You know you’re a writer when…

When people ask me about my career, I always say that I’m a writer. I mean, I write, and I get paid for it, so of course I’m a writer. Just not an award-winning novelist….yet, haha. Do you consider yourself a writer? Check out my list below.

You know you’re a writer when…

You look enviously at the New York Times bestsellers list and envision your name up there one day.

You eavesdrop on other people’s conversations when you’re looking for inspiration.

You know it must look overly pretentious sitting in a cafe, drinking a non-fat latte and typing away on your Macbook, but you still do it anyway.

At the top of your Christmas wish list every year is a typewriter.

Empty pages or a blank screen is your worst enemy.

You never leave the house without a notebook.

90% of all the presents you receive are notebooks.

You own a Moleskine.

You’re on a first name basis with the guys from your local bookshop/used book store.

Despite the popularity of e-readers, you refuse to ever stop buying actual paperbacks.

You have two favourite books – one that you tell your literary friends (“A Passage to India”) and one you tell all your other friends (“The Beach”).

You strongly believe in living the expat life because all the greatest writers do it.

When your parents ask why you need to move to [insert distant country here] to write your book, when you can simply write at home, you tell them that sacrifices need to be made for your art.

You believe everything happens for a reason.

You feel like how you met someone tells an important story about your relationship with them.

When you come across a quote you like, you save it with the intention of using it in your future book.

When you really like someone, you make a mental note to include them in the dedications page of your future book.

There’s at least one literary agent, whose blog you follow religiously.

Sometimes you’re not sure if you do things because you actually want to, or because it would make for a good story for your future book.

Sometimes your life feels so crazy, that your dreams seem more normal.

You say yes to almost everything, because the thought of saying no and missing out on an experience is a fate worst than death.

People have told you to stop being so dramatic.

The idea of being mediocre is probably the scariest thought ever.

You know that suburbia is the death of creativity.

People you know from ten years ago still message you, thinking that you’ve either become famous, married a Prince, or become a hippie drug dealer.

Sometimes you get a brilliant idea in your head while walking down the street and you can’t help but smile like a lunatic which scares everyone in your immediate surrounding.

You blame all your bad decisions and crazy actions on doing research for your future book.

Sometimes you feel like you’ll risk your well-being for a good story.

You’re constantly updating your author’s bio in your head.

When you tell people that you’re a writer, they look at you with sympathy.

You never stop thinking about this “future book.”

After experiencing an event so romantic/crazy/life-changing, one of the thoughts running through your head is, how are you going to top this moment with something better?

Sometimes when a moment is so perfect, you feel like the only way to capture it is to write it down.

You get your best ideas in the shower, before falling asleep, on the train or bus, and while jogging.

You’ve missed your bus/train stop because you were so full of thoughts.

You’re a sucker for inspirational advertising. Those Nike ads get to you all the time.

You go out seeking life changing events.

You haven’t even written your future book, and yet you’re already thinking about the movie adaptation.

You’re willing to scrap 100+ pages of writing if you’re not entirely happy with it.

When people ask you about your celebrity crush, you say Ernest Hemingway (oh and of course, Ewan McGregor).

Someone who insults your favourite writer is not a friend.

Ditto with people who have really poor grammar (unless English is their second language…then all of a sudden, it’s adorable).

Sometimes you watch a movie or read a book, and you seriously believe that it was made/written just for you (seriously my life is “Before Sunrise” on repeat).

You’re a sucker for the idea of fate.

Sometimes you wake up with the feeling that you’re just like [insert famous drugged up literary idol here], and it both excites and scares you simultaneously. Your friends just think you’re crazy.

You have a gut feeling that your future book is totally going to change the modern world.