Imagine you’re with this fine hot smoking lady on a date. She seems like she’s all into you until the moment you reference some dead writer in the conversation. She goes, “What did you say your profession was again?”
Oh damn.
You’re with your parents in the church. Some bald stranger comes all fake-surprised and exclaims how much you’ve grown and all. And then he asks, “So what do you do now?”
Gulp. “I write..?”
He smilingly conveys the lost hope of your parents. And walks away as if you’ve been hit with a Thor’s hammer on your nutsack. Your parents turn to you and say, “You can still get a real job, right?”
These are just two, but very probable situations out of a writing human’s life. It doesn’t matter if you’re a struggling novelist, content writer, copywriter or whatever. The number of embarrassing instances in your life is going to be huge and long. Brace for it.
It seems like there’s a predisposed opinion (a bad one, at that) of someone trying their hands at being an artist in their lives. While most artists at the pinnacle of their careers are immune to this treatment, you have to understand that even they passed through the same feelings of rejection as you do now. Especially at the beginning of your creative careers.
It all boils down to one singular point. Do you like what you do? Then fucking own it. Eventually, I guess, the feeling of shame indoctrinated upon your writing ambitions by the people around will begin to fade away as a bright, vibrant, positive state engulfs you in a reverberating state of artistic pleasure.
I say, don’t be afraid to call yourself a writer. I’ve seen a lot of folks who are just too embarrassed to say out loud that they write or love to write. Just stop doing that sorry-ass behaviour and get out there and admit you’re a writer. Say it to yourself each morning you wake up. Say it before and after you take a dump. Say it before you go to sleep.Know it in the deepest of your heart as you’re talking to a client on the phone. If you can't own the fact that you're an amazing writer, then do you think others will?
A writing life can cage you in a sea of insecurities, fear and doubt. But you also have to understand there is no such thing as a perfect writer. I guess even JK Rowling’s shit stinks. Nobody's a perfect unicorn. Anybody can continue to perfect his/her skill of putting words to paper or typing them away on a keyboard. It's a life long affair, my friends. The path is not carved out beforehand. The destination is eternal. But the journey is a miracle. Live it.
The thrill and high of playing god, by conjuring up images in our minds and translating them into writing, that’s an orgasmic mental process you enjoy every day. Not many will know about it, nor will they care to know. But the question is, do you? And that’s all that matters.
Say it out loud: You're a writer. An amazing one.
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