The snarky and priggish part of my brain immediately jumps to the "someone who writes" cliche - 'well of course I'm a writer I'm writing this right now'.

However, I am reminded of a quote that my dad told me when I had complained about an essay I was trying to write; "The difference between a good writer and a great one is how long they can sit with the uncomfortable feeling of not having a great idea."

That quote served a particular purpose - to help reassure me when I confided that I couldn't think of a good thesis - but I think, with a little work, it can be an answer to the question at hand.

The fear that writing can hold for me all stems from a place of self-loathing - I do not believe that I am capable of writing well, and therefore I am too scared to see my own inadequacy put on a page in front of my eyes. And, because I've allowed myself to become paralyzed by that fear, I've never been able to consider myself a 'real' writer, whatever that may mean.

Thus, the best answer to this question that I can find is as follows;

"A writer is someone who is willing to fight their own insecurities during their creative process."

This is the first piece that I wrote for this site, and I think that it helps give insight into my motivations for this site. If someone other than me ever comes across this, I hope that it brings you some modicum of insight into whatever rambles go on to populate this website.