So. When do you start calling yourself “a writer?”, as in, “I’m a writer, please go easy on me with the bad news.”
When you finish a novel?
When you spend a certain amount of time doing it?
When you decide it’s what you want to do?
When you have an agent?
Upon publication of your first novel?
And what about “author?”
Have you seen this man? says
When you’ve finished whatever you start out to write!
jrbutcher says
A writer has a finished book.
An Author has received a check for their book.
Ulysses says
I think it’s a personal thing.
I consider myself a writer because that’s what I do when I can (and sometimes when I can’t). HOWEVER I don’t call myself a writer where people can hear me outside meetings of Writers Anonymous.
It just sounds so… pathetically pretentious to me when someone calls themselves a writer in a conversation UNLESS they are, in fact, doing it professionally with the majority of their professional time. I find people who introduce themselves as writers (while lacking publishing credentials) sound as though they’re trying to convince me, and themselves, that they’re significant. They’re trying to impress me.
You’re breathing. That’s enough to make you significant. If you’re impressive, you won’t have to tell me you are. I’ll get it.
For the record, I’m a technical trainer because that’s my profession.
On the other hand, I also consider myself an author because I’ve had a small amount of work published for money (well, Canadian money).
So I guess I could call myself an author without calling myself a writer… which is a bit like calling yourself a steak when you’ve never called yourself a cow.
Michael Pickett says
I’ve wondered about that same questions myself. I’ve been writing since I was about eight years old, but I’ve never had anything published (I’m twenty-five now). I feel uncomfortable calling myself a writer unless I’m in the right context. If I’m talking about how I value literature, or how I look at the world, or a particular idea or work of art, I give that opinion in the context of being a writer, or someone who thinks critically about writing and does it on a daily basis. Otherwise, I don’t go around telling people that I’m a writer. That could be because I think it sounds pretentious, or because I want to avoid embarrassment. If I say I’m a writer, I can imagine someone asking me what I’ve written and I don’t have any titles to tell him because the stuff I have written is only available on my computer, so far. I guess that when I get published and am making a living at writing, I’ll be able to say, “I’m a writer,” the other people would say, “I’m a lawyer,” or, “I’m a doctor,” or, “I’m a school teacher.” That is, in the context of their profession.
Kirk says
Very interesting read (comments included). I’ve never claimed to be a writer, and didn’t like it when other people would refer to me as such (“Oh, I didn’t know you were a writer!”).
However, when you get strict on the actual meaning, then I AM a writer, and an aspiring author. So now it’ll bother me to be referred to as an author, which hasn’t happened yet anyways.
Nancy Coffelt says
It took me a few years of showing and selling my artwork in galleries to feel confident enough to call myself an artist. It also took me a few years after getting my books published to feel comfortable calling myself a writer. Now after 25 years of being a working artist and 17 years of having my books published, I prefer the title “Successfully Unemployed”.
Marc Vun Kannon says
I would say ‘author’ is a term more related to fiction, since the author is the authority on the world. They built it, their statements about it are prescriptive. A writer of non-fiction is using his statements descriptively.
When you’re chiseling in stone or dipping a quill into expensive ink and marking up expensive paper, you need to be careful. So a writer is someone who has crafted his words to the point where he thinks they are worthy of the effort. Speaking about something is easy, writing about it is harder, writing about it well is harder yet. While a person is a writer the minute he tries to explain his subject to himself in written form, his claim to the title is stronger when he has explained it to someone else.
Anonymous says
Just for kicks, I looked both terms up in the OED.
Writer: One who writes, compiles, or produces a literary composition; the composer of a book or treatise; a literary man or author.
Author: One who sets forth written statements; the composer or writer of a treatise or book. (Now often used to include authoress.)
Ignoring the gender-bias of these definitions, they seem to be synonyms, and the emphasis in both appears to be that one has completed a written work. I am the author of this post, which I have written. I am also the writer of this post, which I have authored. Stinking OED.
Mira says
Okay, I got another one for you. (I promise I won’t do this all day.) But I really think you can’t evaluate your own art based on the publishing industry.
Another example: Kafka
From Wikipedia, the source of all things good and true:
Kafka’s writing attracted little attention until after his death. During his lifetime, he published only a few short stories…..
I don’t know. I sort of think Kafka was a writer and an author before he died.
