Have you noticed that “aspiring author” or “aspiring writer” is written in every Twitter bio, Facebook description, and Blogger about my section nowadays? In all actuality, I hear “aspiring writer” more often than “aspiring author” in daily conversation, which has thrown me through a loop recently. An aspiring author is a person who directs one’s ambitions toward becoming a writer of a book, article, or report. I don’t have a problem with that phrase. The beef I have is with the combination of these two words: aspiring and writer. If you think of the general definition, it would be a person who directs one’s ambitions toward writing. But wait. Who wants to be an aspiring writer when you could – oh I don’t know – be a writer?
The word aspiring only works when one describes themselves as an aspiring author, and I’m talking about publishing books not publishing blog posts. For example, I can easily publish a blog post and people know I’m the author. It’s a different story when I talk about writing a fantastical novel in the hopes of becoming traditionally published and known as an author by millions. Yep. Those are the two best examples I can give in order to explain authorial range.
I hate it when people call themselves aspiring writers. You are either writing or you’re not. Put your pen, pencil, or keyboard to work with your thoughts in tow and just freaking write because then, you can call yourself a legitimate writer and leave that bogus “aspiring” mumbo jumbo behind.
As much as I urge everyone to adhere to the previously stated advice, although seemingly minimal, I have my own confession to make. I don’t refer to myself as any of the above. I don’t put myself in the category of aspiring authors. And as hypocritical as it sounds, the only category I fit in the majority of the time is aspiring writer. Truthfully, as many of my English majoring friends would know, writing is hard. Brainstorming unique ideas is hard. Outlining an entire storyline is hard.
For whatever reason, the most difficult part of being a writer for me, personally, is getting the words written. I am a perfectionist when it comes to the dialogue, characters and plot points that float around in my head. I’ve heard on numerous occasions that writers need to get the words said before editing.
People like me write when small tidbits of inspiration strike. Then, slowly we crawl back into our shells where no writing occurs, only sheer thought. I know that it’s a poor way of writing and it’s highly ineffective. I aspire to write these grandiose tales but they never get written which is why I am far from being an aspiring author. It may be a wild dream of mine to become an established author, but at the rate I’m going, I won’t make it through the first draft.
I won’t call myself an aspiring author because I haven’t put in nearly enough effort to be classified under such a respectable title. But I also refuse to call myself an aspiring writer because that’s more of a cop out than anything. I know for a fact that there are people who can relate to my situation, throwing pity parties for ourselves when we should be planning, plotting and producing stories. If you want to be a writer, be a writer. Don't accept anything less.
