On Writing, Being A Writer, And The Need For External Validation
And Why It Means So Much To Me To Have An Agent
“If you write, you’re a writer,” they say.
But in our capitalistic society, are you really? Could you say that if you play football, you’re a footballer? Because I think not. (If you get off with a girl on Saturday night after telling her you’re a footballer, and then on Monday morning she finds you stacking shelves in Morrisons, your explanation that you play Sunday league football with your mates is unlikely to cut much mustard).
In our capitalistic society, when someone asks, “What do you do?”, they’re actually asking how you sell your labour.
Imagine you work Monday 9-5 in a call centre and spend your evenings and weekends coaching boys and girls football teams. You’re a community hero. But if you then go Pointless and Alexander Armstrong asks you what you do, you don’t get to say you’re a football coach. You have to say you work in a call centre. Only when he asks his follow up question about what you do in your spare time do you get to say that you coach boys and girls football teams.
Do I think this is a terrible way for a society to judge, identify and value its members? Yes. So you should completely ignore me. If you write, you’re a writer. But do I have the inner strength to defy these societal rules? Hell, no.
The writing community has long attempted to skirt society’s rules while simultaneously benefiting from them by saying that if you’re conventionally published, you’re a writer, even if writing’s not your primary source of income. With that publishing contract in your filing cabinet, you get to tell Alexander Armstrong that you’re a writer, even if your book income is at best an additional annual bonus on top of your day job salary.
Of course, writers with day jobs (which is most of them) often avoid mentioning those day jobs, perhaps for fear that it might weaken their perceived status as a writer. (Notable exceptions: Sean Grigsby, who’s a firefighter, and Geoffrey A. Landis, who works for NASA on Mars missions – because who wouldn’t mention day jobs like that?)
I’ve long said that my ambition in writing is to reach the point where I can describe myself as a writer without feeling compelled to deploy either quotes, or a footnote that explains I’m actually a business analyst who does a bit of writing on the side. And what do I need to be able to do that?
In two words: external validation.
Meaning, in my case, an agent, a book contract with a recognised publisher, and a copy of my book in my local Waterstones.
And as of today, I have an agent, and not just any agent, but the esteemed John Jarrold. I’ve wanted to have John as my agent for some ten years or so, since he sent me the nicest, most constructive rejection I’ve ever received. (And the fact that he also represents my good friend Gareth Hanrahan has only given me additional reasons for wanting him).
So that’s the first of my three targets achieved. Maybe I might start telling people I’m a writer.
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