I have been writing since I can remember. As a child I collected every scrap of paper and extra stationary sheet I could find. I wrote down everything. I even wrote a letter to the president once!
I enjoyed my writing assignments in high school and have had numerous penpals through the years.
In college I even chose a pen name and continued to dream of becoming a famous writer.
My shelves are bowing under the weight of books filled with other's stories, and journals filled with my own musings, poetry and tales… yet still I dreamed of becoming a writer.
I wasn't sure how that would happen, maybe I could self publish, maybe I'd get a “book deal” someday. There were lots of Maybes.
With some encouragement, I started blogging privately, and then publicly; still believing that someday I'd be a real writer.
And then I heard Jeff Goins in an interview for Platform University talking about the day he became a writer. He said he once asked a professional writer “When does a writer become a writer?” The answer:
You are when you say you are.
When I heard that, something inside of me clicked.
A writer is not made a writer by other's acknowledgement, any more than a broom is made a broom by other's acknowledgement. A writer is what a writer does.
I don't have to dream of becoming a writer. I am one.
I have been a writer since I can remember, I just haven't recognized it in myself.
So, let me introduce you to Katie, the writer.
May I challenge to you today? Dare to dream, dare to become, and whether therefore you
write, or sing, or craft, or build, or cook, or clean, or run, or teach, or eat, or drink, or whatsoever you do, do ALL to the glory of God! (1 Corinthians 10:31)
What is that you have dreamed of doing while associating the becoming with other people's acknowledgement? Could it be that you are already what you wish to become?
Suzanne Mumpower says
How very encouraging! Thank you!