Tuesday, June 09, 2015

You Know You're A Writer When...

You can’t read a book without finding all the typos

You can’t read a book without finding plot flaws
You can’t read a book without thinking “I would have done that differently”

You own at least three different books about writing
You talk about the voices in your head without worry of being committed
You converse with the voices in your head
You love to talk to other writers about the voices in your head, because they understand you
You have been heard to say “That sounds like the title of a book…”
You have been heard to say “That would make a good book…”
You have ever jotted down the name of a person, place or road to keep for your next book


You have at least one friend with whom you discuss people who don’t really exist
You have at least one friend with whom you discuss places that don’t really exist
You have at least one friend that doesn’t really exist
You have at least one friend with whom you've discussed writer's block in depth
You’ve ever contemplated the best way to remember where an apostrophe, comma
or semicolon belongs

You’ve rewritten the same paragraph five times or more
You’ve rewritten the same page five times or more
You’ve rewritten the same story five times or more

Your computer is named after a legendary author
Your child is named after a legendary author
Your main character is named after one of your children
Your child is named after your main character
You feel naked without a pen and paper, just in case
You love the feel and look of blank paper
You enjoy experiences others would find intolerable, because they give you experience to
write about later

You’ve ever contemplated the perfect bank robbery, murder or government overthrow
You can’t stand a certain author because they “ruined” the story you liked the beginning of
You loved the movie “Secret Window”, “Paris When It Sizzles”, or “Funny Farm”
because you can identify.

You’ve ever told someone else “You should write that!”
You've ever told someone else "I should write that!"

You have ten or more Facebook friends you’ve never met in person, but know because they write, too

Or, simply, you know you're a writer because you do!


(Originally published in 2008, updated 2015)

No comments: