What Is A Fledgling Writer?

In the online writing community, you'll find an abundance of terminology flying around. Discovery Writers. Sprinting. Zero draft. Died on sub. Spicy books.

Many are standard, like WIP standing for "Work in Progress." Other things might go by multiple names; Pantsers and Discovery Writers, for instance, can both refer to writers who like to write their first draft without a heavily detailed outline, seeing where inspiration takes their writing.

And sometimes, you end up inventing your own lingo.

There are a handful of terms you may see me using on this blog that are more or less my own contributions to the greater writing community lexicon. For example, I've taken to calling my roughest drafts Proof Of Concept drafts because their primary objective is seeing the potential of a new story idea, knowing it can be fine-tuned later on.

But there's one phrase I've been using in blog posts for much longer than Proof Of Concept drafts but haven't written about extensively.

Until now.

Enter, the fledgling writer.

New writers go by many nicknames within the writing community. Baby writers. Newbies. Aspiring writers.

With so many nicknames in the mix, why add another?

I doubt I'm the one to coin "fledgling writer," but I guess my use of it partially stems from my feelings towards "aspiring writers." The word "aspiring" often relates to wanting to be something that you aren't yet. To me and others, it can sometimes feel like it invalidates newer writers or deems them to be "not real writers" because they aren't as experienced as their peers.

But as Epictetus once put it, "if you want to be a writer, write." Simple as that. Being a writer isn't entirely about how many books you've published, but the act of telling those stories, as only you can. Putting ink on the page. It's a journey of smaller milestones and gradual growth. Coming into your own, in your own time.

As long as you're writing, you are a writer—even on the days you recharge and regroup instead.

My stance towards "aspiring writers" only solidified in the months after I started this blog, and I found myself wanting an alternative when talking about newer writers. Eventually, that ended up being "fledgling writer."

"Fledgling" most often refers to a bird that has recently grown feathers and is learning to fly but hasn't gotten the hang of it yet. When we talk about being pushed out of the nest, we're talking about fledglings.

It's not that different from a writer learning to write. They have the tools but are still learning how to use them effectively and honing their skills. They're fledglings.

A bird is no less of a bird while it is learning how to fly. And a writer is no less of a writer while they are learning how to write.