Are You a REAL Writer Yet?
One of the hardest parts about being a writer is never getting that sense of validation other professions have. For instance, after years of medical school, you're conferred a doctorate and you get a nice certificate to hang on your office wall. What do writers get? Nada. Well, okay, eventually, you get your name on the spine of a novel and perhaps a SFWA card you can take out and flash people at cocktail parties.
Go ahead, get yourself one for Christmaskwanzakkah! You know you want one.
*Thanks to Janni Lee Simner at Fangs, Fur, & Fey for this tip.
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Grin. I've sold four novels and thirty-some short stories, and I'm still waiting to feel like a *real* writer.
Unrelated to your post, I just wanted to say that I really enjoyed the link angel series and I'm glad you're still writing.
I can barely string a coherent sentence together, let alone write a novel! But one is trying next year. When he has the time.
As with most anyone in any of the arts, self-gratification doesn't seem to be enough. I find that with this first published novel I too am waiting for outside verification of my status of "real writer". Perhaps being a writer of speculative fiction I can take solace in imagining that I am only a character in my next book and I can make her a real writer. Happy New Year and Happy New Writing.
I suspect that what we have here is a specific example of the generic Human Condition. People who strive/seek/find (and that isn't everyone) will always look not at what they have done but at what they have not yet done.