Here was another interesting bit:
“Prior to his death, Kafka wrote to his friend and literary executor Max Brod: “Dearest Max, my last request: Everything I leave behind me … in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others’), sketches, and so on, [is] to be burned unread.”
What if his friend had burned everything? I still think Kafka would be a writer and an author.
Not one I especially like, but that’s not the point, right?
Elissa M says
You’re a writer as soon as you can hold a pencil and form letters with it.
You’re an author when someone pays you for the right to reproduce your scribblings.
Scott says
In my career as a print journalist, I wrote somewhere in the neighborhood of 2,500 By Lined, published articles. Does that make me an author? Does it matter that the vast majority of those articles were published in smalltown weekly newspapers? If they had been published at a major metropolitan daily, would that make me more legit?
Are authors that self-publish or use small press less legit? What scale do you have to hit to be a “real” author?
Håkan Tendell says
There was a time when I felt embarrassed about calling myself a writer. In the summer of 2006 I decided to dedicate my evenings and weekends to get a manuscript published. In the autumn I started to taste these humongous words “I’m a writer”. It felt strange in my mouth. I couldn’t say it with confidence until the summer of 2007. And even though I probably have a long journey of struggling ahead of me, I am convinced that I one day will succeed with a manuscript (yes, I am immortal). So when a writer has been published, how did the book actually come alive? Well, somebody wrote it. Who wrote it? The writer. And if the writer was a debutant? Still: The writer. It’s as simple as that. A painter paints a painting. A baker bakes a bread. A writer writes a book. I write – therefore I am (a writer).
What’s an author? I don’t know. I’m from Sweden.
Håkan Tendell
Kathleen says
I’m with the few who believe that you’re a writer if you write. If you play basketball with your church’s team, then you’re a basketball player… you’re just not a PROFESSIONAL basketball player. I’d make the same distinction. If you’re not getting paid for your writing, you’re not a professional writer, but you’re still a writer. (If you write enough and enjoy writing enough that you consider yourself one.) When I wrote and self-published a home decorating ezine for 25,000 opt-in subscribers, I don’t see why it would have been strange to consider myself a writer. No-one else wrote all that!
And author? Again… I’m in the minority who consider that as soon as you’ve actually finished a story, you’re an author. You have a completed work. That work had to be authored by someone. You are that work’s author… therefore you ARE an author. Of course, when I call myself an author, I do feel a responsibility to not mislead people into thinking that I’m more than I am… so I call myself an aspiring author, or an author seeking publication, or a barely-published author (if I feel like referring to the short story I have published with an e-pub).
I guess I don’t get as hung up on terms and the “right” to use them as some people do. It’s easy enough to delineate the difference by doing a roll-call of authors who have sold novels, or who have sold novels to NY… or who have sold novels or short stories anywhere, or have any of their works published through any means whatsoever. ::shrugs::
Amber Lynn Argyle says
A writer is born. An good writer (ie. author) is developed.
Samuel says
I guess it’s different for everyone, but I’ve written a novel and am agented, and still don’t call myself a writer. If asked, I’ll invariably say, ‘I’m trying to write fiction,’ but I never say I’m a writer. I can’t see that changing when (the self-belief!) I’m published. Maybe once I’ve got a few books under my belt I may feel comfortable with the writer-tag, but until then I’ll stick to, ‘I’m trying to write fiction.’ Writing’s a long-haul thing. Coetzee’s a writer. Stephen King’s a writer. I’m an apprentice.
Melissa says
Oooh, interesting question.
I like to think we’re defined by our actions, and I’ve been writing since I was little, so I’ve always thought of myself as a writer.
I won’t consider myself an author until I’ve been published, but when I traveled seven hours to a little town to do some research, the locals helping me out kept referring to me as an author. I mentioned to one of them that I was a writer, not an author, and she said if I was going to this amount of trouble to write a book, then I was an author.
Anonymous says
I became a writer when I figured out how to make those big block letters on lined paper.
I became a professional writer when I got paid to write.
I became an author when a publishing company released my first book.
Nathan says
I didn’t use “Writer” until I started getting published in magazines. I adopted “Author” when my first book was published.
Anonymous says
Kathleen we think alike. I believe when we emphasize the importance of differentiating the terms we are being arrogant or (in a lot of the cases here)humble; so to each his own.
