You Tell Me. Writer? or Author?

Is a Writer an Author?

Although the titles are similar, and have a few things in common, one being that they both write normally for pay, there is a distinct difference further in Webster’s definitions.

Both are writers, who write books, stories, and articles professionally for pay, normally.

A writer can be as simple as someone able to write and has written something or is engaged in literary composition as a profession, an author, a writer of novels. A writer can be professionally engaged in a wide range of occupations from insurance to operation manuals. A writer is also a title of rank in India (not quite the definition we are talking about).

An author, though a writer, is the beginner, a first mover of anything, a creator, an originator. An author composes or writes books and is distinguished from and editor, translator or compiler. Yet, Webster’s also includes two additional definitions: the editor of a periodical and an informant.

I have often thought of a writer as someone writing for a living, but never fully engaging in completion of novels or full-sized books. And for a long time, I thought of an author as someone published. However, I now realized that upon putting The End at the end of a novel qualifies for the title Author, whether or not we are published. If we are published, then we get the honor of adding to that title with, Published Author.

You tell me. What are your ideas on this? Know of any great links we can tack to the bulletin boards?


Lucy