On Writing

To be a writer is to be in business for yourself.  Especially if you are an independent writer, not working with a major publication or publisher.

I am a writer.

I have written four books, published three of them, am working on a fifth.  I have written countless articles for The Cambridge Times and The Toronto Sun.  I have written poetry, short stories and short plays.  I have written diaries and journals.  It is who I am, it is what I love to do.

To write is to take the most fundamental, raw, emotional aspects of yourself, paint those qualities onto characters, and bleed them onto the proverbial page.  It is to be a consummate observer of human nature.  To express observations, humanity, emotion and even sometimes evil in a way that will not only capture the imagination of someone else, but will stir them as well.  To paint words so that you not only share our vision, but you see it in your mind’s eye played out before you as you read our words.

I am a writer.

I believe that there is, was and will always be value in story telling.  It is one of the oldest forms of entertainment, of sharing information.  It is a bonding event, it is a way for us to reach out to one another and say “I see you”, “I hear you”, “I feel your pain”, “I share your joy”.  It is a never ending comment on the human experience.

I am a writer.

I don’t always write everyday, but I am always cultivating stories in my mind.  I could spend hours watching people in a mall, in an airport, on the street.  I could listen in to the chatter of a thousand conversations with a smile on my face and words flowing through my mind.

I have spent days on end tethered to my computer pounding out the details of the life of one who only exists in my imagination and I will do it again.  I have spent weeks on end without physically putting the words down, but constantly working and reworking them in my head.

I am a writer.

It does not matter whether or not I have a publisher or an agent.  If I have a massive following with titles hitting the best sellers list or if I have a few people who tell me my work moves them.  As long as I am creating, working, writing, it is who I am.  As a (currently) independent, self published writer, I am my own boss, my own agent, my own publicist, my own publisher, my own marketing department and my own advocate.  Of course I would like to be a best seller (what writer wouldn’t) but in my current position I am happy just to know that I can touch the hearts of some, make an impact to few.

I am a writer. It’s a big part of who I am.  And I am proud.

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