What is a writer? · 6:20am Dec 21st, 2012
Is a 'writer' simply a person who spends time writing things? Is it someone who is good at writing things? What kinds of things?
Novels? Newspaper articles? Blogs? Fanfiction?
Surely there's a difference between someone who publishes stories on a website dedicated to their niche hobby and someone who publishes books for Bloomsbury Publishing (that's the company that published Harry Potter in the UK, by the way), right?
I guess the real question is: why am I asking all these questions? The simple answer is that I've come to realize that I'm not a writer. I can write well enough, sure. But I lack the drive to really dedicate my time and energy into weaving a full-blown story. It's not where my passion lies, and so when it comes to just sitting down to write, I find myself at a complete loss. I stare at the blank page and try to will my thoughts and ideas into existence. And, obviously, that doesn't work very well.
That's why I've decided to put Starting Anew on an indefinite hiatus. I may come back to it. I may not. I may continue uploading in the form of silly, comedic one-shots, but I understand now that I completely overextended myself in even trying to write this story. I understand now that my problem has never been that I don't have the time to compose a great story; I just don't have the willpower to stick to a single project for very long. I'm not one of those people who can churn out 200k (or even 50k, for that matter) word stories that take the reader on an emotional roller coaster, all the while building an interesting and believable universe to immerse themselves in. I just can't do it.
When I first joined this fandom, I was so excited to make my mark in any way I could. There is so much artistic talent to be found, and I just wanted to be a part of it all. And the result thus far has been a hodgepodge of half-assed work that isn't even fit for public viewing. Much less, worthy of the attention of the people who inspired me to start doing these things in the first place.
First and foremost, I'm an actor. Plain and simple. It's what I love to do, and it's what I'm good at. Lately I've been focusing on my VA work (hence the 3+ month silence from me here), and I think that's the way it should stay. I truly appreciate the support that I did get when I first started uploading here. Every compliment and well-wish I received means a lot to me. But I'm just being realistic here. I'm not a writer. I'm a guy who makes words every now and again in his spare time because he has nothing better to do. But I don't expect very much of that will ever see the light of day outside of my own personal notebooks or the confines of Microsoft Works Word Processor.
So, yeah. To wrap this up... Starting Anew is on indefinite hiatus. If I ever get back to it, great! If not, you may still see a silly brain spew pop out every now and again (I do have a couple wacky ideas that have come up recently that I may take an afternoon to pump out for the hell of it).
But until then,
Sorry to leave a comment on a month-old blog, but I was startled as I was flipping past your page by the relevancy of the question.
What makes a writer... truly, an excellent question.
I think the best part is that there is no easy answer. It's one of those things that we have to determine for ourselves in the end. Do I feel that I am a writer? Does the act of writing alone make me a writer? Does the fact that I don't get paid for it mean that I am not a writer (despite my efforts to do so)?
Is it a level of proficiency? Look at me then, I'm the 25th most followed writer on the site! I have 1,870 Watchers! I have stories with thousands of views...
... and I'm still trying to get the words right.
In the end, we are what we make of ourselves. In any case, I wish you the best with your acting and all of your endeavors.