Are You a Writer Because You Write?
I write because I am a writer
What is writing to you?
In my early days of studying Psychology, my coach would always say to people who ask him his reasons for coding.
“ I am not a code singer because I code, I code because I am a code singer.”
Don’t get confused, I was too when I heard this.
He is a backend developer and a psycho analyst.
I asked him what it meant and he said “my work doesn’t define who I am, rather I define what my work is.”
I kept this saying in my heart, wondering when it would become useful to me.
The day I started the medium journey, I knew it became so relevant.
Most people are writers because they write. They write because it is what they do, an activity, a job to earn. To them “writing is simply putting words on a paper”.
Their writing defines them, therefore when the unpleasant days come, they leave writing into another world. Anyone can write but that does not make them a writer.
Between, writing is not the only characteristic of a writer.
Just as playing an instrument, cooking & painting doesn’t automatically make you a musician, chef, or a painter, writing doesn’t automatically make you a writer.
If you are here mainly to write, you are not a writer, you are just a content creator.
Once you face a challenge, you blame external circumstances, get discouraged and eventually back out.
But a true writer who writes because he is a writer wouldn’t leave on unpleasant days. He defines his writing.
Being a writer is an inherent part of his identity.
He writes because it is a natural expression of his thoughts, emotions and experiences. Just like how we breathe and speak naturally, writers write naturally.
He is a writer because he expresses art through his writing with a unique purpose.
There is a deep seated need to write which is not dictated by external validation or success.
The passion to write burns within them, the curiosity & hunger drives them to search and research, the heart of open mindedness dwells in them and the resilient spirit energises them.
A true writer displays these and many more traits because they don’t just write, they give influential value.
I write because I am a writer.
