What makes you (or me) a writer?
News Flash: It’s not the number of followers you have on Instagram.
It’s not the amount of sales you’ve made on Amazon.
It’s not the reviews you plead with readers to leave, or the glowing report from your grandmother.
It’s not the comments on your blog.
It’s not the aesthetic of your writing space or the organization of your bookshelf.
It’s not the number of words you wrote (or didn’t write) last November.
It’s not the epic length of your new novel.
It’s not the fervor of your street team or the excitement of your beta readers.
No. It is none of those things.
.
.
.
What makes you a writer?
It is the hours spent pouring your heart and soul onto a sheet of paper.
It is the blood you bled for the sake of words . . .
. . . the tears you shed for your characters (or somebody else’s).
It is the weeks you spent writing that story no one will ever read.
It is the dedication you put into your first draft.
It is the sweat you soaked your second draft with.
It is the private joke when you see a person who looks like your character.
It is the personal thrill when you write that perfect sentence.
It is the unseen accomplishment when you write something you’ve never written before.
It is the daring escape when you break into a new genre or style.
It is the gallant quest you undertake every time you sit down and put pen to paper . . .
. . . what makes you a writer . . .
is you.
And the longing within you that will never be silent.
Hannah Gaudette - Author 