I Am A Writer
Thursday, February 5, 2009 at 6:09PM 
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When I was meeting with my new doctor last week, I was asked to state my occupation.
I paused.
A long pause.
Which occupation? Do you have room for a list? Do you mean an occupation that would sustain me financially were I not so fortunate as to have a husband who is the major breadwinner in our family?
In my head, I gave the Occupation Wheel a spin. This time, it landed on Homemaker. (Shh...don't tell anyone about the house cleaner.)
The time before that, it landed on Educator. (Hey, we homeschool. It counts.)
And, the time before that, it landed smack dab on the one that is the most difficult for me to say in a confident tone--Writer.
Why is that the hardest one to say? For me, it boils down to having to explain what I write and where I write.
I do not write books.
I do not write print media.
Since most of the asking about my career is done by people at least my age, but often older, this means that explaining is required, and I'm not always in the mood to explain. My former career as a Radiology Information Systems Project Manager was easier to explain. Honestly.
The problem with me copping out of telling people that I'm a writer, that it is my profession, that it's what I'm paid to do (however minimal that pay may be), is that I discredit the value of my work AND the work of my fellow writers. Because that's what we bloggers are...writers.
We write. Some write well. Some write really well. Some of us try to write well, and fall short. But damn it all, we keep writing.
So, for all the mainstream journalists who think bloggers don't deserve the same consideration as your perceived peer group? BZZZZZT! Wrong answer. Our work is ours, not yours. You need to give credit where it is due. Give credit to the bloggers, the authors, the WRITERS.
If you feel the same, join the crusade started by Don Mills Diva, carried on by Mr. Lady of Whiskey in My Sippy Cup, and joined by yours truly:
Reader Comments (6)
I absolutely consider you a writer! You write for so many sites, on so many topics, with consistency and standards. That's a writer.
How many writers are asked to work without editors? That's fairly unique to bloggers. It doesn't make us less skilled as writers. Some of my favorite print authors are horrible with grammar, spelling, and the like. That's why they have the luxury of editors before their books go to print.
Bloggers are the rogue, raw, wild west of writing. We do it alone, put it out to the world, and accept our criticism firsthand.
We have an audience, a voice, and we are writers. You are a writer.
For some reason, any creative endeavor seems more difficult to claim than any office job, even though the creative endeavor is almost always more challenging, more time-consuming, and more rewarding. Is this because creative endeavors rarely produce weekly pay checks? Yes, actually. Which is so frustrating, because I don't evaluate anyone else's endeavors - creative or otherwise - by the frequency or size of their paycheck, just my own.
I used to tell myself that as long as I could say I'd been paid to do X, Y, or Z, I was allowed to claim it. But even that didn't work. I've made money as an actress. I've made money as a jeweler. I've made money as a writer (though not yet as a blogger). But there is no structure or predictability to the earning (or even the doing). When it's been weeks or months since my last creative-inspired payday, my ability to claim my talents and "career" choices melts away...
Thank you for reminding me that it shouldn't! And thanks for providing info re: the Write On movement. I'll definitely check it out.
Anyway, I'm just saying that I get this. I couldn't answer that occupation question if you paid me. Oh, wait, I guess I could. I'd be a Question Answerer, huh? :)