When you've been a writer as long as you can remember, there are certain things that are normal to you that aren't so normal for everyone else. You don't really notice it until others ask why you do the things that you do and you have to explain, "I'm a writer."

1. You write down literally everything - without a filter.

You have post-it notes, 3x5 notecards, journals, napkins, receipt paper, etc. filled with words that are supposed to help you jog your memory, but sometimes they're just confusing so you turn it into a good poem.

2. You have folders on your desktop that are stories from years ago that never got finished.

You save it because you might want to revisit them and edit it sometime in the future even though you know you probably won't.

3. You had a better typing speed and accuracy than most of your friends in a computer class.

Because you spent your free time typing stories on your old desktop computers, people just couldn't keep up. It was muscle memory and natural for you to be ahead.

4.You notice that when you tell stories they can be a bit embellished.

It's not lying just exaggerated, right? Yeah, my parents never went for that excuse either.

5. You might have an addiction to notebooks that started in grade school.

You bought notebooks for school and ended filling them up with stories, character ideas, poems, etc. Before you realized it, you had to buy more for school and it started a vicious cycle that never stopped even though you graduated.

6. And now you buy notebooks and journals out of habit.

Sure, there are empty ones at home you need to fill up first but you're going to fill it up anyway so might as well have a backup...or five. It's not a problem, I swear.

7. Plus, you take journals everywhere because you never know when inspiration is going to hit.

The worst thing that can happen to a writer is for them to get inspired when they don't have paper or pen. Yes, smartphones do suffice but it's just not the same.

8. You even have your journal at your bedside.

While normal people try to go to sleep in deep thought, you're getting up to write down a plot idea that led to a major breakthrough in the story. Yes, you have been known to get up a couple times just to write something down.

9. Inspiration hits you anywhere and everywhere.

We've established it could hit you when you're falling asleep, but it happens everywhere. It could be in the shower, on a stroll, in a car ride, in class, at work, while you're eating, or even grocery shopping. That's when you're journal becomes your best friend.

10. You always read.

So this may be normal for everyone not just writers, but we tend to read differently than others. They read to learn or be entertained. We read to be inspired. We appreciate plot points and why the author chose one character to die and not another. We appreciate dictation, setting, foreshadowing, and all the other elements of English Comp. that most people complained about.

11. People don't always understand your love for really deep quotes and one-liners that come up in movies, books, or casual conversation.

Sometimes you're in a normal conversation when something jumps out at you and you're already thinking about how it could be the turning point in one of your character's stories.

12. Oh yeah, you are always thinking and dreaming up stories so much that you're lost in thought.

Yes, you will get made fun of for zoning out. Your friends will make fun of "your stare" or the face you make when you're thinking through a plot. They're just jealous that your imagination is currently more exciting than their lives. At least, that's what you keep telling yourself.

13. The infamous search history is bound to get you in trouble.

"No I'm not trying to kill anyone and get away with it, I'm writing a story."

14. You use friends as inspiration for characters.

It's awkward having to explain to friends that you're not some crazy stalker but you're a writer so you draw from the experience of other people sometimes.

15. First drafts from when you were 10 have potential, but you're cringing from the cheesy dialogue.

You had a great imagination in creating some fantasy world at that age and it has great plot points and character development. If only you could have had them speak like they were normal people and not ten-year-olds.

16. You have stories published on the internet from middle school and high school that you wish you could delete.

Yes, one little google search reveals all the stories you thought were good back then. You can try to delete them if only you could remember all your passwords and usernames. Instead, they're taunting you.

17. You get too emotionally attached to characters, even the ones you didn't create.

This means you get overly invested in fictional characters like you do. It hurts when television shows end and movies don't work out the way they are supposed to. Let's not even get started on books. People judge you for your unhealthy obsession with stories, but you can't help it. You're so invested that you tend to write about it like I do.

18. While your friends are complaining about the papers they have to write, you have no problem.

You're a writer! You can't help yourself.