Are you a writer or an author?
Great post at
Dean Wesley Smith on Writer vs Author.
— A Writer is a person who writes. — An Author is a person who has written. — A Writer is always focused on the story they are writing at the moment, always focused on the story coming next to write. — A Writer is always focused on the future. — An Author is always focused on what they have written. — An Author is always focused into the past. — A Writer is a person who writes the next story. — An Author is a person who spends their time promoting their last story. — A Writer gets feedback from the simple act of writing and finishing stories. — An Author must get feedback from external sources such as reviews, sales, promotions, editors, workshops, and so on.
And some final thoughts from Dean:
Each person must decide why they write. Is it to be published and get acclaim? Then you are more than likely an Author. If you write because you love to tell stories, love the fear and the joy and the excitement of entertaining yourself while telling stories, then you are more than likely a Writer.
That's cool. I never thought of it that way. Long live writers!
ReplyDeleteI write because it's been fun to connect to other readers and writers. But I've not thought about why that is important to me - and I really do think it's because I love to tell stories. I read some of my stories and just get a kick out of them! :) (Now, I hope others get a kick out of them too which will translate to sales eventually too, lol.)
ReplyDeleteIs it sad that I'm both?
ReplyDeletelol, I think the difference is that some people rest on their laurels and think that publishing a book is an end in itself - an "event" that should last in significance. Sort of like going around saying you graduated from high school and insisting that others call you a Graduate (no reference to Dustin Hoffman intended). Yes you authored a number of books, but you are a writer because you continue to write and tell stories.
ReplyDelete