Comments on: Writer as Career v Writer as Identity

By: Gabby Fox

Gabby Fox — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:08:42 +0000

A friend emailed me this article, perhaps as a friendly reminder to be gentler with myself and not self-criticize each time I sit down to write (just because, if I can’t properly call myself a “writer,” why bother with the act of it?). The artist as perfectionist has been the little devil on my shoulder since I realized I don’t make sense when I don’t process the world through the written world, but if a word falls in the forest and no one reads it, we may still call that writing? Perhaps. Thank you for your article.

By: Here to Create » Back from Vacation

Here to Create » Back from Vacation — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 23:13:25 +0000

[...] writing and he basically said no, because it’s a part of who he is. Justine talked about the difference between writer as identity and writer as a career. Careers come and go, but writers write, and that’s really all there is to it. What I need to [...]

By: dirtywhitecandy

dirtywhitecandy — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 00:19:31 +0000

This business of profession as identity is crucial. I’ve been a journalist, but don’t like journalism much, so didn’t want that to define my identity. At one stage I was a manager in a small publishing company and really hated to be known as such. It took me years to say ‘I’m a writer’ – but when I did I liked the way it fitted.

By: Tessa Kum

Tessa Kum — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 08:08:29 +0000

You’re too much awesome for one person, lady.

By: Identity « Pam Harvey

Identity « Pam Harvey — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 06:31:46 +0000

[...] by pamjharvey on March 24, 2010 You’d better look at Justine Larbelestier’s blog on your identity as a writer. It’s very thought-provoking and so are the comments (in [...]

By: Justine

Justine — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 21:51:11 +0000

So pleased this post has been useful to so many of you. I always think of this particularl conversation in terms of cooking. Many people, including me, adore cooking but most of them do not make their living at it. The conversation between pro chefs/cooks is frequently very different from that between amateur cooks. But there’s also a big overlap when it comes to talking about ingredients and process.

Diana: Ha! Yeah I put “writer” on forms that want my profession. In general conversation I say “novelist” because it shortens the what-do-you-write convo. However, for these conversations about identity v profession I find the author/writer distinction extremely useful.

By: pjthompson

pjthompson — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:01:29 +0000

Thank you for this. Thanks so very, very much.

By: Angela Parson Myers

Angela Parson Myers — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 18:00:11 +0000

I absolutely agree that a writer writes and a professional writer gets paid for it. I, too, have been a writer ever since I could hold a crayon. First got paid for it as a senior in high school, and have been fortunate enough to have a great career as a writer–but as a corporate writer/editor, not a novelist or freelancer. Now I’m retired and writing fiction. Some people still don’t call me a writer. How silly.

By: Scotti Cohn

Scotti Cohn — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 17:03:11 +0000

Nicely done! I consider myself a professional writer because I have been and am currently being paid for what I write. Could I support myself with my writing alone? No. Fortunately, I have a husband whose income makes it possible for me to write without worrying about that. Would I keep writing even if I weren’t published? Probably. But I would still keep trying to get published. I spent the first half of my life writing “just for the love of it.” I still love to write, but I am not content to write “for myself” any longer. I want lots of other people to read what I write and for my work to be acknowledged in the form of publication. I think writers go through different stages in their writing lives, all of which are equally valid and valuable.

By: Diana Peterfreund

Diana Peterfreund — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:50:11 +0000

I find the description of myself as “an author” to be unutterably pretentious. I’m not “an author” unless it is followed immediately by the title of a particular work. “The author of BLANK.” I know my publishers call me “one of their authors” but I think that’s the same thing. I’m only one of “their” authors because I authored a particular work they hold the rights to. When I go into a bookstore and walk up to the counter and say “hi, I wrote this book, can I sign it?” and they call their manager and say they have “an author” in the store, they are again referring to the author of a specific work. When I go in with my laptop and a latte, I’m a writer.

“Writer” is what goes on my tax forms. I guess I got used to it because for years, I was a writer for a living — but not of books. I wrote freelance articles for newspapers and magazines and websites. I wrote advertising copy. I made money out of words. But no one in the newspaper business calls themselves “an author” when they see their work in print. That pretentious title seems unique to the book biz.

When people ask me what I do for a living, I say I’m a writer, or, to cut to the chase, I say I’m a novelist, since that’s more specific and I haven’t written a newspaper article in years (though I have done non fic work for books).

What’s interesting to me is that usually, at these cocktail parties, people immediately ask “published?” which leads me to think that most people who say this ARE talking about their identity, not their profession.

(Which is actually quite refreshing, as Americans always ask “what do you do” first thing in a conversation — especially here in DC.)

I think it’s great that people use “writer” as their identity without publication credits, especially if they have feelings of fraudulence otherwise (like they couldn’t attend a “writer’s conference” since they aren’t REALLY writers). But when I say it, I am talking about my profession. the IRS says it’s one.

By: I am Writer, Hear Me Tap-tap-tap » Becca Wilhite

I am Writer, Hear Me Tap-tap-tap » Becca Wilhite — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:27:07 +0000

[...] and still FAR, FAR off for me. Justine Larbalestier (whose blog I visit nearly every day) posted THIS about the whole dilemma. Career versus Identity. Lucky the people who are both. But really? Lucky [...]

