My first time on a train was an unbelievable experience. From the moment I stepped on I was transported to the 1940s where traveling meant being on a train, meeting new people, and having witty conversations with your fellow passengers.

(And yes, I thought about beginning in a Hitchcock film as well. I thought about it for 2.5 seconds, the amount of time it took to wig me out.)

For sure the best part of my trip was the conversations with total strangers. I met so many different people that I never would have otherwise. It was a great exercise in collecting characters. But the best part of the experience was introducing myself. 

“Hi. My name is Icess and I’m a writer.”

Yes, the big W word right there live and in color for all the world to hear.

Even in this part of my career, it’s still overwhelming to say out loud. Writers exist in quiet — in the late night or early morning hours, during lunch hours, in between errands, when the world is quiet, when the world isn’t. That’s when writers exist and they don’t have an audience when they do what they do. So introducing yourself as a writer exposes you to the world. But at the same time it make you accept that what you do when everyone else is busy doing something else is not a hobby.

Writing is not a hobby. Writing is a verb. As such we should treat it accordingly.

Spring time is the perfect time to make that affirmation or to reaffirm, not only to yourself but the people around you. As things are blossoming and renewing, you should do the same with your writing and your commitment to it. I’m a firm believer that you have to believe it to become it. The first step to doing that is say it out loud where everyone can hear and acknowledge. You are a writer. You write. This is who you truly are. Everything else is folly.

In addition to believing it you have to do it  Writers write. And they read. And they do this every day. Where you may have started the New Year wanting to write the great American novel, you start the spring finishing that chapter and moving on to the next one knowing that as you write you discover things about yourself and about writing that you didn’t know before.

So I leave you with this, kind reader. The next time you introduce yourself or are being introduced admit to that person, the world, and yourself your true identity. You’re a writer. And then, go home and write a couple of pages.