I often struggle about what I should write about.

When I first began writing I was so captivated my undying love and happy endings. And so that is what I would write about. But I never felt truly connected to what I wrote.

 But as I have gotten older, lived a bit more and gained some wisdom, I have learned that life is more than love and happy endings. In my most recent writing class, I choose to do things differently. I choose to write what I know.

 I took situations that happened in my life and just changed it up a bit here and there. And guess what happened? It worked! It really worked. I wrote in such a way that it even shocked myself. When I went back to proofread what I wrote I was surprised that I actually wrote something half way decent.

When I came across this video clip of Amy Tan (one of my favorite writers, as you already know), she confirmed my little writing experiment. People criticize her for writing about Chinese women and such, but why wouldn't she. It's what she knows and what she does well.

Be true to yourself, write what you know.



I have often wondered what exactly makes someone a writer. I mean what gives you the someone the right to call themselves a writer.

Must you have a short story published in order to call yourself a writer?

Or perhaps you must have some sort of writing degree to call yourself a writer.

Perhaps you can call yourself a writer if you have written your the rough draft for your first novel.

I used to believe that if you accomplished any one of these things then you had every right to call yourself a writer. Thus, since I have not accomplished any one of these things I never felt I had the right to the call myself a writer. But all that has changed. I believe that if you can write a good piece that makes sense and that people can appreciate, then by all means, call yourself a writer.

And so, hello there. My name is Monique and I am writer.