Francesca says
I think it’s interesting how (in a capitalist society) we wait for payment to justify our activity. I struggle with this too. To some extent, we feel legitimized by payment. Until then, there’s this sneaking, uncomfortable sense that we’re somehow indulging in a hobby.
I don’t AGREE with this. I just believe it to be true that when someone asks “What do you do?” the real question is “What are you paid to do?”
So when someone asks me “What do you do, Francesca?” I fix the poor person with a steely glare and respond “Do you mean, how do I spend the bulk of my time or do you mean, what employment do I have or do you mean what do I most love doing?”
It’s all about identity, baby. BIG question. Big. Right to the heart of who we are and why.
zoewinters says
I think a writer is someone who writes. Just like a painter is someone who paints. One’s level of notoriety doesn’t come into play.
Author, on the other hand has often been a word only conferred to those with a published work. And as self publishing has risen, a published work that isn’t published by the author, lol.
But the dictionary doesn’t give such special status to the word author. (and since before the rise of commercial publishing, most work was published by the author and the author’s family, I wonder if we are going to decide those people weren’t real authors now.)
I understand this is a hard road for people, and when you get traditionally published after that long road you want a special label, but I don’t think “author” can be so exclusive.
We’re word people, and we should stick with the dictionary, IMO. And not make up our own meanings.
au⋅thor
/ˈɔθər/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [aw-ther] Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun
1. a person who writes a novel, poem, essay, etc.; the composer of a literary work, as distinguished from a compiler, translator, editor, or copyist.
Travis Erwin says
I’d say you are a writer when the first word hits the paper, or computer screen, but you’re not an author until your name appears on something you got paid for.
The other Olga says
when an immigration officer asks what are you planning to do in Ireland and you think “drink beer” is a bad answer.
Ann Somerville says
You’re a writer when you write. You’re an author when you become a pretentious sod about it.
ericanaone says
As a full-time journalist who spends many hours outside work writing fiction, I call myself a “writer.” The hours alone justify it. If you were to ping me at all kinds of times during the day and night and ask what I’m doing, the answer is “writing,” more often than not. I expect that’s true for many of us. I think “writer” is a noun that goes to a person who spends time acting out the verb.
As for “author,” I can’t imagine ever calling myself that. “Author” seems like a title that comes from others. It doesn’t seem worth losing sleep over, because it distracts from that all-important verb.
Marie says
I could never bring myself to say I was a writer until my agent had sold my novel. Until then–even though I’d had short stories published–I couldn’t say I was a writer with any degree of comfort.
Now I feel comfortable saying that I am a writer. Until then, my feeling was: “I’d like to be a writer, and I’ve had some stories published, and am trying to finish a novel.”
Needless to say, I really hated it when people asked me what I was doing with my life.
I would never say that I am an author.
I dance and I take dance class, but I would never say that I am a dancer. I like to dance. But there is a huge distinction between my sorry ass in class, and the people who go to auditions and rehearse and compete and are what I would consider true dancers.
Having said all that, though, these are the definitions that I am comfortable with for myself. It is up to everyone else to decide how they want to define themselves. If someone has self-published a book, and wants to call herself an author, I say go ahead.
MT says
As Rilke put it: it is enough to feel that one could live without writing, then one must not attempt it at all.
A writer is one who must create. For her, writing springs from necessity. She affirms: I must.
lotusgirl says
As long as I’m writing, I’m a writer. I won’t be an author until I have published a book for real. (not pod.)
Anonymous says
If you write, you’re a writer. Author, novelist, etc. are just words, not ranks.
In regards to self published writers, those who look down on self publishing must acknowledge that it comes from a need for acceptance of one’s work from the community at large.
Deciding to not call someone an author just because some floundering and outmoded corporations will not invest in his or her work is silly if it does not include other factors…like how many copies has this person sold?
If you are a published “author”, and I am a self published “writer”, and I have sold twice as many copies, and made three times as much money, are you still going to tell me I’m not an author?
I too look down on self publishing for the same reason…a need for acknowledgement. But I see that as a character flaw, and a logical fallacy. One day, I will get over it. At that point I will self publish my novels using POD technology and market them myself. Until then, I’m caught in the need to “make it” in a dying industry, just like the rest of us.
