don't be a writer; just write

The greatest obstacle to writing is trying to become “a writer.”

Too often we confuse the identity of the doer with the doing. The identity is cultural and external. Doing the work is internal. But the extreme focus on the doer is why there’s so much tension around claiming yourself as any sort of “artist” — and so the creative arts reek with imposter syndrome. Who among us hasn’t felt like a fraud, at least once or a thousand times?

Here’s the question. At what point are you allowed to call yourself “a writer?”

Is it the moment you get a degree in writing? Get published in a respectable magazine? Get an agent? A book deal? Become a New York Times bestseller?

What worldly validation has to happen in order to justify your internal state of being? What godly voice must come along to give you permission and say in a booming voice, “now, Kening Zhu, you may claim yourself a writer!” Forget your insecurities; now you are enough!”

The entire question is bullshit, because it doesn’t matter. Who cares whether or not you are “a writer”? Really. Will you let that keep you from writing?

Forget the identity. Just do the thing.

As a culture, we are obsessed with the image of what we are, how we project ourselves to the world, and how we can feel “enough.” Identifying with the word “artist” or “writer” has very little to do with the process and practice of art, or writing. The more you focus on that, the more it will block you from beginning.

Learn to detach from those words, those identity markers. They don’t matter. I’ve been around Ivy League creative writing majors who were more interested in the ego identity of calling themselves “writers,” than in the actual writing. They were in love with the idea, like a costume they put on.

Meanwhile, I have friends who tell me:

“I have all of these ideas about x, y, and z, but I barely have time to write anything down, and plus, who am I kidding, I’m not a writer.”

But when you are truly embracing the act of writing, you won’t get caught up on whether or not you’re a writer. It won’t matter. The process becomes the most rewarding thing itself, instead of the means to the end.

And really, it is the end - the only end that matters.