9 Subtle Signs That You’re A True Writer At Heart

1. Every experience is a gold mine for writing ideas. You go through a breakup, you write about it. You move to a new city, you write about it. You hear someone on the train say something that, to other people, sounds completely ordinary, but somehow rings special to your ears. There’s the new opening line for your story.

2. With reference to the first point, that any experience can be inspiration for writing, you realize that other people have no clue you’re always observing their random words and actions, then stealing them for your writing. Within the bounds of a classroom, this would be plagiarism. But in the writing world, depicting people you know is just “inspiration.”

3. You love quotes. And precisely because you love well-selected words, you also have a really good memory for them.

4. You take different categories of writing very seriously. Non-writers might ask very casually whether you like “fiction” or “non-fiction,” but to you, this question is almost offensive. To you, these categories are completely distinct.

5. You love to write about writing. Other professions just don’t seem to reflect on their existence as much as writers do. Look at most interviews with writers and you’ll see questions not just about the content of their work, but also why they write, why they think it’s important to write, why writing is special to them, etc.

6. You feel weird if you don’t write for a long time. Writing isn’t a hobby, it’s a form of emotional release and if you go too long without it, you will suffer.

7. You’re likely a little bit quiet. And likely you feel some pride for being that way, thinking it makes you more deliberate and a better observer.

8. You may not want money, but you do want fame. It’s like when the tree falls in a forest. While you love writing, your work wouldn’t exist without a reader. You write to be read.

9. And of course, you’re reading an article about writing.