Now, before many of you start sending the “No you’re not! Keep at it!” posts (which are always welcome) that’s not what I’m getting at. Though hopefully I have your attention.

I’m taking an online class through a Yahoo Group. This one is on Voice: theme, tone, etc. and how we incorporate all that into our writing.

Now the exercises are useful. Don’t get me wrong. The instructor knows what she’s talking about. That’s all good. What makes me a “bad” writer is the fact that I don’t think about that kind of thing. I don’t write stories with a “message”. I don’t think about what my “theme” is going to be in the story. Maybe I should. Would it make me a better writer to think about those things more actively?

But all those literary things we always had to pull out of readings in English class in school? Yeah, I don’t put those in on purpose. I try to tell (I hope) an entertaining story. I try not to have an agenda when I write — unless there’s a theme to the anthology. If I’m actively working toward a specific THEME/tone/voice, does that effort take away from getting the story out and on paper?

Does that make me a bad writer? A normal writer? Or is it what makes me a “writer” and not an “Author”? I’m curious.