Mandajuice says
I didn’t start calling myself a writer until I owed taxes on my blog income and had to put SOMETHING next to my signature on the 1040. I won’t call myself an author until I sell something longer than a blog post.
Lupina says
If you picked vegetables from your garden a few nights a week, would you define yourself as a vegetable picker?
I think a certain amount of investment in time, effort, craft have to be present before you can define yourself as either a writer or an author. And then come the qualifying distinctions: aspiring or professional, trade published or self-published, technical or literary…and on and on.
I started calling myself a writer when a newspaper started paying me to do that for the majority of my time. I began saying I was an author after my first book was published.
I’ll call myself a space monkey after I’ve had my first orbit around the planet.
Jen Turner says
To me, author and writer are interchangable terms. You can author a letter or you can write a letter. Either way, the end result is still a letter.
In this day and age, I think the important question is: What does it mean to have a book “published for real”?
In my opinion, I don’t care if a book is traditionally published, self published, e-published, or hand bound and sold on the street by a bell ringing author/writer, if perfect strangers are willing to spend their hard earned cash on said book – that baby is “published for real”. Especially in this economy!
Anonymous says
“In my opinion, I don’t care if a book is traditionally published, self published, e-published, or hand bound and sold on the street by a bell ringing author/writer, if perfect strangers are willing to spend their hard earned cash on said book – that baby is “published for real”. Especially in this economy!”
Hear hear!
Catalina says
Just like when you poll the audient in Who Wants to Be Millionaire, it seems like everyone here came to the same concensus about what a writer is, but I’d like to talk about the author definition.
With the economy being what it is, it is becoming harder to make the metamorphasis from writer to author. Nathan pointed out last week that publishers are tightening their belts, and hence writers need to be even more en pointe, but at the same time, it is usually only the published writers who are getting those contracts.
People choose to self publish for several reasons. Some do not have the time to go through the conventional publishing routine. Others writers only want to leave their story for their children to read. And for some, self publishing is the only way to fulfill their dream.
My bottom line, give the self published authors a break. (And, I did say authors.) Just as there are many types of lawyers: the seedy kind, the scuzzy kind, the shady kind. There are also some jems in the crowd.
Melissa says
Coming out as a ‘writer’ was hard for me, mainly because once you say you’re a writer, people want to know if you’re published. Most people have no idea how hard it is to get published, self-published doesn’t count. I guess I started calling myself a writer when I started attending workshops, taking classes, mailing queries. If you’ve written a book or two, you are a writer, whether you’ve been published or not. Why not ask why writers don’t get much respect? People think nothing of interrupting me during the day because I’m ‘just writing’. I’ve had to lay down the law, turn the cell off and stop reading things like this blog during certain hours.
j h woodyatt says
I think you get to call yourself a writer when someone who doesn’t know you personally is interested in reading your work. It’s easy to become a writer.
At the moment, I think you only get to call yourself an author when a retail bookseller puts a price tag on your book and makes a hardcopy of it available for purchase. I suspect this definition will need to be adjusted [in the straightforward way] as e-books become more commercially viable.
Rick Daley says
I began to think of myself as a writer when I realized I had some form of reading audience. I don’t think formal publication or a paycheck determines if you are a writer or not.
I will think of myself as an author when my novel has been published (self published or otherwise) and has a reading audience.
denese says
My situation is a little different. I have been published in scholarly journals. So, I think that by definition I’m an author. However, that doesn’t make me a writer, even though it is a hobby at nights and on weekends. So, I’m caught betwixt and between.
Anonymous says
Nathan…you rock the blogs. I don’t see this many comments anywhere else!
Anonymous says
Sorry, I’m with the people who don’t consider (most) self-published writers to be published authors. Most self-published writers are printed, not published, in my opinion. Those who have gone through traditional channels have been vetted and edited (and not by a paid service). In lieu of vetting and editing, I’ll take sales. If you can sell 1000+ copies of your self-published work, I’ll personally consider you published. Until then, you’re printed.
Sorry if that’s elitest, but there HAS to be a method of separating the chaff from the wheat. Not everyone SHOULD be published. Just because you have worked hard doesn’t mean you “deserve it.” Anyone can be printed. Only the good should be published.
Deirdre Mundy says
I started calling myself a writer when I sold pieces to magazines and got actual checks in the mail….
