Savannah Watson

For many writers, especially beginning or unpublished ones, the title of “author” feels like an elusive, far-off dream. Oftentimes, we refer to ourselves as “aspiring writers” or say that we write as a hobby because we are embarrassed or afraid to admit that we are Writers with a capital W. We feel like we haven’t earned the title of ‘author’.

I struggled with this for most of my life, due predominately to the crippling social anxiety that I used to have. I had a hard time talking at all, but especially about my writing. When you admit you are a writer, you will inevitably be asked questions like “what do you write” and “can I read something you’ve written,” and I wasn’t ready to talk about it. For me, writing was so personal, and I was always so afraid to let people see that far into my vulnerabilities. It wasn’t until a few years ago that I started openly telling people I was a Writer and that my dream was to publish novels. Since opening up about it, it has been a very empowering experience because it makes me feel that much closer to being a Writer in the professional sense.

I don’t think that you have to be published to call yourself an author. You don’t have to have sold 10 million copies of your book or be a New York Times Bestseller to call yourself an author. In my opinion, the title of “author” doesn’t have to be earned.

We are not aspiring authors; we are simply Authors.

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