What it means to be a writer

When Louise Allan asked me to take part in her ‘What it means to be a writer’ series, I jumped at the opportunity. Here’s a teaser from my post – click on the flower to read the rest. 

What does it mean to be a writer?

I could answer this question in a myriad of ways. I could be funny, and talk about ridiculous Google searches, writing on napkins when there’s a lack of paper, writing love scenes when the kids are wandering about. I could be practical and use words like discipline and commitment. I could philosophise about the need to witness reality or imagination, or like, Elizabeth Gilbert in Big Magic, wax lyrical about creative energy needing an outlet.

All of these answers would be ‘right’ or ‘good’ in so far as such answers could be evaluated. At different times, being a writer is all of these things.

But underneath the laughter and the hard work, there’s another aspect of being a writer; all writers understand it, even if they don’t often talk about it.