#5 – What made you decide to be a writer?

In this penultimate post on the six things not to say to an author, number five is What made you decide to be a writer?

This is one I get every time someone finds out I have a book published. I was never asked when I was on my journey to publication, although I was writing just as much then, if not more.

I think that’s because when people find out you’re writing a manuscript, they’re not all that interested. Some think you’re a little nuts, or simply wasting your time. I had one friend say, “well, at least you’re having fun.” Until The Beggar’s Opera was published, my broker called my writing a hobby.  

(The variant: “what made you decide to be an author?” assumes this is a decision under your control, whereas unless you’re self-publishing, there are all kinds of agents, editors, editorial boards and publishers who  make that decision for you.)

But the question  “What made you decide to be a writer?” or “Why do you write?” presupposes that one can decide to be a writer. No one says to a visual artist, “why did you decide to become an artist?” or to the long-distance runner, “why do you run?”

Each of us has a unique skill we’re born with: some more than one. Some people are incredibly good cooks; some paint, some are athletes and some write. I don’t think these are decisions we make; I think they are part of who we are.

Ask me why I decided to write this  book, or why I set it in Cuba, or why I decided to submit my manuscript to a publisher instead of self-publishing it, and I can answer your question.

But ask me why I “decided” to be a writer and I don’t know what to say. It wasn’t a decision I made, anymore than I decided to be an artist the day I picked up a paintbrush for the first time and discovered I could paint.