When are you an author?

A while back I asked the question “When are you a writer?” The upshot of the post was basically that, since there are no credentials required to call yourself a writer, anyone can. Even if the only thing you’ve ever written is a drunken manifesto in blood on a series of bar napkins, you can call yourself a writer. Even if you’ve written nothing, you can call yourself a writer. I hadn’t been able to bring myself to use that term in relation to myself, however, until I signed with my agent. Somehow, a publishing professional giving me their stamp of approval felt like a benchmark. So I decided I was a writer in September.

So, the next logical question is: When are you an author?

Honestly, I’m still struggling with that a little. I’d always expected that when my book sold—when it was truly on its way to being out there in the world—I’d consider myself an author. But I don’t feel like an author yet.

I know it’s all semantics, and hardly matters in the real world, but I find it funny that, in my gut, I still feel awkward about calling myself an author—like I’m overstepping somehow. Maybe I’ll feel differently when my book hits the shelves this coming September.

So, I’m curious how everyone else feels about it. When do you consider yourself to be a writer? An author?

When are you a writer?

A few months back, Nathan Bransford asked the question on his blog: When does one become a writer? It made me think, because in the medical field (my day job) credentials are a big deal. In order to call yourself something, be it doctor, nurse, physical therapist, there are benchmarks and specific criteria you need to achieve in order to demonstrate your proficiency and be able to use the credential. For example, you can’t call yourself a doctor without a doctoral level degree in something and usually some state licensing procedure.

But writing is different. Even if the only thing I’ve ever written is a drunken manifesto in blood on a series of bar napkins, I can call myself a writer. Even if I’ve written nothing, I can call myself a writer. There are no benchmarks, no credentials. (unless you have and MFA) It really doesn’t seem fair to me.

Personally, I’ve only been writing for about a year and, until this week, no one in my family knew I was doing it except my 14 year old daughter, who I wrote for. (I finally fessed up to my husband Wednesday night, after I signed with my agent.) So, the truth is, I was embarrassed to call myself a writer, even though I spent in the ballpark of 20 hours a week doing it. It just felt like I was overstepping, somehow.

But something changed this week. I had several agents read my work and love it. So, to me, getting the stamp of approval from industry professionals is a benchmark of sorts. And, all the sudden, it doesn’t feel presumptuous to call myself a writer. So, guess what! I’m a writer!

Author is a whole other matter. I’m not there yet. Maybe the benchmark for that is getting published?

What do you think?