I ask myself this question too often. I've never written a traditional story, I don't write a certain number of words a day. Commas are my sworn, mortal enemy, I love run-on sentences, and there are other rules of grammar that I'm afraid I break, regularly.
Even in my professional business, I remix many of the same words and phrases because I am beholden to the structure of SEO. And my ability to research is, at times, crippled by my ability to get distracted while following a trail right down the rabbit hole.
So I wonder, am I truly an artist, a creative who has that almost-magical ability to transport people into a calm and comforting, or disorienting and adventurous world of words of my own making?
Today, I spent an hour or so writing down words from the thesaurus so each would readily pop into my mind. I don't like breaking writing rhythm to look up a similar word, and I've found when I write it down it helps me to remember.
Which then meant, of course, I spent time reading the dictionary to make sure I was using the words properly. Oh and to find new ones, which led me back to the thesaurus. It's a bit of a cyclical pattern.
Oh, and did I mention I'm working on a plan to launch an official website for my business, the Write Solution? I've been strategizing with my mentors about blog topics to get started. And there's that uncanny curiosity of mine that keeps my public relations-bent mind going back to journalism. I often wonder if this or that is being worked into a story. But I digress.
So in answer to my own question:
Who, other than a writer, does that?
Seriously.
In the matter of whether or not I am a writer, I believe these events, and many other print-related infractions, make me guilty as charged. I guess I'll go ahead and serve this life sentence with joy.
