I want to be a paperback writer

  What do you do? It's part of that polite conversation people make when they are first introduced.
 I'd respond, "I am a journalist."
 I wish I had counted the number of times the person I had just met would reply, "I have always fancied myself a writer." If every wannabe author had given me a dollar, I would be writing this blog entry on my own private island.
 You see, everybody who learns how to read also learns how to write.
 But just because you are a reader doesn't mean you are a writer.
 Sure, you can write things: shopping lists, thank you notes, checks.
 But being a writer is a calling. You don't fancy yourself a writer. You are a writer.  Because you have to write. You have no choice.
 Everybody has at least one story to tell. It's their own personal story.
 If you fancy yourself a writer, then write. Do it for you. Nobody else even has to read it.