Is she a writer?

The beginning of a journey to publish

She can’t count the amount of times she’s ran this question repeatedly in her head. What makes a writer? Is it the thousands of words trapped in her head? Does she have to have something to say? Does everything have to be profound, beautiful, witty and smart? How intelligent does she have to be to not be shamed publicly? What if, what if, what if… the doubts are always there. However, when she puts pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, lyrics and stories flow from a hidden well of words.

What makes a writer? She ponders the question again. A writer is a storyteller, and everyone has a story. Stories of life and loss, hope and tragedy, love and heartbreak. If everyone has a story, then is everyone a writer? Or are writers just brave enough to write it down? Exposing their innermost thoughts to the world and waiting for that unsolicited criticism to crush them?

Is everyone a writer? Yes, she concludes. Social media, public forums, HOAs, everyone is a writer these days. Maybe she’s asking the wrong question. What makes an author? Well, anyone can publish anything with today’s technology. Still, why would they want to publish?

What makes an author? Courage, bravery and a strong desire to share your stories with the world she decides. There will be criticism, there will be the lingering doubt in her head, and the anxiety before pressing post or send. There may be only a handful of people that resonate with the words she needs to write but she’ll write them. She’ll stare her anxiety in the face and force it to back down. She’ll wait for the critics that will come eventually and know that if there are critics, then her words have traveled far enough to find friends.

Is she a writer? Yes. Is she an author? Yes. She will share her stories. She will grow and learn to shape the stories that need to be freed from her.