Honestly, I'm a writer.

Once, a dear friend told me that I was born a writer. I had come to Newcastle University to do the MA in Creative Writing, and since day one, doubts and questions about this new life had haunted me. From her perspective, being a writer is so intricately knitted into what you are, that you just come with it. Call it talent, tendency or maybe luck; certainly there seems to be something in a person's nature that inclines you this way or the other. Her words still make me think. The first year of my MA (I'm doing it part-time) is over, and I'm still trying to figure out what makes me a writer.

As a kid, I was constantly encouraged to read. My wonderful parents used to take us to the Banco del Libro (Book's Bank), where we would browse through a colorful selection of glossy children books for hours. Even earlier than that, they used to take us to hear story-tellers perform at the Teresa Carreño, Caracas' most important theatre.

With this background, and maybe hinted by my name, is no wonder that I was fascinated by fantasy and story-telling, wonderful worlds with lots of things happening. Reading has made me a writer. This is not a matter of the egg or the chicken. Without reading, I wouldn't be a writer. But I would bet that's mostly the way for many of my fellows in crime.

Reading Janet Fitch's 10 rules for writers, I discovered another element that makes me a writer. I'm obsessed with honesty. Not only the concept itself, but with the extreme, almost itchy, need to be specific about telling the truth, leaving nothing behind. As a conversation companion, I get that might be fastidious (yeah, fancy word huh?). As a writer, that honesty is essential. 'That’s why writing is a lot of work, and demands unflinching honesty.' (Janet Fitch, July 13th, 2010).

In my relationship with my work, I find that the most difficult part of honesty - being honest to yourself - needs to be applied constantly. After going through a six-month-long self-examination, the process of seeing into myself daily and identifying what makes me a writer, who am I as a such, what's my work about, themes, style, etc; I feel I'm now that much closer to getting a full, defined picture. To help me on my way, I've started a new project: Diary of a writer in the making. More on that later.