I know, it seems so obvious, but then again maybe it’s not. If you first met me on the street, or if we met at work, or if it was at a wedding, or heaven forbid a funeral, wherever we met, unless it was at a writer’s conference, or at my book signing (July 13th is right around the corner), you would have no way of knowing I was a writer. You would see that I’m tall, that I’m black, that I have short hair, that I’m sporting a mustache, and that I prefer wearing jeans, but your first thought probably wouldn’t be “writer.”
And that’s okay. I know why that is. Writers are a varied group of people who can look like ANYONE, and who can sound like ANYONE. We are short, tall, rich, poor, long-haired, short-haired, black, white, good speakers, bad speakers, and everything in-between, or outside of those labels. The point is that a writer can’t be labeled, so why would you automatically label me one if we first met?
But, of course, you didn’t meet me in any of those other ways. You met me out here, on my blog that I maintain, which is mostly writing, MY writing, so you know who I am. You know what tagline fits me the best, and the people who know me closest also can attest to having that knowledge. It’s funny. My daughter Alexa had to write a profile for me for a Father’s Day assignment last week, and here is what she said about me:
My Dad’s name is: Sam
My Dad is: 36
My Dad spends most of his day: working at Target
My Dad is really good at: writing
And the list goes on, but I was blown away that she realizes what is most important to me when it comes to me as an individual. I love my family, and I love writing. I’m happy that she also thinks I’m really good at it too. It makes an old man feel proud, and honored. But that’s interesting. When my first published book came in the mail she was almost as excited as I was to get it in her mitts.
Being a writer is a process, but for me it’s all about enjoying the words on the page. Sometimes I will go back and read something I wrote ages ago and I’ll wonder where my mind was at the time I wrote it. Occasionally I’ll remember, but usually I’m just guessing, and that’s interesting to me. I’ve always said that writing to me is an out-of-body experience. It’s almost like I’m astral projecting and I can look down to see this man typing on a computer, that it’s not me. I love that feeling, even if I can’t explain later why I wrote what I wrote. That’s what being a writer is like to me.
When I was compiling the poems I wanted to include in my first poetry collection, they ranged from poems I wrote fifteen+ years ago to ones I wrote while in the process of compiling, but one thing that stayed true throughout the them all was the clear passion I could see for what I was doing. That’s what it means to me to fit the tagline of writer, and I can count on it when I can’t count on much else in life. I will always have my writing, and it will always have me.
Sam
Sam's Online Journal 
great information. I feel I know you better. But most interestingly, you cop to other taglines: husband, father, son-of-a-preacher-man (if I am not mistaken)…there are so many facets of you, no wonder we marvel at how complex God made us…Peace be unto you!
I admit I fit many labels, as do we all. The key is recognizing which ones are important to you and spending time BEING them.
Amen!
I love this, Sam. As I writer, sometimes I’ve struggled with all the other hats I wear, and with being afraid to call myself one. It seems like a big thing, but I write, and I care deeply about it, and that is what I am. Being a writer is a process, and I don’t think we ever arrive.
So much the better for the journey.
Thank you, Miss Cara. I completely agree. We never arrive. Writing is never finished because it is really an interaction between writers and readers forever.
Isn’t that a marvelous thing!
I’m looking forward to many more interactions in the future.
I don’t think we ever notice many of those interactions. I love how people can read what we write, can be touched, but never respond verbally. Pay it forward!
Sorry to hijack your thread here, but I love this concept. Every once in a while, I’ll get a comment or an email and have had no idea that this person was a reader. It’s humbling, and very cool. But for each of those people, I know there are all sorts of others who will never comment or respond in any way.
Pay it forward indeed!
This is exactly what I’m talking about, Cara! No hijacking required. I love the dialogue, especially about something like this. It’s amazing to me to see the number of people who view a particular post, and it gets me wondering why that post itself was so intriguing, how it struck a chord with them, what they think even if they don’t respond. The same is true even more of my books. People purchase them, but what do they think? The blog is instantaneous, though, which is so crazy to think about people reading something the second after I’ve posted it!
You always make me think, and that’s a great thing, Cara!
Agreed. The dialogue is the fun part, where you get to see what people think of the things you came up with in the quiet of your own heart (hopefully inspired by God).
I love that too. Sometimes my least viewed posts are the ones that get a lot of comments, and my most viewed ones don’t get any.
I’ve been thinking about that with books lately. Blogs are all about dialogue and community, and books are much more solo endeavors. Food for thought.
I’m glad I make you think, that makes me very happy!
Funny how that happens. Some things we say just inspire commentary and others simply inspire reading, and that’s okay. I love to think.that my words can get someone introspective. They certainly get me that way.
As for books, that’s why I like reading reviews on Amazon, because it helps to see some of those reactions you wouldn’t normally see as an author. You know, of books. Lol.
And I’m glad you’re glad. 🙂