So, a first post. Where to start? What to say?
I've struggled with how to describe myself. Do I get to call myself an author, just because I've had a few competition wins, the odd published story? It feels a little disingenuous to give myself that particular title. Undeserved.
Writer, maybe? Perhaps I should call myself a writer. But even that has a pretentious ring to it. It's the kind of moniker out of work rich people give themselves as a sop to their egos.
Wordsmith? Scribe? Word wizard? None of these really pass muster. I suppose 'scribe' is the least offensive, and I have to confess I use it as part of my twitter name, but I've started to become ashamed of it. It is my dirty little name secret. Along with my confirmation name - Bernadette. Oh how I wish I'd called myself the so much cooler sounding Apollo.
It's not just writers that come across this particularly sticky issue of what to declare as their profession. My friend works for the foreign office, and has recently earned a promotion.
'Can you call yourself a diplomat now, then?' I asked her.
She considered her response for a while. She is notoriously slow at making decisions.
'Yes, I think so. My passport has been a diplomatic one for several years now.'
'But I've never heard you call yourself a diplomat.'
She thought again. It takes a while, conversation. Don't ever play cards with her. Especially not Newmarket.
'No, well, it sounds a bit pretentious, doesn't it?'
So, writers, authors, wordsmiths, scribes, word wizards, take heart.
We are not the only ones who don't quite know what to call ourselves.
