What Type of Writer Am I?

I am a writer. That's all. 

But I guess the question I get asked the most every time I say this to someone is:
"Do you write books?"
"What books have you written?"
"What have you read recently?"
Let me answer all these questions with three simple sentences:
A writer does not necessarily have to be bookish.
A writer is not just someone who writes stories.
A writer is simply a person who writes with passion.
Now, I am not talking about writing down memos, or shopping lists, or your names. I am talking about writing something more meaningful, something more personal, and something that resonates with people. Like yes, I do write books but I also write short stories, poems, business resumes, website contents, essays, blogs, songs, adverts, screenplays, and much more. So you see, when you ask a writer if he writes books, that is the wrong question to ask.

I guess I fell in love with writing in my early teens when I did not know how to properly communicate my thoughts to others. And the constant bullying and shaming further reinforced the desire to "write/speak" what I always wanted to say. Writing is therapeutic for many people. Ever gone through some bad times in your life and decided to write it down on a piece of paper? That is the most releasing and relieving experience I have ever had in my life. Writing not only helps your memory but also helps take off your mind and create your own little universe. Whether you want to write just 1 page or even 180 pages, go for it. The only tools that you will require is a piece of paper, a pen, and the passion.

Now the next part is a little more sensitive. It deals with sharing what you wrote, your innermost feelings and thoughts. And that is definitely not an easy task, trust me!

I used to not show anyone everything that I wrote because they are so personal, but with time, I learned to be more open and I gained more confidence in what I wrote. Now, the thing I learned is that you will always have people who really loved it and others who really hated it. And navigating through that balance is not an easy thing to do. I still get some people who don't like what I write, but that will not stop me from writing because they are not the ones I am writing for.

I write for me, I write to you, and I write for everyone who has something to say.

The best advice I would give myself some three years back is to write with all the passion and don't care what others have to say. Your writing reveals your thoughts, opinions, truths, experiences, and that is your strengths. Your writing does not have to be compartmentalized into specific categories, feel free to defy all the rules and make up your own rules of writing, with proper grammar of course. Writing is not something that can be explained or taught, it is a feeling, the feeling you get after writing down a memorable experience, a bad fight you had with someone, the things you conjure in your imagination or the guilt you feel for something bad that you did.

And that is what I always follow in life.

Always do what you love, not what you are taught to love. 

Follow that passion because, in the end, that would be your most soul-fulfilling experience. Now there are different ways to write the different types of writings such as writing a business resumes will differ so much from writing a song. And it is okay for someone to be interested in only 1 specific types of writing and master that particular craft. But the world of writing is so seductive, mysterious, happy, angry, sad, and other mixed feelings that I am just drawn to it all.

Now sharing what you write is not necessarily for everyone. If you want to keep it private, that's fine too. But my personal motto is:

What is the purpose of doing something you love if you can't show it to others and maybe inspire them as well?

My last words would be; everyone who writes with a purpose in mind, who writes out of passion, who writes to escape the boring routine, who is not afraid to write their most honest and deepest emotions, is a writer.