becoming a qualified writer

Since I started this blog two weeks ago, I've wondered why I'm doing it and whether or not people will actually care about what I have to say. What makes me qualified to keep a blog?

Let's take it even further...

What makes me qualified to write?

I love to write. I love to tell stories. I love to imagine far off worlds full of magic and adventure, but am I good at it? Am I qualified to do it?

I decided I was going to be a writer when I was twelve years old. I knew exactly what school I was going to go to for it, and I planned the next ten years of my life at that precise moment. Sometimes, I think it was a waste of time. I don't have a job that pays. I don't have any recognition. I'm just a broke girl wishing magic actually existed. What about that qualifies me to be a writer?

Sure, I've been writing for ten years, and I have a degree in Creative Writing... but that doesn't mean anything, really. If I did it over again, I would have gotten a double degree in Philosophy and History, maybe taken Creative Writing as a minor. What's done is done, however, and I am sitting in front of my computer, telling my life story because I have eight followers who will read this post. Eight. The saddest part... I'm excited about those eight followers. I do happy dances every time I get a new follower on Twitter or my blog. Literally. I squeal with joy when I get a new comment or mention.

My husband will attest to my overzealous excitement.

So, if you ask me what qualifies me to write, what qualifies me to keep a blog, I'll tell you... It's those eight damn people that follow my blog. It's the eighty-six people that follow me on Twitter. They qualify me to write. If it wasn't for the #amwriting community on Twitter, I never would have finished my first book. I owe my first book to the #amwriting folks.

So when you ask yourself what qualifies you to write, remember there are other nobodies with no money that are striving for the same dream, asking themselves the same questions. They keep going, despite the rejections, despite their joblessness, despite all their doubts. They keep going.

We qualify ourselves to write. We qualify each other to write. We are a community of starved dreamers, just waiting for someone to recognize our talents.

Keep on dreaming. Keep on writing. You're qualified to do both.