Eh. That's another thing about this: commitment is what has made me fairly good at writing. I wrote a million or so words over a couple of decades learning to write essays. Still learning. But you have to write to get good at writing. Half the world says they want to be writers. What's stopping them? Nothing. But they don't write.
That's the miracle secret to being a writer: you write. That's it. And you, @talltim, you write. Therefore you are a writer. Just keep going.
Thanks for the reply. In retrospect it looked like a fishing expedition with me wearing a bright yellow slicker, but I didn't really mean it like that.
I just like your style, and I clearly have things to learn. Appreciate you sharing so I can.
Finding people like you to talk with, and to read, is one of the best things about this platform.
I'm blown away as well. For a non-native speaker, I guess it might take much more. @christof, are you a novel writer?
Yes. I write novels. Nine, so far. I've never published one.