I’m a writer!
A few weeks ago, we had another workshop with the incredible May Sumbwanyambe, who taught us about all things structure. The workshop pushed me to expand my knowledge of how plays work in a more mechanical sense, and I found it very helpful. However, that is not what I want to talk about today. In this session, what really struck me was May’s question when introducing ourselves; do you see yourself as a writer?
Now, I’m going to share with you my immediate response to this question: What?! Of course not! There’s no way I’m a writer yet! I haven’t published anything, haven’t written anything of significant value or length, I haven’t shared my writing with anyone, so how could I possibly say that I am a writer?!
I think May knew exactly what my answer to this question was and provided a very straightforward response – if you write, you’re a writer.
Yes… I can confirm that this was an accurate representation
of my face when he said that.
After reflecting on this, I decided to do a bit of research and look into what the definition of a writer is. Here are some examples of what I found:
Cambridge English Dictionary Online – ’a person who
writes books or articles to be published.
Dictionary.com – ’a person engaged in writing books, articles, stories, etc., especially as an occupation or profession; an author or journalist’
Collins Online Dictionary – ’a person who writes
books, stories, or articles as a job.’
I think that this emphasises the very problem I was having when answering May’s question. I determine a writer to be a professional. Someone who makes a living from writing. Someone who writes published works in any format – like books, journal articles, blogs, and, of course, plays. This is why my answer was no. I didn’t think I was a writer because my work had never come to anything. I much preferred to take the title of ‘aspiring writer’ or ‘amateur’.
But there was another definition that I came across from the
Merriam Webster Online Dictionary: a writer is defined as ‘one
that writes’, and writing/writes is defined as ‘to form
(characters, symbols, etc.) on a surface with an instrument’. So, it seems
that I can no longer avoid the correct answer to May’s question. I will say it
(or write it) loud and clear: I AM A WRITER.
Writing this, however, seems to be much easier than actually believing it. I guess my reluctance to call myself a writer stems from insecurity and fear. Like I will somehow offend someone who perhaps agrees with the Cambridge dictionary definition by stating that I am a writer. But May and the other amazing playwrights I’ve met on this programme so far are helping me realise that I have no reason to be. I have learned that I need to lessen the time I spend worrying about how other people feel about the writer title and prioritise my feelings.
I write. Therefore, I am a writer.
Erin Craighead
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