If you write, you're a writer. It doesn't matter what it is you write about or if it ever sees the light of day outside your journal. If you feel that unshakeable compulsion to document every sight, sound, and fleeting thought you have, it's proof you were born to write.
That being said, there are some undeniable quirks that come with the territory... how many resonate with you?
1) As a kid, you were definitely reprimanded for reading in front of company.
2) You're a list-maker at heart. To-do lists, random thoughts, names you like… you'll find any excuse to make one.
3) Your friends and family know better than to enter a bookstore with you.
4) Words just seem to draw you in wherever you go, whether it’s the text on the cereal box or your shampoo bottle.
5) The sight of a fresh Scrabble board, crossword puzzle, or any word game brings you indescribable joy.
6) You're practically writing an article outline in your head whenever you have an interesting conversation with someone.
7) Growing up, you were always told you asked too many questions. When you're interviewing someone, you still can't believe you're actually getting paid to “be nosy.”
8) Certain sentences have lodged themselves in your consciousness for years. You treasure them and marvel at their beauty still.
9) Similarly, the characters from your favorite books have never really left you. They actually feel like real people you know.
10) You panic in the rare situations you don't have a paper or pen on hand.
11) You're always the one who ends up telling stories to the kids at family functions...and find yourself getting maybe a little too into it.
12) You've secretly tried to read a dictionary or thesaurus like an actual book.
13) You've lied about having plans, but were really being a weird hermit scribbling in your notebook.
14) Crisp paper and that slightly earthy new book scent trigger an uncontrollable chemical reaction within you.
15) Your local librarian knows you, whether it's from overdue fines or just your constant presence.
16) You're a sucker for quotes.
17) Your childhood diaries were overly vivid in detail and leaned to the dramatic side. As much as they make you cringe, you can't let them go.
18) Certain fonts feel like home to you.
19) You wonder about the habits of other writers. Writing can be such a solitary journey that it's easy to forget other people share the same affliction that you do.
20) You bless social media for letting you shamelessly stalk your favorite authors' lives, which just deepens the weird intimacy you already feel toward them. It's kind of like you've been in their head and shared this parallel universe together.
21) You've had to learn to let go and remove a sentence from your grip under deadlines as you hack and chisel it like a thesaurus-wielding madman.
22) You find inspiration in everything. Sometimes it seems like true synchronicity the way stories come together.