Often when I talk to people about joining the Writing Center, they tell me they aren’t good enough writers to join. When I ask them why, many people will tell me about their grammar mistakes or a piece they wrote that they weren’t happy with. While I disagree that those things make a bad writer, I could never quite put why into words. What makes a good writer, then? What gives someone the authority to give themselves that title?
It’s an odd thing to call yourself a writer. It’s not exactly something bestowed upon you, but more something you bestow upon yourself. It can’t be measured in points or a grade, grammar or “profoundness.” There’s no true line anyone can cross to make themselves a writer. You can’t just hit a mark and whoosh! A pen appears in your hand! In reality, it’s different to every person. The restrictions you set are yours and yours alone. To me, practice and intention are most important. A good writer is someone who puts purpose into their writing. Each word represents something and there’s a goal in mind. The goal doesn’t have to be breathtakingly unique, either, it can be for expression or simply for fun. But there’s intention behind the words.
And don’t get me wrong, not every English assignment I write is infused with meaning and adoration. Nobody is proud of everything they write. I have so many things I’ve written that I’d rather not share. But that doesn’t make me, or anyone else, a bad writer. Part of writing is practice, and that means that a lot of times it’s not going to go well. Sometimes it feels like there’s too many times that it’s not going well. But choosing to keep going beyond stories we’d rather forget is what makes our writing so much better. While I might have a lot of stories that aren’t good, I learned something from all of them. I’ve learned what I like and don’t like, and it makes my current writing a lot better.
I firmly believe that anyone can be a good writer, but people tend to adamantly disagree. “What if I wrote three random words?” they’ll say. “Would that be good writing?” At first, I wasn’t sure how to answer that question. “Popcorn, tree, apple juice,” is not exactly what I would consider interesting to read. So no, three random words probably won’t be “good” writing. But three words with intention and purpose can be beautiful. Even so, those three random words don’t make you a bad writer. Not everything is going to be profound. Not everything is going to be fun and understandable. And that’s the beauty of it. There’s always a next time. There’s always another story, another day, another piece of paper.
It’s okay to call yourself a writer. It’s also okay not to. It’s your own title and only you get to decide what you do with it. If that’s something you want, then figure out it means to you and what practices you want to employ when you write. Maybe to you it’s time. Maybe it’s revision. Maybe it is grammar after all. But know that it doesn’t have to be. There’s no objective guidelines to being a writer. It’s up to you. Do what you want with it, and remember that no one can take it away from you except yourself. You are your own boss, girlboss.
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