Stop Being Afraid to Call Yourself a Writer

You know you are a writer deep down in your soul.  You write when no one is looking.  You can’t stop daydreaming about your characters and plotlines.  No matter how often you’ve abandoned projects or attempted to quit, you keep coming back to them. Writing just does something for you that nothing else can.

That’s the key…if writing is something you can’t NOT do, then it is worth facing your fear of calling yourself a writer. Fear can manifest as self-doubt or the belief that you’re not “good enough” to claim the title. It can be that nagging voice that tells you you’re only pretending, and at any moment, someone will call you out on it.

I used to be embarrassed to call myself a writer. It was almost like I was playing pretend at something. Dressing up in someone else’s clothing and stumbling around in shoes too big for me. I kept my writing secret, afraid that if anyone saw it, they’d confirm what I already feared: that I wasn’t good enough and I didn’t belong in the same group with talents like JRR Tolkien, Ursula K. Le Guin, or Terry Pratchett.

Every author you admire had to begin somewhere. They had to face their own fears and insecurities.

But fear, while natural, should not be the barrier that stops you from stepping fully into your identity as a writer. No one starts out as a great writer. Every author you admire had to begin somewhere. I guarantee at one point in their journey they too wondered if they were a “real writer.” They weren’t born with published novels in hand—they sat down, wrote, and dealt with the same doubts you have.

If calling yourself a “writer” feels too big, too heavy to carry just yet, start small. Simply say, “I write.” Because that’s exactly what you do. You write—whether it’s a sentence, a paragraph, a story, or a journal entry.  You don’t need to measure your worth by word count or whether your work has been traditionally published. The act of writing itself is what makes you a writer.

Joining a writing community can be another step toward claiming the title “writer.” A writing community offers a safe space to share your work, receive feedback, and connect with people who are on the same journey.  In these spaces you’ll meet others who share your struggles, including the very same fear of embracing the title “writer.”  The more you interact with other writers, the more you’ll see that calling yourself a writer isn’t about being perfect or published; it’s about being part of a shared creative experience.

Give yourself permission to be a bad writer.

Every writer, even the greats, produced messy first drafts, awkward sentences, and ideas that fell flat. Give yourself permission to be a bad writer. It takes courage to write badly—and that courage is what sets you apart as a writer. I find it gives me the freedom to not pretend to have all the answers or not worry about mastering the writing craft right away. At the end of the day calling myself a writer comes from knowing that it’s not about perfection; it’s about persistence and the bravery to put my ideas on the page.

Taking the time to celebrate every achievement, no matter how small, can make a huge difference in your journey. I started keeping a journal to document my journey and record milestones. Things like the craft books I’ve read and the workshops I’ve attended, a page for the positive feedback I’ve received when sharing parts of my writing, and my breakthrough moments when something finally clicked. When the fear and doubts creep in I can flip through these pages and remind myself how far I have come. And that every step, no matter how small, has made me the writer I am today.

The beauty of being a writer is that there’s no special membership card or a gatekeeper preventing you from joining the club. You already belong. You belonged the moment you put pen to paper or fingers to the keyboard. So whether you write in secret or share your work widely, you’re part of the writer’s world. Own that, celebrate it, and let it fuel your next creative step.