"There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed."
- Ernest Hemingway
"I'm a writer." That is what Carrie Bradshaw would say when someone asked her what she did for a living. Carrie Bradshaw's life is a myth though. A fallacy. An old wives' tale really. As much as I love Carrie Bradshaw, I'm not sure she would be able to survive in 2016 as a writer. Carrie Bradshaw's life is bullshit and she knew it.
Normally I would be able to answer this question easily. If someone asked me what I do my brain would spit out my automatic response: I am a journalism student. I am an aspiring journalist. I am a journalist. Which means I report on the cold hard facts, yes, but shouldn't I consider myself a writer too? Journalism is a different form of writing than what I write on this blog though. I still form sentences, and although far from perfect, they make sense to anyone who has a reading level of at least a fifth grader. I already know I'm a journalist, but am I a writer?
The amount of times I've sat on my bed or at my desk facing the window writing on my Mac should tell you how committed I am to the idea of being "a writer" (or at least Carrie Bradshaw). But I feel awkward calling myself a writer. I've always reserved that job title for people who write novels and fiction. Writers are people who have made me laugh and cry and have made me feel inspired. I'm not sure what I do with this blog could ever make someone laugh or cry or feel inspired. I'm not sure if I even want to make people laugh or cry or feel inspired. I simply write words to make sentences.
As most things in life, I have worked hard to be where I am, including where I am with this blog. I've learned things the hard way and I know I'm never going to have the Carrie Bradshaw life of simply being a "writer." Blogging is a genre in its own and I have avoided terms like "blogger" and "writer" for a while now. Yes, I have a blog, does that make me a writer? Yes, I write, does that make a writer? There is surely a difference. Should I just call what I do online writing? I'm sure many bloggers would argue they are writers.
I am an extremely shy person who doesn't know how to express emotions naturally therefore I have always turned to writing in diaries and journals. But everything I publish online terrifies me even more. I reread sentences and paragraphs over and over again until I have it half memorized and have brainwashed myself into thinking what I wrote was good enough. Blogging is different because I don't have someone to edit what I have written, like when I submit an article to my college's newspaper or magazine, or with my internship. Is this the stress that comes with being a writer?
I love books of essays and they have easily been my favorite go-to book genre for over a year. Mindy Kaling and Sarah Silverman's books are two of my favorites. But Mindy Kaling is a screenwriter and Sarah Silverman is a comedian. They write essays I would write too, so am I a writer? I once joked that based on how much time I spend working on this blog I should have my own book deal by now. Would that make me a writer?
If I heard the word blog a few years ago I would have thought of something a stay-at-home mom or people who work in fashion did, not something for writing. By writing this blog post, I have half-convinced myself I am a writer. If my blog is made into a book, I would absolutely be a writer. But what stops me from being a blogger too? Tune in next week for another rambling of Krista Explains NOTHING....