Nathan Bransford | Writing, Book Editing, Publishing

Helping authors achieve their dreams

How to know you’re a writer (in GIF form)

by 65 Comments

Any time you’re not writing your novel you’re still thinking about your novel:

When people ask you for your thoughts on their writing you give them wayyyyyyyyy too much honest feedback:

Seeing typos make you crazy:

You have so many ideas for novels you don’t know where to put them all:

While your friends are out doing this:

And this:

And this:

Instead you’re inside doing this:

You wake up in the middle of the night with incredible ideas…

But then you can never remember them in the morning.

When you tell people you’re a writer they do this:

And then when they ask about what you write, first you do this:

But then when they get you talking about it you’re like this:

When you have writer’s block you want to do this:

But instead you do this:

When you get a rejection letter from an agent you do this:

But when you get a partial request you do this:

When you see a book you didn’t like on the bestseller list you go:

And when you see a book you hated on the bestseller list you go:

But when something good happens for a writer you love you go:

When someone doubts whether you’re going to be a successful writer you go:

But on the inside you’re kind of like:

When you meet a fellow writer you’re like:

And when you meet a famous writer you’re like:

You get distracted during important conversations because you want to steal something someone said for your novel:

You have strong opinions about Twilight… one way or the other:

And the only thing you love as much as writing is reading.

You know this site…

And this one…

And this one…

And this one…

And someday you’ll see your name on this one.

You know that writing is hard…

And it’s frustrating sometimes…

Did we mention it’s hard?

But you do it because it’s the best.

And sure, maybe we’re all a little crazy…

But let’s face it. Writers are awesome.

See also: The Publishing Process in GIF Form

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  21. Rena says

    You might also know you're a writer if you interrupted reading this post to check your email hoping it was an agent getting back to you on your query letter.

    This totally made my day.

    Reply

  44. Joanna says

    Thank you Nathan, as I sit here editing my novel for about the 20th (hopefully the LAST) time… your gif could not have come at a better time. Your perspective, perseverance and patience at all times, in all ways is a gift

    Reply

  50. Anonymous says

    Oh this is great…especially the part about ideas…WHY ARE YOU SNEAKING AROUND MY HOUSE IN THE CLOSETS!?!?! 😀 ahhaha

    Reply

  51. Heidi says

    Love it, Nathan!

    I did a similar post, "Why Do You Write?" in which I talk about Unicorns and the Hall of Justice, with help from Kevin Spacey, Ron Burgundy, and Spongebob. These are so fun.

    Of course, I was inspired by your post, "The Publishing Process in GIF Form."

    Thanks again!

    Reply

  56. Steve MC says

    I didn't look at this the other day 'cause I wasn't in the mood for anything funny. Today I'm even less in the mood, which is why I needed it all the more.

    So thanks! And so cool to see Carl Sagan.

    Reply

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