Are you a writer? When is one a writer? Or, what does it take to be a writer? Why write at all for that matter? In a broad sense, a person who writes is a writer and he may be writing out of a strong , if not compelling, need to write per se. Some of us write because we tend to think more than speak.

Having said that, there is, in truth, a writer in all of us in the sense that all of us have something to say or a story to tell. The difference between a writer and a non-writer is that the former had put it down in writing and, consequently, had been absolved from being merely a thinker and orator. Won't you write from now onwards if not already doing so? (And, hey, nobody says that it has to be a full-time arrangement.)

Written words offer a certain permanence (at least in print if not in our minds as time marches on) whereas spoken words are half a dime a dozen --- make that a truckload full! In writing one has the time and induced discipline to polish the words and sentences for good flow and grammar. Spoken words, on the other hand, often come after a moment of thought and may be labeled as off-the-cuff, so to speak. Could there be any truth in that some can speak faster than thought as in lightning flashes before thunder claps.

Writing allows me to pour out my thoughts, emptying natural memory space. The thoughts and ideas can then find a certain permanence outside of me. Otherwise, my mind will remain bogged down by too many dated thoughts, stifling the germination of new vistas.

In writing one's thoughts are refined, that is, made more coherent and concise. One can then understand the original intent or meaning in a fuller sense. At the same time the writing process in itself allows us to develop our ideas more deeply. Or take the argument in jest that, anatomically-speaking, the distance from the brain is longer for the hand than the mouth. What is written would in a sense take a 'longer' time to firm up and would arguably be more cogent. (Arguable because speech, in fact, has the absolute advantage of accompanying body language in a face-to-face situation and the comparative advantage of an emotionally-tainted tone.)