Can You Be Born A Writer?

Some people say you're born a writer. Some people say those people are full of it.

Some writers constantly argue who's pencil is longer. I hope I'm not one of them.

There aren't many questions that infuriate me, but the ones that do, I hear all the time.

Question one is "When will your novel be out?"

Answer: I'm as anxious as anyone else, and as soon as I know, it'll be the most-promoted book on the web. Or at least I'll try.


The second question is, "What made you want to become a writer?"

Many writers answer this question as though their sexualities are on the line, with comments like, "When did you decided not to be a writer" or "I didn't choose, I was born this way."

The latter makes me sick. Born a writer? Did you hop out of the womb with pen and paper? I've never seen a newborn scribbling on a laptop or iPad, still covered in mommy-goo. 

During the 9-month process, fetuses do acquire a lot of information. Certain songs played while they're nothing more than a baby-bump are recognized by the babies later on, and so on.

Here's a long video explaining what scientists have discovered regarding what we learn before we are born. If you've got 17 mins to spare, give it a look-see. If you don't, no one will hold it against you.

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While there are dozens of things we can learn before we are even born, I'm pretty sure writing isn't a possibility, unless your parents listened to dozens of audio-books out loud. Then I suppose there could be some sort of word recognition. 

Though I argue you cannot be born a writer, I do agree some people are writers from a young age. Well, I mean storytellers. Writing is a craft. I think storytelling is the art, and I've been a storyteller since I was a wee-one. But could I have picked up story structure in the womb?

So then, when do writers start being writers?

What's it matter?  All that matters is that a writer writes. 

Maybe I was a junior high loser who had so much time to myself I became introverted enough to scribble out full novels.

Maybe anger pushed me to jot down all my emotions.

Maybe I just liked reading a whole hell of a lot. 

In tenth grade, Elaine Chase inspired me to write in one of her English classes. She even used a bit of my dialogue to show other students how they can write dialogue between multiple characters. Was that enough to turn me into a writer? 

At this point, I wrote for fun until someone said, "Hey, you should keep doing this."

All I know now is I really, really, really like writing. I love when my stories are picked up and shared through websites and magazines. I love that one gatekeeper decided Excluded would be a good story. 

The only thing important to me, isn't why I chose to be a writer, but that I continue being a writer. And to all those who say they were born that way, I ask what's your evidence?