What makes a writer?

The answer is simple enough, a writer writes.
     It doesn't matter if you write a little or if you write a lot. You could write a get well card or just write in a get well card. You don't even have to be a good writer, just write something. Before you know it words form into paragraphs, paragraphs compile to make pages and pages stack up until you have a story. If the story keeps growing, sooner or later you have a novel. The main thing to remember is that you just have to keep pounding the keys. You never give up.
     In January I had tendon repair surgery on my right arm. I was off work for ten weeks and for five of those I wasn't allowed to lift anything. But, I was able to type. I had started writing a book in 2006 but had never really approached the project in earnest. From the beginning I always had the hope that it might see print one day, then eventually make its way to the silver screen. But I allowed myself to get side tracked. There was always something else to do, always something else that demanded my attention. Something needed to be fixed, a tv show needed to be watched, a game that needed to be played. I'm quite an accomplished procrastinator. I've always wanted to start a procrastinators club, but I never seemed to find the time to do it.
     You're not a writer if you don't write. Yes, yes, master of the obvious, can you get to the point? The point is, it took being laid up for me to see that it was time to stop procrastinating. I found an online fiction writing course. It was a free course and it was only for a few weeks, but it was the spark I needed to stimulate the muse. I started pounding out 2000 plus words a day. Seeing the good progress I was making stimulated me even more. Even after I went back to work and it was more difficult to find time to write, the end was in sight and that was even more stimulating.
     By the end of May I finally typed THE END, and that's when the real work began. I began self editing, beginning with formatting. After five revisions I handed it to an editor. I never realized I could make so many obvious mistakes. I was the poster child for the phrase, 'you can't see the forest for the trees.'  Finally, after four months of revisions, we felt we had a finished project.
     One of the things I learned in the fiction writing course was that you should write something every day. It doesn't matter if it's profound, just write something. That's what a writer does.