Am I a writer?

I am very happy to have found a writing prompt to linkup to each week. It will help to keep me focused on my writing and just give me something outside of my two major writing projects to think about and to write about.

Snapshots of Sophie is still an ongoing project for me. I started it as part of NaNoWriMo, and although I didn’t even come close to finishing it during the month of November, I am still working towards my goal of completion. It is coming towards it’s the end now (at time of writing it stands at 35,000 words). It is still in its first draft form though. Then will come the task of reading and re-writing. I am not (I confess) totally sure of how best to approach this. Part of me would love to print it out physically and scribble all over it. Treat it and read it as a real book and annotate my way through it. This would take up a huge amount of paper and ink though. It would probably be expensive. It might be the most effective way of reading it though - as a book rather than a word document if that makes sense? Any words of wisdom you may have about this drafting process would be gratefully received.

I am also considering going straight into my next project before re-writing Snapshots. I wondered if that would give me a fresh perspective on it and free me up to be much more objective than I would be if I re-read it immediately after writing it. Again, any words of wisdom from you wonderful writers out there would be very much appreciated.

My newest project idea is very much in its infancy. I haven’t even begun to write it at all yet. I have started the research for it though. It was such a sudden, rushing and all-encompassing emotion that accompanied this idea that I simply had to take some time to find some articles and jot down some ideas into a word document ready for me to turn my full attention to it as soon as I can. I am being a little vague and avoiding telling you the nitty gritty of this idea. I am being very evasive.  This is on purpose, sorry. I simply couldn’t bear to have this idea stolen from me. It has become my new baby already.

So, perhaps I won’t post too much of my writing for this particular project here on my writing blog. Perhaps I’ll keep it to myself for a while. Just until I am more sure, more certain about it. Until I am feeling OK about letting out little bits and pieces of the details.

So, the question at the top of this post. That is what I am trying to answer in my long, rambling sort of way.  It’s this one: Am I a Writer?

I would say that I definitely am. I have one book nearing completion and another germ of a book idea on the way for when this one is finished. I enjoy the process of writing. I enjoy reading about writing.

Being a writer means so much to me. Finally being in a place in my life and in my head where I can make time to write and to do so regularly is amazing. This is something I have been reaching towards for many years.

I average around 4,000 words per week on whichever project I am working on. I also manage to keep up with a full time job, a lifestyle blog, an Etsy store and, most importantly, a life of my own. I find myself getting lost in words often. I can be literally away in my own little world and need to be drawn back into my real life and towards my real life companions.

The screensaver on my Android Tablet looks like this:

I am a writer, an artist and woman who is rich with gifts and blessed by a fruitful and fulfilling life.

That is my answer to the question above this post: I am a writer.