First off, I just want to say that, as my regular blog readers know, I’m not one for rants, at least in the traditional blogging fashion. This one isn’t going to be one of those but it’ll be closer than what I’ve come to before.

The only qualification you really need to be able to call yourself a writer is to write. Really, it is that simple. No degree required or skills in a particular job field. You just need to write. Now, there are varying degrees to that. There are hobby writers, there are professional writers, there are striving-to-be-professional writers (i.e., me) and a whole bunch of slats in between. You get to call yourself a writer if you write, and write constantly. But whatever you do, don’t consider yourself a serious writer if you’re unwilling to take the criticisms of others. It comes with the territory. Every writer pours their heart and soul into their work. Does it suck to have your baby beaten to a pulp? Of course but a serious writer will take what those people are saying, understand that they’re not inflammatory (those that are are obviously so) and look at their work with different eyes. Everyone is capable of improvement if you’re willing to accept the fact that you’ll always have room to improve.

So considering the only hardcore qualification for writing is to actually write (I know writers that are self-taught, never took a class in their life as well as those like myself with the degrees in this or that), it irks me when people force upon others just how they’re qualified to be doing what they’re doing; how their day job or their pretty unrelated hobby plays into their writing.

Being an avid reader does not qualify you as a writer. Reading and writing, two very different things. Takes a lot more to write the book than it does to read it. Does being an avid reader qualify that person to be a good book reviewer or critiquer? Sure. You don’t need a degree or be a student in anything to do that. The more you read, the more you learn what works and what doesn’t, what’s cliche and what isn’t and so on. You’re good to go. And you don’t even need to read “the classics” to be qualified, either. Honestly, I’m not a fan of Joyce, Hemingway and Steinbeck make me narcoleptic and I wanted to set Wuthering Heights on fire. Doesn’t make me any less qualified to do anything. It just doesn’t make me a pretentious snot in thinking that I have to read that stuff in order to understand real writing. Please.

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