Sometimes you have no idea where you are going, but you know you are making progress, because as you walk you see the trees move away from you.
1
Writing is a daily habit, like eating or sleeping. I wake up and I write. Or during the day, I have an idea and I write. I no longer have to force myself to write, like I had to a year ago.
2
In your spare time you would rather write than do anything else. The prospect of seeing a film is not as appealing as it used to be, not when the story awaits on the desk, unfinished.
3
Solitude does not bother you. There are days when I do not talk to anyone for up to 12-16 hours.
4
When you want to understand your thoughts and emotions you write about them. These days I feel that thinking on paper – as I call writing about my thoughts and emotions – is the only clear way of thinking.
5
Your eyesight is getting worse. I do not have to wear glasses full-time yet, but it’s only a matter of time before I do.
6
When reading, you spot sentences that you could have written better yourself. This is enjoyable, especially when the author is famous.
7
You feel proud when you recommend yourself as a writer to a person of the opposite sex. ‘Hello, I am Vincent and I am a writer.’ ‘A writer? Do you mean journalist? You write for newspapers?’ ‘No, I write stories, I mean I am not famous yet, but I hope to be in the near future.’ ‘How cool! I like stories…’
8
Your acquire peculiar habits. I talk to myself aloud about literary things when I think nobody is hearing. I dip my hands in hot water to warm them before writing
9
You are no longer shocked when you read what you have written the day before, only distressed. Two years ago, each time I read what I had written on the previous day, I wept. Today, when I read what I wrote yesterday, I only hang my head and sigh.
(This post was first published last year.)What other signs would you add to this list?
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boy with a hat 
10. Instead of talking to yourself, you write yourself notes.
I talk to myself out loud and write notes, at the same time.
That too
When you read a new novel, and not only do you enjoy the story, but can appreciate it’s architecture.
Yes, that’s true.
Check, check, check….
11. When you go to the grocery store, you plan your review of Cheerios for “Breakfast Magazine”.
Hmm I have not eaten Cheerios in a long time. I’ll get some these days.
They are my breakfast staple. Nothing starts a day out correctly than something that is so happy that it’s name is “Cheerios” 🙂
hahaha i love this, i used to love cheerios before i became gluten-free 😦
Chocolate mars the tooth. 😦
I don’t get it…?
My son just developed a gluten intolerance. I was hoping that would help him stop drinking beer, but, darn-it-all, they make gluten free beer (at twice the price)
hahaha oh yes they do…..now-a-days they make everything gluten free.
Funny.
i love this and I love the responses 🙂
Do you love my hat as well?
Oh yeah you had better hide it when you go to sleep.
When I completely forget I’m doing something as mundane as washing dishes because I am in another world…
I get many ideas for my story when washing dishes. The hands are busy, but the mind is far away…
By the way, you’ve asked about my story in my previous post… I cannot reply in that one anymore.
It’s the story of a moonbeamed painter. I cannot say more!
I will give you the first chapter to read when it’s done, if you want. 🙂
Oh, I would love that! It sounds special 😉
I spy on complete strangers so I can imagine them into a story character.
I do that all the time. 🙂
you go to bed at 10 but dont sleep until 1, having to keep reaching for the pen and paper beside your bed to jot down the haphazard bits and pieces of your thoughts that when dipped into the night, fester like a growing wound.
Get an audio recorder! Some versions of the iPod have one.
PS: I still think you eat children, gypsy girl. If I meet you on the street I’ll run.
haha! silly fedora boy. i’d give you a great big hug then gobble you down.
So long as you hug me first all’s well.
can you edit this reply of mine to the history of sicily? thanks!
Clever gypsy girl. I hope you did not find my edit improper. 🙂
To make amends I have just sent you another invisible gift, as well as a band of troubadours to sing you serenades. They should appear under your window any time now.
