Focus

There is no uniform to be a writer--no lab coat, no fatigues, no badge. It's hard to pick one out at a restaurant, unless you can see the pencil callouses or shabby clothes, but neither clue is conclusive.

Beginning writers want to know if they are really writers, if they have what it takes. I'm sorry to say that you will never know for sure. You will always have lingering doubts. You may sometimes be nervous sitting down with a new story. You may sometimes be apprehensive to see a letter in the mail from a prospective publisher. You won't reach some magical point where the world suddenly recognizes your genius.

The question to ask is, "Why is it important that the world know I am a writer? Is it not enough for them to know my writing?"

Some people dedicate themselves to careers of being writers instead of writing. The convention panel hog, the signing prima donna, the influence-peddling editor are all subspecies of the same animal: a person who is doing this to reinforce a weak ego, who has enslaved stories to exalt himself or herself.

If you're in this to see your name in print, get recognized in public, or score a spouse in the literature graduate school program, you may still get published. You may even be called a writer. Those who feel the passion of stories will see through your facade and resent you, though. Just as doctors take medicine seriously, writers consider their vocation to be a significant contribution to our society--the emotional and intellectual blueprints that help define who we are. You have a responsibility when you contribute to the patchwork epic of the human race to do it honestly. If you are playing a game for your own self-aggrandizement, you are abusing the trust of your audience and insulting every honest writer in history.

Should you take it so seriously that you no longer enjoy it? No. Should you only write about serious subjects in a serious fashion? Of course not. Just be aware that what you are doing means something beyond yourself, that the work you present to the public is another ingredient in the great stew of our collective consciousness. Are you adding spice? Or are you adding urine just for the honor of standing at the cauldron?

In other words:

You are a writer when the writing is more important than you are.

Why spend so much time worrying about whether you are a writer or whether you have what it takes? You are what you do, and don't waste time proving to the world you're a writer by doing anything other than writing.

It doesn't matter who you know or how recognizable your name happens to be. If you write passionately and well, you won't have to worry about success. You'll either be doing work so important to you that you don't care, or you'll be successful in spite of yourself.

Success is not a goal. It is a reward for reaching a more honest and noble goal of doing a thing well.

Why are certain writers considered great? Because the writing isn't about their egos but about telling an honest story. Edgar Allan Poe spent less time worrying about whether he was a writer than he did writing. He could have found the enormous popularity he often craved by writing ordinary stories for an ordinary audience, but he had darker visions. He took the risk to tell them, no matter the cost financially and socially. Poe--maligned and forgotten--lapsed into his final coma wearing someone else's clothes face down in a Baltimore gutter.

Are you that dedicated to what you have to say? Or are you more dedicated to yourself?

We all want to be successful. We all want to be special. We all have to do certain things in a practical world to raise the profile of our work so it can find an audience. Convention appearances are necessary, and so are signings. So are interviews. The nature of the publishing industry today demands that a name be prominently attached to a work, and you may indeed have to sell yourself as much as your writing.

Remember, though, why you are on that podium or behind that microphone, why you are networking and meeting editors. You are serving your stories, and not the other way around. Never confuse those activities with why you got involved in writing in the first place. To say something significant. To entertain readers. To release your fears and share your joys. To contribute something to the story of our species.

There are more effective ways to get rich. There are simpler ways to get famous. Don't abuse the responsibility of the artist to do either.

Never forget you are the servant of visions loaned to you by the universe. You add your perspective and pass them along.

"It is the tale, not he who tells it."

--Stephen King