Quiz – Should You Become a Writer?

I turn on my laptop this morning, check Amazon for sales for my novel, Life is But a Dream: On the Lake (Grace Adams Series) (over 20 now – Woo Hoo!), and somewhere along the way come across a website with a quiz on it entitled Should You Become a Writer?

Of course, I waste time by clicking on it. It asked questions like, How would you describe your ability to listen to others and Are you always able to effectively convey your thoughts through writing, and How do you feel about talking on the telephone.

I’m not sure what any of those questions have to do with writing, so I started thinking about writing my own quiz. If you would like to waste some time today, too, please continue to read…

• Do you have a callous on the middle finger of your writing hand?
• Do you think it’s kinda cool that you have a callous on the middle finger of your writing hand?
• Do you annoy friends and loved ones by reading passages from novels or short stories to them?
• If you knew today, for a fact, that none of your words would ever be published, would you still write?
• Do you think being a writer is a fantasy job and slightly out of your reach?
• Are you hesitant to call yourself a writer because it feels like you are bragging?
• Do you have a collection of rejection slips?
• Do you have rejections slips that you consider to be “encouraging”?
• Are you able to “read between the lines” and understand that those rejection slips are only a sign of your true brilliance as a writer?
• Do you tell yourself that only the mediocre get accepted for publication immediately?
• Do you secretly hate the two women who wrote the Harry Potter books and those vampire books?
• Do you have favorite sentences?
• At the beginning of a movie, when you see the words “based on the novel by” do you feel slightly bitter?
• Would you rather write about imaginary people that spend time with real people?
• Have you written a novel that no one has ever seen?
• Have you written two or three novels that have never been published?
• Are you currently working on number four or five?
• Do you sometimes think that if this writer or that writer only knew you, then you would be best friends?
• Are you a little weird?
• Do you love the writing but already dread the book tours, even though you still aren’t published?
• Are you able to work for long periods of time, let’s say years, without any encouragement whatsoever?
• Are you slightly delusional?
• If you were given the choice between ten million dollars or a published book, would you immediately ask, “Hardback or paperback?”

Did you answer “yes” to a lot of these questions? Well, then, you are already a writer. Sorry. It’s too late for you. There’s nothing that can be done about it. Go write.

Cheryl Shireman is the bestselling author of several novels, including Broken Resolutions, the Life is But a Dream series, and the Cooper Moon series. She is also the author of ten books for toddlers including the eight Let’s Learn About series focusing on different animals and I Love You When: For Girls and I Love You When: For Boys.