A Writer For Life

​Today, I enjoyed the loveliest of meetings.
After leaving work, I met with a second grader named Mackenzie. She loves to write and wanted to meet a “real writer” to get her books signed and ask some questions.

One of her questions really struck me. “What causes you to write?”

The question was so sweet, because it seemed like she was looking for a source of inspiration for her own work, and although I write, I didn’t feel able to give that to her.

Her inspiration was already inside of her and she didn’t need me at all. I told her that you’re either a writer or you aren’t. A writer can go 20 years without actually writing, but that is a writer who is collecting information to use in future works.

Having spent 16 years in education, and now feeling that calling to write again, I believe that a writer is a writer for life. Yes, of course “writers write”, but I don’t think that means we are failures or less effective if we have active periods and inactive periods.

That wonderful calling may come once a day, once a year, or once a decade. I really don’t think the value of a writer is diminished by level and frequency of inspiration.
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If you’re a writer, you’re a writer for life.

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