Write

You don't need to have been published to call yourself a writer. You don't need to have ever earned a penny from your words. You don't even need to have been read (although believe you me, being an unread writer is a soul-destroying pastime). But to be a writer you must, definitely, without fail, this isn't negotiable, write. The accreditation is fairly painless. As soon as you write that's it, you're a writer. And as soon as you stop, you aren't. So start writing and keep writing. Finish what you start. Plug away, even when you hate every word you write. You'll hate those words even more if you don't write them. That thing they say about writing being rewriting? It's true. Despite the similarities, you mustn't confuse writing with calligraphy. Don't expect a period of silent zen meditation, contemplating the perfect whiteness of the page, followed by a sudden burst of activity, a few deft strokes resulting in a perfect word or phrase. Writing is more like sculpting with clay. Take the words and pile them up, squish them together, squeeze them into the shape of the idea, the rough form of the story. Take a step back. Look at them from every angle. Now dive back in. Gouge out the unneeded words, push them around, work in the fine detail. Mould and scrape and shape. Get your hands dirty. Write.