Claiming Your Identity as a Writer

Who gets to call themselves a writer? Someone who writes. If you write, you’re a writer. It can be that simple—if you allow yourself to embrace your artistic identity.

It’s natural to get hung up on the term “writer” as a job description, which can lead to feelings of impostor syndrome. Many writers don’t believe they deserve the title because they haven’t been published or earned money for their writing. However, some of our most important identities are unpaid positions: spouse or partner, family, friend, mentor, volunteer. And these roles have a great impact on both us and others.

Writing is a calling. As a writer, you are both an observer of and a participant in life. Something causes you to see the world differently and compels you to record it for others to experience. It’s this act of creating that makes you a writer, not whether any money has changed hands.

If this sounds familiar, what’s holding you back from embracing and owning your artistic identity? How might your writing grow if you do? What could blossom in your creative journey?