Are You a Writer? Really?

By Mary Jaksch

Hands up if you mumbled something like, “Well, I suppose I am, but…” or even, “I couldn’t really call myself a writer, because…”

I admit, it’s taken me a long time to say, “I’m a writer.”

Even after my first book Learn to Love was published and translated into many languages, I still couldn’t say these four simple words, “I am a Writer”. Why? Because I’m nothing like the writers I look up to. I thought of them as, well, WRITERS. And I thought of myself as a writer. Like, someone who writes a bit but isn’t the real deal.

Is this thought pattern familiar?

It all changed one day when I was having a conversation with my friend Steffie who was eight years old at the time. She asked me,

“What’s a writer?”

I answered, “A writer writes.”

Later I realized that I had given myself the answer I was looking for. Because being a writer doesn’t mean being outstanding, fantastic, or deserving of the Pulitzer. It means that you write.

For a while, I stuck notices up in every room of my home saying: “A writer writes!” Now I’m cool with that, and love it when someone asks me what I do. I immediately say, “I’m a writer!”

I find that this simple saying is a great motivator. When I’m in a bus, or at the hairdresser, or at any other ‘inbetween’ time, I remind myself of the action that makes me what I am: “A writer writes.” I whip out my notebook and start writing. Try this mantra and see what happens!

What about you? Are you a writer?

If you can’t answer with a clear ‘yes’, what are your barriers?

Mary Jaksch is Chief Editor of Write to Done. You can read more articles by Mary on Goodlife ZEN. Get her free Ebook “Overcome Anything” here or join her on the upcoming Virtual Zen Retreat.