The Weight of the Word 'Writer'

Hello! My name is Alex, and I’m a writer... wait. Let’s stop right there.

Why did I stumble on this word? "Writer." It sounds too loud. When I see someone calling themselves a writer in their bio or posts, I always get a strange feeling. Not judgment, just the thought: "Is it really that simple?"

Once, on a social media platform, I came across a girl who calls herself a writer. Every post of hers is about how she’s writing a book. It’s not that she writes "something that comes to her in dreams" or that she doesn’t have a plan and doesn’t know what’s going to happen next. Maybe that’s true, but it seemed to me like a marketing move — and her page was mostly advertising. That’s fine, she’s trying to monetize her work. Out of curiosity, I found her books, read a couple of chapters from different works. She had quite a few books, but I didn’t like them. Of course, it’s a matter of taste, but it was then that I started to wonder: can I call her a writer after reading just a few of her texts? Maybe I didn’t pick her best works, but nonetheless, I think you already know my answer.

I’m not ready to say that about myself. Even if I write a good book or a whole series, I’d rather call myself an author. "Writer" is something others can call me only after they read my works and decide if that word suits me.

Or maybe it’s just the "imposter syndrome" talking, I don’t know. But it seems to me that this is more honest and, perhaps, more correct.

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