I Write Therefore I Am

...a writer. I think.

So often I read interviews with published authors who claim that we writers write simply because we need to. That there is a hunger deep within us that can only be satisfied when we put pen to paper, or nowadays, fingers to keyboard. And - though I'm certain they didn't feel this way when they were struggling with query letters and rejections - that it matters not whether we ever see our work in print.

We write for ourselves. Because we have something to say. Or in my case, because it's the only way to get the voices in my head to stop bugging me.

But which comes first, the author or his published work?

Are we an author merely because we've finished a piece of work? Or must we wait until our baby is deemed worthy by an agent and a publisher before we can call ourselves writers?

Is not an actor an actor, with no credits to his name? Is not an artist an artist even when only appreciated posthumously?