Should We Talk About Our Writing?

They say you can’t be a writer if you don’t tell people. If you’re not telling people, no one will read your work.

And you’re only a real writer if other people are reading you’re work, right.

You can’t sit in a cafe and quietly scribble away, writing in your diary that no on will see and call yourself a writer.

Or can you?

Do you need to scream about yourself and what you are working on at the top of your lungs?

I don’t think so.

I think you can quietly write away and not mention a word to anybody. You can type on your laptop and save it to a private file no one will ever see. You are still a writer.

You can write on Medium and publish books without saying a word to your friends — although that information will probably come out eventually. You are still a writer.

In the years before technology the only way to get your name out there would be to tell the world, tell the newspapers, and the local gossip.

These days, you can go by a little quitier and only tell those you wish to tell when you wish to tell them.

There is no need to mention it in every conversation and bring up right after mentioning your name. You are a writer, like they are a teacher or a doctor or a cleaner. It’s what makes them money and it’s how they get by. Some love what they do and some don't. Just like you sometimes love what you do and sometimes don’t.

I used to read a lot of advice saying you needed to talk about your work and tell everyone you write. They would say you wouldn’t make it if no one knew who you were or what you did.

This would stress me out and make me anxious.

One day I told someone what I did and I got a cheeky smile and a “can I read it?”

At the time I didn’t really want to share, it was early days in my book writing and I was still learning about form, function, plot and everything else. I wasn’t too keen to let them peek into the soul of my writing but I knew I wasn’t going to get anywhere if I kept this hidden.

I told them they could.

I was prepared myself and got myself emotionally ready for whatever it was they might say to me.

They never read anything.

Now I tell people but only when I want to. I tell my friends when it comes up in convo about hobbies or interests or whatever. I share my wins — if I have any — and they cheer me on.

But I’ll be honest, I talk about my writing once in a blue moon. If they forgot I was a writer, I wouldn’t blame them. And that might even make me smile.