I’ll cut the part with the kissing, though not that with the hugging.
thank you fedora boy, that was a delightful performance. before returning to my chambers, i arranged for the cook to serve the young folks some light supper before they make their way back home in this warm summer night.
all is well.
I think I might edit your reply later on, just to attract your attention. I’ll write something outrageous.
I’m still waiting for the invisible gift. However, I must respond to this post.
Yes. I am a writer. Except – #4, when there are times when I’d rather commune with nature, or other such things. I get a great deal of comfort through this as well as a clear view, so to speak.
#7 – I finally identify myself as a writer, however, it matters not whether the individual I write or speak with is of the same sex or opposite. My biggest problem is when I say, “Hi, my name is Vincent.” I just can’t pull it off. 😀
Your invisible gift is sitting on your desk even as we speak. Its use might prove inconvenient though.
Wear a hat and it will be easier!
Perhaps I will, and use the feminine form of ‘Vincent.’
What a fun game it’ll be!
Do you write for the pride or for the pleasure?
What would you feel if for any reason, not decided by you, you wouldn’t be able to write anymore?
Nice comments! I especially like the one from Kip Light.
I write for pleasure, but also for pride. There are not that many hat-wearing writers around.
I will suffer an internal combustion.
Do you eat Cheerios too?
All activities include the risk of internal combustion.
Rarely. I try to choose local food.
12. You unearth your child’s “Yak Back” to dictate the flashes of brilliance or nonsense before they are forgotten in the daily routine, smiles.
A great piece, fun comments!
I record ideas too!
I tip my hat to you poetess.
Have you ever thought of having something published? I consider it constantly and I write obsessively. I begin to think I enjoy writing far more than the idea of having it behind a hard cover and on shelves. I wonder if my sentiments are shared.
PS: I love your hat.
First I write the story. I don’t think about publishing it so long as it’s mine, and I write it daily. But when I am ready to abandon it, and move on, I will consider publishing it, if it’s worth anything. Sometimes I think that a book that is not published is like a love letter never sent.
PS: Thanks! I am susceptible to compliments about my hat.
I like your way of thinking. You are very inspiring.
Numbers #5 and #9 definitely apply. Very insightful post.
Millie, I wanted to impress you with a comparison between breathing and the motion of a swing, but I can’t find the right words now.
PS: I like your poems and the images you chose for them.
Hi Vincent, no need to impress me, you’ve already done that with your blog.
Looking forward to new material!
Random “alone” moments like commuting on a bus or waiting on a long queue at the grocery store compel you to ruminate at thoughts in your muted brain.
Once I almost got trampled by a horse because I did not mind my step – I was thinking of my story. 🙂
#5. Not quite at #9 yet.
Vincent, considering english is your second language, you write it better than many I know your age who were born to it.
Great blog. I hope you have great success!
Could you put a Post-It note on the invisible gift so I can find it? That’s how Wonder Woman finds her invisible jet. Kooky I know, but hey, seems to work for her!
I’ve just added an invisible Post-it note to the invisible gift, Mark. Can you find it now? 😉
Thanks for the good wishes.
PS: wicked cool hat. 🙂
Whoa! It’s straw colored black. 😉
I panic when I am outside and suddenly realize I have nothing to write on. Also, taking a notepad and pen to bed in case a thought strikes in the middle of the night and you’re sharing a room with someone >_<
Sharing a room with someone is inconvenient when one tries to write. Too many soft distractions. 😉
I’m sharing it with a sibling, actually 😛 but still, I can’t wake up at 3 AM, turn the lights on, and spend an hour writing inconsistencies while half awake 😀
I value certain writing over others — and think “I have to write!” even if I have just written for four hours on some other project. I moan to my writerʻs group (womenspages.wordpress.com) that I havenʻt done any writing — and I mean poetry — even though I have been writing a workbook and blogs most every day for a month. I embrace such goofiness. I think about embracing it. I write a poem about it. It sucks. I feel happy anyway…. 🙂
10. You live in a parallel world inside your head.
Yes, you do, and your friends don’t mind because they are busy with their iPads.
