I’m not trying to convince you, but myself!
Writing is an important part of my life, however when people ask me what I do for a living I stumble over the words. AM I a writer? Roy, who I have to say is hugely supportive of what I do, and always takes an interest, has no qualms about introducing me as a freelance writer, although I cringe a little when he does sometimes. If I say I’m a blogger I can see the mental shutters coming down behind people’s eyes, as for so many blogging is still perceived as a hobby. When I say I’m a writer people are interested… “Who do you write for?”, is met with “Well I’m freelance, so I write for many different people, mostly online and urm…”
Shutters – Slam.
I can’t blame people really, I struggle with it sometime, despite seeing the money in the bank and the emails coming and going. I can’t be too bad a writer surely, if people pay me? Regardless I struggle with the idea that I, Nicki Cawood, of a small-ish town in North Yorkshire, who has never done a journalistic or creative writing course, deserves the title. I don’t consider myself to have “made it”, far from it – my writing career is in it’s infancy, but at some point I will have to get over the mental stumbling block as I’m afraid it will start to hold me back.
You see, “Writer” is a hell of a title. It brings to mind an exclusive club with membership to only those who are worthy of it. How can I dare to presume that I could belong there? Roy’s answer to this is: “Do people read your work? Do they seek you out and pay you to write for them? Do you love writing? Then you are a writer!“. Put like that it makes perfect sense, I do all these things, I love to write and get huge satisfaction from it.
Am I the only one who feels like this sometimes?
I found this on Pinterest recently and it really struck a chord with me and made me smile. I’m tempted to have it put up somewhere!
If you find yourself asking yourself
(and your friends)
“Am I REALLY a writer? Am I REALLY an artist?”
Chances are you are.
The counterfeit innovator is wildly self confident.
The real one is scared to death!
*Steven Pressfield – The Art of War
Thanks for reading,
Nicki Cawood, Freelance Writer & Blogger.