'Nothing stinks like a pile of unpublished writing' says Sylvia Plath. I think that's probably true if you're a well established writer. But, if you're a new, less published writer, I think there are many other things that stink far more. A teenage boys bedroom for instance.
So, I will politely, and with the utmost respect, disagree for my group, which is the latter. A pile of writing is writing done. It's experience. It's a sign that you have worked hard at your craft. You've suffered through doubt and fear and lets face it, pain. You've also experienced the infinite glee and comfort of opening yourself to the blank page.
Being published doesn't make you a writer. I've been told this by many published writers and I'm starting to believe it. It's taken a long time for me to get to that belief.
Most days, I'll admit, I feel like a fraud. One of the millions who say "I want to be a writer". The difference, for me at least, is that I was born a writer, sounds cheesy? Maybe so, but it's honestly how I feel, I dare you to argue. I feel it in my veins when I wake and when I drift to sleep. I see the world through "my" writer eyes, and they are completely unique, as are yours.
I suppose my purpose for writing this particular post is to say to all of those born writers, unpublished or published, you are the ONLY one who can convince yourself that you're a Writer. It's your job alone to do so. So do it! Be bold and true, loud if needed and say "I am a Writer."
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ReplyDeleteI, too, would like to see my finished works published. However, just because they are unpublished does not make them worthless. I'm with you on this. Just like a psychologist who is always asked if they do therapy, the first question I am usually asked when I say I'm a writer is, "Have you been published?" As though the two are mutually exclusive!
ReplyDeleteI, for one, hope I never get published while alive. That way, when my works are printed posthumously all the people who treated me like garbage can sit back and say: "He was a genius!"
I wrote for many years without being published (but trying). During all those years I considered myself to be a writer. Nothing could convince me that I wasn't.
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