How did I become a writer? Before giving my clearest possible response I must remind anyone reading that, in all honesty and professionalism, you are never at liberty to proclaim yourself one thing or another in this life until your stature has been consolidated in the eyes of your peers, whether positively or negatively perceived. Once you’ve been referred to - regardless of bias in the field - as a writer by a jury (unofficially speaking, of course) of your peers, you can rest at least knowing that your evidence of skill and dedication was proof enough to see you emerge from the abyss of anonymity and into the ranks of recognised contributors to the craft.
It is human nature not to trust or believe someone simply at their word, for we operate in a social framework that constantly categorises us and subjects us to appropriate criticism beforehand. Appropriate criticism means the nature of how we apply scrutiny to an individual’s claims and the actions that escort them, with the degree of scrutiny correlating to the magnitude of the claim. So, if a person were to go outside one morning and tell everyone on the street as lucidly as possible that they were Jesus Christ incarnate the degree of scrutiny leveled on them would be intense and, due to the esoteric background of such an appointment were it even true, would result in widespread dismissal of that individual’s righteous claim. And here we have a real dilemma. You can know your role among the great billions at heart, but you won’t become your part until you’ve won over the minds of the billions - a surprising wedge of the final cut of writers thus far have only ‘become’ since their deaths.
But don’t mistake me for preaching fame and fortune, far from it. What I’m saying is there must be evidence to support your claim to be a writer, as if you are on trial in an attempt to prove your seriousness for the profession, there has to be proof that you aren’t just a raving lunatic in a sea of judgmental faces. For writers the first step to fulfillment professionally is publication; whether you’ve just had your first novel go into print or copies of your script are disseminating through the offices of producers, you have successfully surpassed the point between knowing and being known as a writer. From hereon you are set to either soar or stay seated at the starting line, as even after that first step has been surmounted you may realise your claim wasn’t faithful to your passions after all. Some of us may never pluck up the courage to voice their claim to the world at all, which is a loss to both the world and themselves.
Nevertheless, amid all this mounting pressure of professional recognition, there is no reason for an individual to condemn their dreams to the dustbin, as long as their passion for the craft is powerful enough to propel them. Our trajectories are ours and ours alone to steer, and if you keep a steady hand and have those invaluable pinches of salt at the ready you should find yourself ascending to that once far-fetched dream a little closer each day. And, after much digression, I arrive finally at my answer to the titular question, How is it that I became a writer? My answer is blunt and to the converse. I am not a writer, yet; but I am becoming one, inch by inch, day by day.