By: Ross Hamilton

Ross Hamilton — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 10:34:15 +0000

A good post and one that I strongly identify with. I am unhesitating in describing myself as a writer and getting what I can, published as and when I can. Being able to actually pursue it as a career is something that not all of us are going to be able to do. And Tessa’s blog is always worth a read.

By: Sofie

Sofie — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 08:41:31 +0000

Brilliant post – I was struggling with this very definition when discussing the pros and cons of different kinds of writer-groups – ones that are largely for encouragement and socialising vs ones for critique and development. It was so hard to find a way to distinguish the ‘writers’ from the ‘authors’ without sounding like I was patronising somebody!

I’ve always loved Robert Jordan’s quote: “If you want to be a Writer, go be an accountant. If you want to write, write.” If the point of it is the publication/recognition rather than the process, then you’re going to burn yourself out long before you get there.

By: SF Signal

SF Signal — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 05:31:17 +0000

SF Tidbits for 3/23/10…

Interviews/ProfilesLou Anders interviews John Picacio.It Happened in Chicago interviews Nnedi Okorafor.Lab Out Loud interviews Cory Doctorow (podcast).William Sullivan interviews Alex Dally MacFarlane.Gail Z. Martin interviews Gillian Summers (podcast)…

By: Daisy Whitney

Daisy Whitney — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 03:41:58 +0000

Brilliant and thoughtful post!

By: Delia

Delia — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 03:41:31 +0000

I have been delivering this speech, or a variation of it, to every writing class I’ve ever taught (except Freshman Comp, of course). Most of them don’t believe me, but I continue to think it’s more important to write for the love of the thing than for the glory. Glory is largely a matter of luck. Some who don’t deserve it are swimming in it; many who do deserve it never get a whiff. Those who treat writing as the vocation it is at least have the satisfaction of doing what they love best to the best of their ability. And if only their flist and their writer’s group ever reads it, well, that’s more readers than Emily Dickinson had in her lifetime.

By: wandering-dreamer

wandering-dreamer — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 02:41:36 +0000

I’d been wondering after reading some of the comments on this blog a while back what exactly the word “writer” meant to most people. I used it to mean “someone who writes” but it seemed like many people (outside this blog which was why I was confused) used it as a synonym for “published writer” (which is technically correct I guess). So I was glad to see this little post on the subject and I agree, a person who is a writer and a person who is a novelist are two separate things and I know that I’ll be trying to use the correct terminology from now on.

By: Feeling superhuman after all - Kristan Hoffman - Writing Dreams Into Reality

Feeling superhuman after all - Kristan Hoffman - Writing Dreams Into Reality — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 01:33:57 +0000

[...] author Justine Larbalestier blogged about “Writing as a Career v. Writing as an Identity”: I have been a writer since I first learned how as a small child. I have been an author since I [...]

By: Catherine

Catherine — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 01:27:14 +0000

I really appreciated this differentiation. Many of my writing friends who are emerging novelists are trying to sort out this very dichotomy.

I am a college professor. I didn’t want to hedge my bets on trying to make a living as a writer. I like to eat, pay bills, and so on. However, my goal now is publication because I hope to retire in around 10 years at 55, and I’d like to have revenue from royalties.

As you note so well, there are no guarantees that will happen, so I would rather rely on my retirement income primarily as I move toward the author goal. If I am lucky enough to publish, good. I’ll probably be sending things out for the rest of my life.

I do find discouragement in rejection. For all of us, it stings. I think another important facet of writing is you come back to it and try again even after rejection, because what you value about writing is intrinsic.

Catherine

By: Erika (Jawas Read, Too)

Erika (Jawas Read, Too) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 01:09:06 +0000

Wonderful post! Absolutely wonderful.

By: AliceB

AliceB — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:39:11 +0000

This is so true, Justine. Thank you.

By: Pam

Pam — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:14:33 +0000

Yes, yes, yes: it’s all true! I’m a bit published but not enough for any sort of career so I work at an unrelated full time job. I’ve tried to give up writing but I can’t. When I’m not writing, I’m irritable, unhappy and painful to be around. I came across this quote from Kafka than sums it all up: “A non-writing writer is a monster courting insanity.” He knew how we’re all wired.

By: Liz W.

Liz W. — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 00:14:01 +0000

Thank you for writing this, and for explaining the difference between writer and author so eloquently. I have been trying to explain this difference for a while – I am working on being a writer – and now I can simply send people here!

By: Mark Welker

Mark Welker — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 23:16:38 +0000

Lovely post Justine. I think every writer has a part of their persona that yearns for acceptance, and I guess publishing regularly is one way that some writers can justify saying to a friend or colleague “I’m a writer”. Not everyone needs this self assurance, and I guess for those who need it, it isn’t very helpful at times. For me I guess the only other thing that makes me feel like I’m a writer is an audience. Vain as it is, my stories don’t feel complete unless they are read by someone else. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but I think deep down writing is communicating, so if there’s no one around, the conversation can get a little muted.

By: Roxanne Rhoads

Roxanne Rhoads — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 22:49:13 +0000

I agree with your thoughts. I have always been a writer. From the time I could hold a pen in my hand I was a writer even before my first “real” published poem at the age of 11. Even when I haven’t been “working” as a writer, ie getting paid to write I ahve always identified myself as a writer. It is who I am, not what, not just my career. I am a writer.