To be or not to be, what makes someone a writer?

What makes someone a writer over everything else they can be? Since September I have been doing a creative writing degree and more and more I have come across the debate of just what makes a someone a writer or even able to write?

While I have only been doing this course in writing for small amount of time I have found that writing is something that I am naturally able to do. Even since I was little I enjoyed telling stories and making up my own, although I have not always picked a pen and paper and wrote them down.

Nowadays I am able to pick up my pen and off the top of my head be able to create something, usually with little difficulty, this leads on to the point I am trying to make. When talking to my friends and family about my writing experiences and my enjoyment of writing in general some have been quick to say that this is something beyond their ability or would find difficult to do.

At first I was quick to reply and say that anyone could be a writer but the more I think of it the more I am not so sure. Different from being an astronaut or martial artist (requiring years of training to become) writing is something that the vast majority of people can do instantly and without thinking. So why is it that not everyone considers themselves a writer?

When thinking about this I realised it is not a difficult concept to understand, while I can kick a football I am by no means a footballer but if I chose to do nothing but play football I probably would consider myself one.

This is something I have chosen to be and therefore it is me, I am a writer.