Meganne Fabrega: What Does It Mean to be a Writer?

Meganne Fabrega is a writer and the editor of The Square: The Magazine for Seacoast Creativity, Culture, and Community based in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Her infrequently updated website is megannefabrega.com.

When James asked me to participate in this post, he said that he asks “one or two simple questions” about the writing life. His question to me is: “What does it mean to be a writer?”

The question may be simple, but the answer...not so much.

On a good day it means that I am able to lose myself in a story that has sprung from my imagination, that I read an amazing book and can sing its praises to the world, that I had the privilege to interview a subject whose work deserves a wider audience, that an essay I wrote elicited a written response from a reader, or that I allowed myself the time and space to replenish the well of creativity without guilt by taking a long, aimless walk or visiting a new museum.

On a bad day it means that that I am frozen in front of a blinking cursor, that I convince myself that I have nothing to say so that I don’t even try, that I wish that I had a job that demanded that I fit one widget into another because DAMN that would be so easy and so straightforward, that I get another rejection by someone who liked my writing but not enough to actually publish it, that my bank balance doesn’t always accurately reflect the amount of effort I put into my writing life.

Every day it means that I put one foot in front of the other, and just keep writing.