Have you been published?

Have you tried to get published? #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter

— Baratunde (@baratunde) July 28, 2015

Recently, the hashtag #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter went viral on Twitter. I read a selection of the tweets in the CBC Books article, and laughed and laughed and laughed. Oh, how I laughed. I even shared the link on Facebook along with a comment that there should be a parallel hashtag #TenThingsNotToSayToAPhotographer.

And then, the next day, someone who was interested to hear that I'd attended a writing camp asked "So, have you been published?" and I laughed again before answering.

"Have you been published in real life or like just on the internet?" #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter

— Anne Thériault (@anne_theriault) July 28, 2015

I answered in the affirmative because a long, long time ago, I'd had some editorial-type articles published in The Citizen and The Medical Post. So, yes, I had been "published," but I don't think that's the question he was really asking, and I didn't stick around long enough for him to figure that out.

"You're writing a book? When will it be published?" #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter

— Sonal Champsee (@sonalogy) July 28, 2015

Because the real question he was asking was:

• Are you actually a good writer? 
• Does anyone else think you're a good writer?

It's a call for external validation, something we all crave, I think, especially those in the creative fields. I imagine I would get the same question if I declared that I was an artist.

#TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter "I would LOVE to write, if only I had the time." (yes. That's the only reason we write. Too. Much. TIME).

— Susin Nielsen (@susinnielsen) July 28, 2015

And the reason it's a sensitive question is that virtually every writer asks themselves the exact same question: Am I really a writer? Am I really a writer?

I find it interesting that I don't get the same challenge when I say I'm a photographer. I've never had anyone ask if I get paid to take pictures. I simply declare myself a photographer and I am, ipso facto, a photographer.

I thought you were dead. #TenThingsNotToSayToAWriter

— S. E. Hinton (@se4realhinton) July 28, 2015

(S. E. Hinton, by the way, is the author of The Outsiders, Rumblefish . . . )

Maybe it's partly because most people can look at a photograph and feel confident in their personal assessment of whether the image is "good" or not, but they don't have the same confidence when approaching a piece of writing. 

Is it good? Who knows? I mean, I read the Michael Ondaatje book and hated it, but everyone said it was great, so who am I to judge? I need someone else to tell me if it's good.

(I believe this is doubly true of poetry. I, for one, do not enjoy sonnets, though I know they have complex meters and require a great deal of effort to compose. They just don't sing for me. But I often enjoy a bit of doggerel and somehow feel ashamed for my plebeian tastes.)

I have decided to take Chuck Wendig's advice. Way back in September 2014, he wrote a sardonic list of  possible responses to the kinds of questions writers receive. Here's a sample.

Comment: “YOU MUST BE RICH.”
Your response: *laugh so hard you barf*

Read more of Chuck's (profanity-laden -- you've been warned) suggestions on his blog: Ten Things to Never Say to a Writer while I get back to writing and photographing.