I am proud to declare: I am a writer. It's taken me years to claim that moniker. For years, I apologized for my writing. "I'm sorry that this isn't very good," was the prelude to every single piece of writing I shared. We all do it. (I still do it sometimes.) We apologize for ourselves and for our writing. When did this change for me?
It all started at the Northern Virginia Writing Project Summer Institute of 2007. One of the co-directors, Jim, did something every time we shared our writing. It stuck with me. Whenever any of us were about to apologize for our writing, he would interrupt the apology and say, "Read the crap." I was surprised to discover that every writer feels (or has felt) the need to apologize for their writing. This was nothing new. Every single time Jim said, "Read the crap." We'd giggle and read. It was liberating! That's when I (mostly) stopped apologizing for my writing. Calling myself a writer came later...
It all started at the Northern Virginia Writing Project Summer Institute of 2007. One of the co-directors, Jim, did something every time we shared our writing. It stuck with me. Whenever any of us were about to apologize for our writing, he would interrupt the apology and say, "Read the crap." I was surprised to discover that every writer feels (or has felt) the need to apologize for their writing. This was nothing new. Every single time Jim said, "Read the crap." We'd giggle and read. It was liberating! That's when I (mostly) stopped apologizing for my writing. Calling myself a writer came later...
It was only a few years ago. I took a giant leap and attended a writing retreat. When I arrived, I knew only one other writer there. Every single person there was a writer, except me...or at least that's what I thought. Apparently, I spent a lot of time explaining away why I was there. I felt like I didn't fit. It felt like everyone there just knew I wasn't a real writer. It was at dinner one night, my friend Stacey just turned to me and said, "Stop. You are a writer." Everyone at the table smiled, nodded, and agreed. They gave me permission to wear that word with pride. I've never looked back.
You can do it. Stop apologizing for your writing. Claim that name...say it with me, "I am a writer!" YES! It's the best thing that I've done for my writing life.
Michelle Haseltine spends her days with middle schoolers in Loudoun County, VA. Together they write, create, and collaborate every single day. Michelle is a co-facilitator of our #TeachWrite twitter chat and a Teacher Consultant with the Northern Virginia Writing Project. She blogs regularly at One Grateful Teacher. Michelle tweets regularly at @Mhaseltine and Instagrams at @Mhaselti.
I've participated in writing marathons with the writing project and we always turn to our neighbor and declare, "I am a writer!" It's so empowering!
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