Number two I find a problem with because I have been writing for sixteen to seventeen years now, and my eye sight is still quite good. (Able to spot a flea on a black marble floor four feet away. — Seriously.)
Number three, I have to add while it’s amusing, and I have also thought the same thing, it makes me bring up the question: Would you have been able to better word the sentence, while keeping the same meaning of the sentence and all of those around it the same?
#9, sir… #9.
I re-read a few essays I wrote that were raved about by my professors and wondered why. “Are their expectations THAT low,” I thought.
A writer must be his own harshest critic, for he lacks the ability to be his most honest critic.
‘A writer must be his own harshest critic, for he lacks the ability to be his most honest critic.’ What a clever thing you’ve said Amedeo Marian.
I’ve just returned from the beach, so I am going by the name Aquatic Mollusk this week.
I’ve become unhealthily jealous of your writing. It’s apparent you have discipline unlike myself. Oh and yes of course you bite, you female black widow bite-killing spider.
Rest assured Danielle: discipline is a good substitute for talent.
If I were a spider Elizabeth, you would be the first I would bite. 🙂
PS: Each time you leave a comment here I see a shooting star fall from the sky. Isn’t that queer?
I’ve always wanted to be bitten by a spider like yourself. Yes, I think that is queer, very queer and very lovely. P.S. you are a medieval old man trapped in a boys body.
‘you are a medieval old man trapped in a boys body’ I could have not put it better myself!
Reblogged this on singlestreaming.
mmm hmm. Indeed I am a writer. When I think of lines of poetry on the spot in my head as I walk, but not quick enough to write it down. I do that way too often. 🙂 Great post.
Shall I rise to the bait to protest? Dizzy, you say? Aha. You wouldn’t be the first one to choose such a silly adjective. Dizzy. And yet, I like your list. Perhaps I am drunk?
Anna, if you have poison for me, I will drink it. I know you do not like me half as much as I like you. 😦
I’d have to say i’ve become a third wheel since beginning to write, and i’m a frequent visitor of wonderland. I STARE at people and reinvent their histories, I oscillate between eloquence and complete metaphoric gibberish,and i prefer writing in the earliest hours of the morning ( 3- 5 am)
Do you wake up that early, or rather don’t go to sleep all night?
I wake up that early every morning
I am trying to find an inconspicuous way to write you a note. Does one exist?
You mean you want to write me something that you want nobody else to see? How exciting! Use the contact form, and I’ll get back to you right away. 🙂
i dont know why but this sentence is hilarious
Sometimes you read what you wrote a little while back and you are amazed it came through your fingers!
Beau…tiful writing.
Thanks for liking my post -The Mad Village Poet.
I tip my hat to you Christopher.
Haha, so true! I think most of these apply to all types of creative activities. I experience all this with jewellery making, for instance. Regarding 3) – so true 😦 Having a fling with creative writing, I find reading far less pleasant these days, I keep thinking about what Stephen King stated in “On writing” about “swifties”, “verbs on steroids” and adverbs…. Good luck with your writing. BTW – you’re writing on paper? whoa, that’s rare!
I write on paper daily, but I write more on my laptop.
Red shoes! Believe it or not, I have a pair of pink boots from another time. I wore them thrice.
I always wanted an earring shaped like a scorpion dangling from its tail… Will you make me one in about 15 years, once I reach a respectable age?
This is a good list, Vincent. Writing every day must be the keystone and I am happy to see it is first on the list.
All best
That is excellent!!! Thank you for posting, I recognise myself in everyone of the things you list. My own extras are a need to clear/clean the desk beforehand, carrying a notepad or entering notes in the phone, sometimes a word, sometimes more but losing nothing. Everything I overhear or notice is capable of becoming a story or a poem…..
