30 Signs That Indicate You May Be a Writer

"I write for the same reason I breathe—because if I didn’t, I would die."
Isaac Asimov

You Know You’re a Writer When You...

1. Finish your deadline but your head, neck and shoulders are killing you.
2. Wake in the middle of the night with the perfect sentences or paragraphs.
3. Cannot remember those words in the morning.
4. Scribble down night thoughts on scrap paper in the dark.
5. Cannot read what you scrawled at morning light.
6. Take notes during a movie unaware that your pen is empty.
7. Are unable to read impressions on the paper when the theatre lights come on.
8. Sleep with your laptop on and ready to write.
9. Threaten to buy a tape recorder to record night thoughts.
10. Keep a bulging writing file.
11. Journal incessantly in your journal, on napkins, on bill envelopes.
12. Notes your thoughts in the margins of books you read.
13. Forget to eat, but you finished your article.
14. Are in your “zone” and fail to hear your kids destroying the house.
15. Cannot wait to write the next article or book.
16. Write down notes or ideas while driving.
17. Read at stoplights and feel naked if a book isn’t in your purse.
18. Hear your character’s voices in your head.
19. Get upset when one of your characters is in trouble with no way out.
20. Entertain yourself by writing when the pastor’s sermon is boring.
21. Cannot wait to leave work to get home and write.
22. Plan your article or book while cleaning.
23. Feel irritated when finishing chores because you can’t wait to get to your computer to see what you will say.
24. Love the color red and receiving honest feedback from your critique group.
25. Lose all track of time when writing.
26. Find time to write.
27. Process your thoughts and observations on paper.
28. Write down thoughts of the moment on any paper fragment you can find.
29. Insomnia fills your mind with words.
30. Passion burns in your heart to write.

Let the words of William Wordsworth encourage you, "Fill your paper with the breathings of your heart."