Writing With Silvia Hartmann
When people ask me what I do for a living, I always respond
with, "I'm an author".
I have been doing so ever since my first book was published in
1989; and I guess that's who I always wanted to be when I grow up. An author, a
writer, or perhaps more precisely, a story teller.
Still, with the language conventions in use as I write this, the
first decade of the 2nd Millennium, it's easier to say, "I'm an author ..." and
it is true that I am.
Whatever else I do, I always *write about it* afterwards!
Sometimes, I write about things *before* I do them - that's
Project Sanctuary for you :-)
I've been a member of the Society of Authors for some years now.
I'm proud to be a writer. It's a very skilled craft, fascinating, and it is true
that "she who writes is blessed, for she is young again each day ..."
"She" can also go wherever she wants to go, and do whatever she
wants to do; say what is in her heart and be heard - is there anything better?
I don't really know what the difference is between an author and
a writer; I guess it's a personal definition.
I consider ALL FORMS OF WRITING to be fair game for an
author/writer.
I'm just as proud and pleased with a well written article on
Internet marketing that gets its point across elegantly and with a minimum of
fuss as I am with a snappy quote, a smooth poem, or a story I managed to capture
well, or a full length work of fiction, or a simple "how to" for selling online
as an ebook.
Writing is beyond what you write about, or what you write for;
it's a skill set in and of itself that unlocks so many different doors of mind
and thought, of emotion and experience - ah, I do love writing!
Here are some articles by a writer, for other writers, or those
who want to become professional writers, with some thoughts I had on the topic
and the practicalities of being a writer and an author over the years.
If you are already a writer, you will recognise these things
readily enough; if you don't think of yourself as a "writer" or an "author" as
yet, I would beg you to reconsider that.
EVERY person SHOULD be a writer. As every person should be a
speaker - of their experience, thoughts and knowledge, questions and wisdom
alike.
And it doesn't matter if you are the author of a love letter or
a business proposal; a great eulogy or a news item, it's just communication,
giving and receiving, and a WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL thing that can become a
lifetime's friend to any person who would want to make it so.
Silvia Hartmann
November 2005 |
