Sometime during the week, something pretty amazing happened. I don’t know when, exactly, but I do know when I recognized it.

After the last session, we sat around and talked. Two other pro writers showed up and joined the conversation. At one point, we were talking about the traffic in the Seattle area, and I said, “I don’t have to worry about the traffic, since I’m a writer and I never have to leave my basement.”

Now, if you know me, You know I’ve said nearly that same thing many times in the past. About 10 seconds after making the comment, I stopped and said, “Woah – I said ‘I’m a writer.'” Here’s the deal. Prior to the workshop, I would have said, “I’m a programmer.”

Sometime last week, a switch in my brain got tripped and I now identify myself as a writer before anything else.