Beyond Writing: 5 Things Writers Are
“A man who asks is a fool for five minutes. A man who never asks is a fool for life.”
“When I say work I only mean writing. Everything else is just odd jobs.”
To be a writer is to be much more than that. It’s not that we sit down and pound at the keys without something else in our minds. You know the old, tired phrase, “Write what you know” which I myself have been guilty of saying? It’s confusing. What do we truly know? I think it’s in our nature to know things. Not just writers (mostly writers) but everyone who wants to grow which should be most of us and if not, at least the most fun and interesting people. But that phrase, “Write what you know” implies one has everything they ever needed to write. That’s never true. Here are 5 things to know:
1. Writers Are Learners For Life
Without learning anything beyond where you are right now, what would that spell for your work in progress? What if that’s all you knew? I would bet and be willing to bet your novel would be an incomplete memoir of sorts. Beyond improving and learning our craft, we learn about all sorts of things about all worlds whether they are the one we are sitting in right now or the one we are the first to step foot in.
2. Writers Are Humble
I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know everything. Me saying “Write what you know” wasn’t literal; there’s emotional knowledge as well. But I think it’s too static of a phrase. Maybe it should be “Write your truth” or “Share what’s inside and keep filling your cup.” I don’t know, but hey, that’s the first step to being humble is to say that. My cup doesn’t and can’t runneth over with knowledge, but instead the energy and will to learn and cast aside my preconceived notions. For some, this is something they will never admit to others and more importantly themselves. This is about as useful as putting roses in a pine box and expecting them to still bloom. If we’re not growing, we are dying, at least that’s what I think.
3. Writers Are Owners of Many Hats
I’m not just talking about other tasks like marketing, editing, or a day job. We also can be heroes in far off lands, a monster that awoke at the strike of a meteorite, a old grandmother who lost her puppy and love of her life on the same day, etc. Back to that tired phrase that I hope you’re as tired as I am at this point “Write what you know.” Will I ever 100% know what it is to be any of those things? Nope. Am I better human and a better writer for giving it my best shot and sharing those universal emotions and feelings that I hope we all possess? Definitely. And in doing so, whether I make a dime selling my future work, I’ll at least be able to look at myself in the mirror and know I’ve improved on myself.
4. Writers Are Human
Back to admitting I don’t know everything, I wrote an article with some thoughts and opinions on AI.
Was it favorable? Not entirely. But I’ll admit to using Claude recently, and I’m starting to see the appeal in having something to bounce things off of. Not creative things. Heck, when I asked it, it agreed with me in the persona of a writing mentor that it’s a bad idea to ask Claude to do anything creative. But as far as logistics go or gut checks on certain things and some basic research stuff (which we both agreed is best to double check) it might be better, even on an environmental level (which I don’t know if there are any studies confirming, but if there are that it’s better than searching for hours for a certain thing or that the opposite is true, I’d love to know! Let me know on the socials.) When it comes to our tools, I agree with Marshall McLuhan, “We shape our tools and thereafter, our tools shape us.” It’s nothing anyone should become too dependable on. We can use it to learn and help us feed ourselves, but if the time comes we are waiting by a conveyor to be fed and that stops working or worse, feeds us rocks and glue pizza, than we are all in trouble.
Thankfully, true writers are human. We take the unseen and make it seen. We stretch into places AI can’t go, even with the best hallucinations. Whether you believe it’s a god, the muse, or just our wiring (or some combo of all of it) responsible, we have always told stories and evolved with them. I don’t see AI doing that, at least on the level we can, but I’ve been wrong before.
5. Writers Are Writers
I hear you say, “Well, duh,” but here’s the thing: to be a writer, you must write. And much like you are what you eat, you are what you do. There is this crazy notion that writers can only call themselves that if they are published at a traditional publisher, make all their money doing it, and are known by everyone and their dog, let alone their sister, but that places so many blockades that are difficult to demolish. And when we bump into that, it’s disheartening. We think, “Why even try if I can’t dwarf [INSERT MEGA-MILLIONAIRE AUTHOR HERE]?” But we all carry stories. We are all storytellers with interesting tales to tell both fictional and non-fictional. In a way, it’s all non-fictional because it’s reflective of our universal instinct across cultures to dream, imagine, share, teach, and grow. And the world is better for having all those stories out in some shape or form. If it’s in your guts and you can’t help but share it, that also makes you a writer. And we all have bad days. We’re human after all. But writers write. Give yourself permission. I’ve read a bunch of self-help books on writing and craft, and I love the ones that give you a permission slip to be a writer. Maybe I’ll create one some day, but right now, this will have to do: