She Who Writes, Wins!

I am a writer.

It took me a long time to accept this truth. If you've reading my blog, you have seen this journey. I used to say I want to write. That I was going to write a book some day (even though I was in the process of writing it even then). That I want to be an author and be published. But I would never admit outloud or on paper that I am a writer.

What makes a writer? It's not publication. And if we're going to talk about publication, I need to remind myself that this blog is a form of publication.

Being a writer isn't about passion or desire. Sure, those are components but they aren't what makes a person a writer.

What I have learned through time, and the patient reminders of my good friends, is that a writer is a person who wakes up in the morning and must write. Where writing is like breathing, you just cannot survive without writing something. Anything. Whether it be a journal entry, a letter, a poem, a story, you must write.

If you don't write, the days are dark and something is missing. Something vital to your being. If you don't write, it's as though the joy is being slowly sucked from your soul.

But when you do write, oh, the sun shines anew! The world lights with color and texture and sound like never before. And that secret part of you is blessed and filled to overflowing.

These things hold true for me. I am a writer. And every day I write even a sentance I win because I am being true to who I am and who God has made me to be.

I am a writer. Are you?

This post was entered in the You Are a Writer contest by Jeff Goins.