The fact that a completely objective authority thought my work was worth PAYING for made all the difference…
I’ll call myself an ‘author’ when a similarly objective authority pays me for one of my novels! =)
Min says
I started calling myself a writer after I finished my first novel. I’ll hold off on “author” at least until I have a book contract.
reader says
I will be a “writer” when I can make a living from writing. Not “a” book sold in a nice deal, but a real living.
Until then, I consider myself a hack.
Newbee says
These are the definitions of these terms at http://www.dictionary.com .
Author
1.a person who writes a novel, poem, essay, etc.; the composer of a literary work, as distinguished from a compiler, translator, editor, or copyist.
Writer
1.a person engaged in writing books, articles, stories, etc., esp. as an occupation or profession; an author or journalist.
By these terms you can see how people can use or misuse them in numerous ways. I think people in general, view these terms differently. I find others here view the terms in an “aspiring” way. Some feel that they have made it to that “status” already, others do not. I don’t think all people who make “a living” writing books feel they are either writers or authors. This is a personal thing in my opinion.
Heidi C. Vlach says
I don’t think payment or publication has anything to do with being a writer or author. They’re nice, yes, and they indicate whether you’re a successful writer/author/whatever. But if you’re honestly working to hone your craft, I think you get the titles. Intent is what makes the difference between sculpture and playing in the mud.
I’m unpublished, and I consider myself an author. I write regularly, with intent to tell a stylistically solid story and eventually get the world to read it. And I have a complete, standard-length novel manuscript under my belt (which is what seperates an author from a writer, in my mind). I’m just not a successful author yet, that’s all!
Anonymous says
The definition of published from multiple sources is:
“To prepare and issue (printed material) for public distribution or sale.”
Self publishing definitely falls into this category. So would technical guides at a company that are distributed to customers or regulations created for and distributed by the DOD or military, etc.
Some think self-publishing is easier – thats an opinion – its not a definition.
Here’s my thoughts on Writer (same as a lot of others):
Writer = you write
Author = you’re published
Joe Iriarte says
People have already said what I think, but I’ll weigh in just to pad the numbers, 😉
A writer is one who writes. Published or not, shown it to your friends or not. I think it’s worthwhile to have a word to honor those who put in the time without receiving any of the reward.
How often? Is once enough? I don’t think so, actually. I think it needs to be something you do with regularity before you can make that word part of the definition of you. If you wrote a short story in college twenty years ago and nothing since, then your writing is not a characteristic that defines you. If you’re engaged in writing pretty much every week, to put an arbitrary cut-off on it. (And engaged can mean doing research, if you have shown that eventually you do get around to writing. Likewise, doing revisions counts.)
If it’s been a year since you actually wrote anything at all, you might want to think about getting that card punched again.
An author, says I, is one who has published his or her writing. “Published” means, again, IMNSHO, that you received money for your writing, as opposed to you having paid for the honor. That’s not the technical definition of honor, but, again, I think it’s worthwhile to recognize the accomplishments of those who actually have produced work good enough that someone thought it was worth investing in. Further, I think we could differentiate between semi-pro author, professional author, and full-time author. Or not.
That being said, I don’t tend to tell people I’m a writer, because it sounds like hubris, even though it’s not. Having appeared to brag, I’d be embarrassed when I had to admit that I’m a writer whose work has not yet been published. So I mention it only if it’s really relevant, and then only with a lot of self-deprecation.
But I wouldn’t look down on other unpublished writers calling themselves writers.
Susan Dawson-Cook says
I think anyone who enjoys writing and engages in it on a regular basis qualifies. The process alone makes you a writer and the achievements that go along with selling articles or books makes it a career.
Scotty says
Francesca, I agree. Being defined by what we’re “worth” is a particular dilemma. But more than just being lucky or ambitious, a writer is someone who has taken it very seriously and paid their dues. Some get it out of the gate, but most who get paid for it have worked at it with some real respect for the craft. Someone who’s doing it on a lark or because it’s fun can call themselves whatever they want, I guess.
And one of the “anons” likened 1,000 self-published copies sold as a benchmark for legitimacy. I like that, actually. Gives me a goal to shoot for.
Haven’t said it in a while, so I will now: excellent blog, Nathan.
Joe Iriarte says
Brain fart:
“that’s not the technical definition of honor” SHOULD read “that’s not the technical definition of author.”