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To be an author, you need to have some understanding of yourself. Even on the unconscious level, you need to be sure of who you are in order to put pen to paper and create. This requires creating an author identity that might differ from the one we show outside of that world. For example, in Do I Need to Use a Dragon?, my author identity comes through as a lot more confident and relaxed than what I’m like in most other aspects of my life. You can probably tell from my Saturday goal posts that I’m typically rather pessimistic and twitchy. Yet, I shed that for a better version of myself when I tackle writing. Not sure if this makes me sound crazy. Best to just move onto the questions.
- Does your author identity differ from your non-author one?
- How do you maintain a unique author voice and identity?
- How would you describe yourself as an author using a single word? (Yeah, I’m being cruel on this one. Going to have to think real hard.)
Legends of Windemere 
1. The way I write is how I am. I’m not sure whether it comes across that way or not.
2. This question is difficult for me to answer, because I have written different things, particularly under my given name. I try not to write anything that is against my beliefs. Prayer and journaling help me focus. Rewriting helps me to get the initial “fake bits” off until the writing seems to genuinely reflect who I am.
3. Learning.
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Never thought about the fake bits issue. That’s an interesting way to look at the rewrite system.
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Yeah, I can’t say what I want to say right off the bat. I have to warm up to it. This goes for fiction and nonfiction.
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Like beating impurities out of a sword.
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1) Does your author identity differ from your non-author one?
Writing isn’t something I try to create a mystique about. My author identity is part of my total identity, not separate from it. If that makes sense.
2) How do you maintain a unique author voice and identity?
By being myself. I don’t try to do a performance as an author. But now I’m wondering if maybe I should?
3) How would you describe yourself as an author using a single word?
Dogged persistence. (I know that’s two words, but it’s one attribute.)
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It’s interesting how I hear many people talk about having a separate author identity. I wonder if that’s mostly with new, starting out authors.
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Great post Charles. And very timely as I jump back into my author identity. Here are my responses.
1) Does your author identity differ from your non-author one?
I think my author identity is as apolitical as possible. My beliefs and politics might sneak through some of the cracks in my narrative, but I try not to weigh in one way or another as an author. I don’t want to alienate (potential) readers. If I had sold as many books as a Stephen King or JK Rowling, I might be able to let my views be heard, but, at the end of the day, readers want to be entertained, not preached to.
2) How do you maintain a unique author voice and identity?
I’m not sure I’m all that unique. I do tend to jump around in different genres with my writing, but some will tell me that is more destructive than unique. I’m trying to find my niche with readers that like the way I tell stories.
3) How would you describe yourself as an author using a single word?
Evolving
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Welcome back to the author arena. It is a challenge to avoid our own politics and beliefs slipping through.
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Pingback: A great post that encourages self-reflection as an author. | Author Don Massenzio
As writers and bloggers I think we expose our real selves more than most people, but of course on line we also create a persona.
All the writers I meet here seem to be unique, different backgrounds and what they write etc. Am I unique? As an Indie author not in the public eye, I have no editor, publisher or agent telling me what to be or do.
A single word? Imaginative.
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I’m with you on the indie author thing. Always thought it would be easier to stand out and feel unique. The second half feels true, but not the first.
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1) My author identity is more curious. Often I find how I think about the world when I write about the world.
2) I practice being myself, not always successfully.
3) adaptable.
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That’s interesting how you’re more curious as an author. I guess it makes sense since authors have to create and think about fictional worlds and characters so much.
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So many great thoughts here!! 😊😊😊😊
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The responses have been fun.
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curiosity is linked with empathy, which make a writer worth reading.
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Didn’t know that. Makes sense that those would be connected though.
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My author identity does differ on the surface. It’s important to remember that we’re complicated beings. We have many different images we project. Work and family often see different sides, but they’re always us. I don’t know that I am unique, exactly. I try to be true to myself in my projects, and they come across as something I produced in my voice. One word: Dedicated.
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Humans do tend to be multifaceted. Funny how people don’t realize this.
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I don’t think my author voice is very different from who I am. Some of my characters have different views from those I hold, though.
I write in 2 different genres: fantasy and historical. My voice is probably slightly different, but I don’t make a conscious effort to make it so.
One word! That’s hard. I think possibly ‘accurate’ would be the best. I like to ensure that whatever I imagine is scientifically feasible. I always have an explanation as to how magic works.
E.g. Invisibility spells bend light rays around the subject instead of bouncing of it.
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I’ve always been iffy on making magic 100% scientifically feasible. Having there be some mystery or law breaking always felt necessary. Otherwise, it came off as restrained and not as magical.
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