I was sitting at my desk when my daily writing practice prompt beckoned me to no longer ignore it. I have become quite good at ignoring all manner of reminders. Some have called this the digital age, and although my career has been deeply entrenched within the digital sphere, I find it quite annoying. The information overload is taxing on my nerves. The beeps. The LEDs. The droning fan of electronics. The overtly warm touch of computers, tablets, and phones. I don’t believe I would complain too much if they all stopped working one day. Yes, I get the irony of writing this on a computer, with a fanciful keyboard flashing its lights with every keypress; that, however, is not the point.
I pulled up this site with the intent of writing something, anything, just to get some practice. As I hit the enter key and stared at my browser’s address bar, I really didn’t like what I saw, MichaelHernandezAuthor.com. How presumptuous could I be? I have no published works. Well, nothing printed on dead trees since I was a child. But is that a requirement to emblazon the title of Author next to your name? Must your work be printed with ink upon a physical medium and a mundane UPC code attached? Is it fair game that the work presented here, regardless of how mediocre or mundane, counts as a published work and thus warrants the title of Author?
If all who write words broadcast across the internet can claim to be an author, does that not devalue the title? Am I an author because I say I am an author, or do you become an author when someone recognizes your work? Damn these LED lights! I have spent my entire career in the software industry, and I would argue that just because you code, that does not mean you are a programmer. The influx of people who flocked to programming jobs after taking a six-week BootCamp course on programming and called themselves a programmer do nothing for me. So, I must argue that writing words will not make you an author.
I think it matters what you do with those words. An author is a conductor weaving together words in a musical tapestry. An author tells a convincing story that a reader can get lost in. An author teaches in a way that the reader does not feel like they are working. If you can write that…if you can cause the reader to lose track of time or put themselves in the shoes of someone so unlike themselves but feel as if they really are a part of the story. Perhaps, maybe, you have earned the title of Author.
Tragic Words 