Am I A Writer?

Have you ever asked yourself a question you weren’t sure you knew the answer to? I tend to do that a lot. Recently, I’ve had a new question going through my head. That question is simple: am I a writer?

At first blush, the answer to that question should be simple. I’m in Advanced Writing class. That alone should be an explanation, for why would one who is not a writer take a class for advanced writers? Isn’t being a writer at the very core of the course? And if it is, then why am I questioning my status as a writer?

Well, it’s simple. Obviously, most of my friends know that I’m an English major. To me, being an English major kind of automatically implies that you write. Imagine my surprise, when during a recent conversation about majors, one looked at me and asked “Do you write?” Initially, it seemed to me to be, well, a stupid question. Of course I write, I am an English major for goodness sake. Maybe Biology majors don’t think like me.

But then I realized something. Josh’s question was actually a very good one, and the answer is more complicated than a simple yes or no. It really depends on what he meant by write. In truth, writing has many definitions.

If he meant academic writing, then yes, I write. I write papers for classes all the time—research papers, personal essays, projects, you name it. I write hundreds if not thousands of words on a daily basis to fulfill class requirements. Writing academically is a fact of life in college.

If he meant professionally, the answer is also an emphatic yes. In three years on Senate, I’ve learned to write bills, memos, reports, and letters to so-called important people. I can come up with countless well done examples of this type of writing. Again, it’s something I need to do on a daily basis. A huge part of being a good leader is having the ability to communicate well both in person and in writing.

If he meant personally, as in a journal, you bet I do. My new found addiction to blogging is proof of that. The blog is a great outlet for feelings, thoughts and musings on the state of my life and the world as a whole. That type of writing just works for me. I probably write as well, or better on my blog than I do anywhere else. I’ve been told as much.

But does that mean I truly write? I don’t write the things a “writer” is supposed to. No poetry. No short stories. No novels. No fiction of any kind. I don’t know why, I just never have. In fact, I rarely have time to do much writing for fun outside of my blogging, and that’s only come about in the last few months.

Yes, I’m an English major who professes to love writing, but doesn’t actually do it for fun. It makes no sense. I feel as if I should do more, but then it wouldn’t be for fun because I’d be forcing myself to write in all these mediums just because I should. And a writer who writes forced isn’t a very good writer.

Which still leaves the question open: What the hell does it mean to be a writer? It must be more than simply “One who writes.” And whatever that definition is, do I fit it?