*crowd goes wild* Joking...*my mom claps*.
What should you expect over this month-long journey? Lots of exclamation points, a multitude of capital letters, and sassy commentary. Plus everything writing! (If you missed the theme reveal, click here.)
So the word of the day is...AUTHOR.
Before sitting down to write this post, I hadn't really ever thought much about this word. I never really considered myself as an author. I'm a writer. I don't have a shelf full of books I've written or an agent or a slew of YES WE'LL PUBLISH [INSERT WORK HERE] letters. Authors are people like J.K. Rowling, John Green, and Lauren Oliver. People who have those things.
What I do have? A shelf full of over thirty notebooks and journals, scribbled words on a thousand sticky notes all over my room, and over three hundred documents on my computer. What can I say? I'm a writer.
But an author? What does that mean, anyway?
A few minutes ago, I probably would have said "someone who has books, papers, poetry, etc. published". Thinking on this further, though, I came to realize that people use the term "published author". If the word "author" means someone who is published, then why add the adjective "published"?
So that invalidates my definition. Then what does it mean?
I propose that to be an author, one must have created something. The creation could be something constructed of canvas and paint, words and paper, nails and wood, etc. To be an author is to create.
I am a creator. I've created worlds, characters, stories, ideas... I have brought them about by using mere words, mere keys on a keyboard, and even the pencil in my hand. I am an author. I've authored into existence poems, books, and articles.
The word "author" is a label that is so powerful to me. One who creates, who has created, who has authored. I'm not sure that I'm as incredible as the word "author" is to me. But regardless of personal feelings, I am an author.
Wow.
I am an author.
Those words fill me with a confidence. They fill me with a desire to live up to them.
Writers! You are authors. If you've created a character, a place, a story...you're an author. Realize it, embrace it! Embrace your call to writing greatness, and strive to live up to it. I believe in you!
