them down, for her, for myself, and for whoever may be entertained or informed by them.
But opening the door for the idea that I'm a writer, it begs the question, is this what I want to do? Is this that ever-elusive Thing I Want To Do When I Grow Up? Well, yeah, I think it is, but it's hard to see beyond my current paycheck of next-to-nothing. If it's the Thing, then it needs to be a better paying Thing in order to count as a career. And I know absolute zero about how to get paid for writing, my paid gig came to me from a friend connection.
So if this is What I Want To Do, and it is, what is the next step? I will be ruminating and researching that point, but any little tips you want to throw my way are welcome. But for now I will just carry this little seed around in my heart, that I am a Writer, and encourage it to grow.
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| Hard at work |
It's hard making that leap, isn't it? To say the words "I am a writer." I've never fully able to say the words and act upon them myself. I always say "I did some freelance writing" or say my blog is a hobby. I think you need to be really thick skinned, because I've tried sending out some articles recently and become discouraged with rejection...anyhoo, I wish you THE BEST of luck when you do make that leap and you will if you put your mind to it :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Tonya. And you've done lots more writing than I have, so I think you are definitely a writer!
DeleteI hate rejection letters, too, but I actually like them better than not hearing anything at all...
Yay! I'm good at recognizing good writers, and you're one of the good ones. Whether that means you'll ever make any money, who knows? But you are definitely someone who should not stop writing!
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