Are You a Writer?
AsSalaamu Alaikum,
I
was thinking about Umm Junayd's question to Jamilah Kolocotronis about
when she really began to consider herself a writer. I came up with a
top-ten list for those of us who wonder that about ourselves.
Top ten signs you might be a writer
(from 10 down)
10. You run to your keyboard or pen in the middle of a movie because it inspired an idea for a story.
9. You cry when a good book ends - not because it was sad, just because it ended.
8.
You have a closet full of spiral notebooks, journals, and napkins with
story ideas and story beginnings written all over them.
7. You accidentally call your spouse or one of your children by your character's name.
6. You cry when a good book ends - not because it was sad, just because you didn't think of that idea first.
5. You see someone on the street and say, "He looks just like So-and-so in my story!"
4.
People think you have memory problems, but really it's just that most
of the time only half your brain is in the real world. The other half
is in your character's world.
3. You consider everything from family vacations to hospital visits *research*.
2. Your favorite game is "Who Can Come Up with the Most Ways to Say 'He Said'" (he chuckled, he gasped, he spat.....)
1.
And the number one sign that you might be a writer: you narrate events
in your life as you would write them, in preparation for your next blog
entry or story. (OK, maybe that one's just me....)
Seriously,
though, the real way to know you're a writer is that you write. If you
know the joy of a story or poem that springs onto the page AND the
agony of one that limps along peakishly and has to be pushed every inch
of the way, you, my friend, are a writer.
So write to us and let us know who you are and what you're working on. Then stop reading blogs and go write!
'Are You a Writer?' was posted on July 15, 2008 by Najiyah Diana Helwani under Random Ramblings , and tagged with Authors, blogs, humor, top ten, writers
Bookmark this post:
3 Comments
Those are great! I definately fall into most of those catagories. I always scope out places I go as scenes of novels! Ha. And there are some doozies here in Jordan. I am always saying, 'that has to be in the book.' InshAllah one day I will really write the darn thing!
AsSalaamu Alaikum,
Good to hear from you! You could keep a journal with descriptions of places in it or even a journal with photos or sketches of the places you want to set your story, so you could refer back to them when you actually sit down to write. Then you'd not only have a ready source when you are writing, but also a cool photo book of Jordan to show your friends and relatives back home!
WaSalaam,
Najiyah
Assalaamu alaikum.
Quite interesting. Thanx for bringing up these points, sis. I find myself in most of them...particularly the point about family vacations and even family gatherings or other social gatherings...I find inspiration in them, or use these occasions as 'research'. Sometimes intentionally, and other times it just comes unintentionally as well.
balqees.