I agree with the eyesight… I’ve been wearing glasses since I was 6, musta been a writer then too! I write everything.. i write things in my head when i’m driving, that should be up there. great post. beware.. I’m stalking your blog. You might receive many comments from me in the next hour or so
Excellent Vincent – perhaps I to should don a hat? 🙂
Well it looks like I’m certainly on my way to writerdom. I love how you described movement, by the way. You’re such an excellent writer! I love reading your posts.
I toss my hat and take a bow, and by the time I am up again the hat falls on my head. 🙂
Loved this! Number six made me laugh out loud, number nine freaked me a little because I could’ve written that word for word – except I still do weep, sometimes, though sighing and head hanging has become the default.
I noticed you can afford to donate to charity a dollar for every follower. PLease name the cahrity so I can remove following , the dollar if I don’t agree with the charity. Not very responsible to make people a part of what they do not know. It just looks like “look what you did” emotional guilt trip thing. So name the charity please. Because if it is a tithe or rebel cause I will not follow.
I refuse to comment. 🙂
You just did. Please fire yoruself the correct way.
Do you wear your hat as you write? Some would recommend it. Writing is all about travelling, isn’t it? Journeying between conscious and subconscious territories. A hat can come in handy at such times: different ones for different terrains? Just a thought.
Certaintly, I have seven hats in my collection.
I regard them as thinking caps.
When writing has become such a habit that people stop and ask you, “Are you a writer or something?” True story.
I certainly talk to myself alot, trying out how the words fit together. I’m worst when I’m in the shower or driving the car.
I can relate to all of these, dear Vincent. As for number eight, I am reading this right now sitting with my feet in my kitchen sink. If that’s not peculiar, I don’t know what is.
How did that come about?
(I’m not sure I would like to wash love apples in your kitchen sink.)
How did that come about?
(I’m not sure I would like to clean love apples in your kitchen sink.)
I would add: when I see certain people I start to think of them as characters and either picture how they could add to a story I already have or make a new story around them
I first knew I was insane *ahem* I mean, a writer, when I started talking to myself during my daily dog walks. I would traipse along the path with my poodle, and basically hold conversations between fictional characters out loud. The dog was integral to my plot — that way, if someone snuck up the path without me noticing, I could pretend I was talking to my dog, which is far less weird than talking to yourself, as I understand it. Hurrah for writers and their foibles!
I’m not a writer… yet, but I certainly could apply many of these to the process of becoming an artist. Thanks for the inspiration!
Number 5 is the one that can relate to the most. Almost always when I’ve written down something that I can’t quite understand, I find that it releases some of the stress away. It’s like therapy.
Reblogged this on Sasphire For Sasa's Friends and commented:
all is me ^^
Well now that’s it, I’m convinced that I am indeed destined to be a writer! Really though, I do all of them except the hands in the water, I’m in the bad habit of cracking my knuckles.
I love this. I am still somewhat surprised when I finish a particular piece of writing. I still think, ‘I can’t believe I wrote that.’ haha. And picking up peculiar habits got me laughing. I think we all have quirks, just some more than others. 🙂
This is so gorgeous. I have been grinning like an idiot since number 1 up to the last knowing that I am this but at the same time considering that if you were someone “normal” you’d find all these in a person odd. Your thoughts are gorgeous.. I’ve been reading your posts. I cant even sum up the number of the word gorgeous I can come up with to calculate your gorgeousness.
I blush!
Reblogged this on GoStepAway and commented:
I wish I could be a writer hehe. Well, I am a writer. 😀
11. daydreaming and talking out loud may become your regular friends
-> You feel like you might go mad if you don’t write.
-> The world feels senseless if you do not write.
I love #9. Happens to me a lot.
Reblogged this on tears of terror.
Last point, I can so identify with. 😀
Yet to reach that sighing and hanging my head part. 🙂
I drool over notepads in artist material shops. I go in and undress them for a quick fix.
Love it 🙂
Perfectly described !. I had those familiar signs to being a writer.
#3 and #7 suit me well. 😀