When does a writer become a writer?

What do writers do that the rest of us don’t?

The answer, according to Jeff Goins, author of You Are A Writer,  is…

They believe in themselves.

So, how do you become a writer?

You’re going to have to call yourself a writer.

Jeff recounts how he once asked author Steven Pressfield at what point does a writer becomes a writer.

Is it when you get book deal? When you sell your first thousand copies? When you hit the best sellers list? When do you get to call yourself a writer?

Steve answered:

You are when you say you are. Screw what everyone else says.

Jeff writes that he thought “that sounded ridiculous, but I wondered if it was crazy enough to be true. So I gave it a whirl: I started calling myself a writer. I began affirming something in me that I had always doubted. I did this by faith — and guess what?

Steve was right.

I started to act like a writer. A real one, not a wannabe. And all kinds of amazing things happened as a result. Guest posts, book deals, invitations to write for magazines, even cold, hard cash in my pocket — all because I called myself a writer.

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