Were you meant to be a writer?

Some say that they always loved writing and have already started to write short stories or even novels when they were kids, but some came there later through a longer path, sometimes unexpected.

In whatever way it happens, there is a moment when we realize to be writers. Sometimes this awareness is in front of us all the time, but we cannot see it, until one day our eyes open.

Some people, however, despite devoting themselves to writing for a long time, have doubts on whether it is the right path for them.

How do you understand if you were meant to be a writer?

The first thing that makes us understand about it is that, for us, writing is first of all a need. Inside our head are all these plots, these possible characters who want to get out. They press so much that only fixing them in writing is able to calm us down.

If we do not write for a long period, we feel guilty. Sometimes, if we go out to have fun, we think that we could have used that time for writing. When we read a book, we think that we would have written it differently, even better. We want to talk about what we are writing, so we spoil our readers one by one, or we force our partner or friend or relative to listen, as we speak of the development of the plot for the book we are writing. Inspiration pops out at inopportune moments and we know it so well that we do not get scared in front of a doubt about how to continue our story. And if we believe to be a victim of the writer's block, we strive to overcome it by writing.

Are you familiar with some of these feelings?

If the answer is yes, it is very likely that you are meant to be a writer.

Another important element is the ambition, the tendency to make long-term projects involving writing. Maybe we do not declare them, so as not to appear megalomaniacs or for good luck, but in our minds are plans for at least two or three years, if not longer. And the more we can achieve them, however small, the more we convince ourselves that we are doing well.

And if, by chance, we review what we have written in the past, we realize another aspect: we are improving all the time, we are maturing. This is because we tend to refine our art, to be less forgiving towards ourselves and, in doing so, imperceptibly, we come to set ourselves against it in a professional manner.

We get to such involvement in what we do that no matter if, with the royalties of our book, we can buy at most a pizza. We still want the best from what we do. We become perfectionists and this makes us happy in a way that others often do not understand.

There are writers who should be happy to write and those who have to write for finding the stability and strength to face adversity.

Whatever the category we belong, writing is something central in our lives: we cannot imagine ourselves without it.

This article is originally available in Italian on Giulia Beyman's Blog.