Are You a Writer? Take a Simple Test

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You have been writing for a while but haven’t had the succes that you thought that you should have had and lately you’ve been questioning whether you really are a writer. Well, there are some qualities that you probably should possess if writing is truly in your blood.

Passion

Do you live to write? Seriously. At night when you go to bed do you anxiously anticipate when you will be able to get back to writing the next day. Sorry to say, if you don’t feel that way, you may not be a writer.

Writers live to write, they don’t write to live. If your only motivation for writing is to make money, there is a good chance that you are not a writer.

A writer has a burning desire to get back to the keyboard to share his/her message with the world. The flurry of the keys, the racing of ideas through their mind is like a drug that they get high on. They have a unquenchable drive to communicate with people through the keyboard and they can’t hardly sleep for thinking of things to write about.

It can truly be addictive and dangerous if you don’t watch yourself. Robbing yourself of sleep, drinking excessive amounts of coffee and even taking amphetamines is not beyond those who don’t manage to control their passion.

But my point is, there is an indescribeable urge to write, write, write and if you don’t have that urge, writing may just be a hobby for you. But don’t be discouraged there is more to the test.

Enjoyment

Those who are really writers have a joy when they write. It truly makes them feel good inside. Arranging the words and figuring out different combinations to them is like solving a math problem. As a matter of fact, it is their math problem. Just like mathematicians get a kick out of solving a complex numerical problem, writers get a kick out of finding new word combinations to say things that they have said 100 times before.

It’s like solving a riddle.

Writing for them is a true joy. Whether they were getting paid or not they would still write and I have. Pay for a true writer is the icing on the cake but the cake is the writing part.

If in your mind things are turned around, in other words the money is the cake and the writing is the icing (or nothing at all), there is a good chance that you are not a true writer.

Pleasure

Writers have a sense of pleasure when they have completed a work. They have a sense of accomplishment also. They had set out to write a piece that was something they were passionate about, they completed it and now like a painter, when they look back at what their hands have done they feel pleasure.

It’s almost as good as sex (well that might be stretching it but you know what I mean). Anyone have a cigarette?

When a writer feels like they have effectively communicated a point that they wanted to make, it brings them pleasure. There is a satisfaction that comes from accomplishing this that is difficult to put into words but if you are a true writer, you know exactly what I am talking about.

Vision

What is your vision as a writer? What are you trying to accomplish? Again, if it’s to make a lot of money……

When writers set out, they have a vision of what they want to accomplish with their writing. They may want to change a condition that exists in the world. Maybe they want to bring attention to several areas of society that need help. Or maybe they just want to bring a smile to the face of people who are having a hard day (how am I doing by the way?).

Whatever it is, there should be a goal that you are trying to reach with your writing. If that goal is to get rich, it will show up in your writing and the world will know.

Writing comes easy for the one who is gifted to do so. The words flow off of their pen or keyboard like the brush strokes of Picasso.

If writing seems more like a job to you than a pleasure, if you can’t think of a distinct goal or vision that you are trying to achieve and if your main motivation every day you write is to make money, you’re probably not a writer and you should find something else to do.

There is no shame in that. We are all good at something, we just have to find what it is.