A Writer's Perspective

Real or Pretend
November 21, 2006

If you’ve ever attended a writers conference, you know the routine: When you meet someone new the first question you ask is, “So what do you write?”

At a conference a few years ago, a fellow attendee turned to me and said, “What do you write?”

“I write magazine and newspaper articles.”

“Oh—you’re not a real writer. You don’t write books.”

I beg your pardon?

Is a “real writer” defined as someone who writes books—those things with a table of contents and chapter titles, and ISBN numbers? If I prefer to write for magazines or newspapers, am I a pretend writer?

Whether I write a 48,000 to 50,000 word book (which I did) or a 2400 word magazine article (did that too) I am a writer.

• I attend writers’ conferences.
• I belong to Inkspired, a writers group that meets weekly to critique each others’ writing.
• I brainstorm article ideas and then write and rewrite them.
• I browse the annual Writers Market daydreaming about article ideas and then send out query letters.
• I have a file of rejection letters and a file of acceptances.
• Sometimes I write for the sheer joy of splashing words across the page. Other times I write because I am staring down a deadline.

No matter what I’m writing—a journal or blog entry, an article for an online e-zine or conventional magazine, or a novel—I am a real writer. I have the rough drafts to prove it.

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