An author
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oggbashan
Dying Truth seeker
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It depends how you define your terms.
An author is someone who creates something written, from the label on a bottle of sauce through the writer of a letter to a friend and the initiator of a software manual to a lengthy work of fiction. All are "authors". All are creators.
My definition is that an author creates something original and new.
An author of fiction is only one variety of author. I was an 'author' throughout most of my working life even if the works I created were non-fiction, technical and highly specialised. Those works were created for money and some made money for my employers, unlike my unpaid and amateur writing of erotica (OK 100 dollars Australian is 'pay').
Og
An author is someone who creates something written, from the label on a bottle of sauce through the writer of a letter to a friend and the initiator of a software manual to a lengthy work of fiction. All are "authors". All are creators.
My definition is that an author creates something original and new.
An author of fiction is only one variety of author. I was an 'author' throughout most of my working life even if the works I created were non-fiction, technical and highly specialised. Those works were created for money and some made money for my employers, unlike my unpaid and amateur writing of erotica (OK 100 dollars Australian is 'pay').
Og
rgraham666
Literotica Guru
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Christ, ask me an easy one why don'tya?
Like what is the true nature of the universe.
I don't know the answer to that one either.
Like what is the true nature of the universe.
I don't know the answer to that one either.
Dr_Strabismus
Fuckit, it's just atoms
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Oh, pretty much anyone who hangs out here qualifies. Also writing stories helps.CharleyH said:
cheerful_deviant
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CharleyH said:
An author is not whatever I am.
Joe Wordsworth
Logician
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the writer and direct architect of an article, book, or other publication including fiction and non-fiction, for a general or specialized audience
. . .. ... .....
Not a pretty or fantastical or self-gratifying definition, but it appears to be sufficiently complete.
. . .. ... .....
Not a pretty or fantastical or self-gratifying definition, but it appears to be sufficiently complete.
FallingToFly
Political Stance: Porn
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Meeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!
Wherher anyone else believes it or not, i know my own abilities and soul.
I see everything in terms of story, everything in terms of plot, character, description and details. My life is a continual novel in progress. Everything I do I do in terms of how can I write this?
I write extremely well. Whether it's erotica or not, I write from the heart and soul, and for better or worse, what I write grabs the emotions of the reader and makes them LIVE what I write.
That is what makes a good author, not how many copies they sell or how much they get paid per word. Making a reader a live what your characters live is the ultimate test of skill, and at that, I excel.
Wherher anyone else believes it or not, i know my own abilities and soul.
I see everything in terms of story, everything in terms of plot, character, description and details. My life is a continual novel in progress. Everything I do I do in terms of how can I write this?
I write extremely well. Whether it's erotica or not, I write from the heart and soul, and for better or worse, what I write grabs the emotions of the reader and makes them LIVE what I write.
That is what makes a good author, not how many copies they sell or how much they get paid per word. Making a reader a live what your characters live is the ultimate test of skill, and at that, I excel.
Joe Wordsworth
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I dunno, I think how many copies says a /lot/ about author--and if many, I'm inclined to call them good.FallingToFly said:
Grushenka
Literotica Guru
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A few thoughts:
Films tell stories, who are their authors? Not solely the script writer, no one pays to read the scripts aside from students or buffs.
Many writers do not tell stories, are they authors?
Homer did not write [down] his stories, was he an author?
Many songs (popular, folk, opera) tell stories. Is the songwriter an author? What are the lyrics without the music?
Many poems do not tell stories, are their writers authors?
Films tell stories, who are their authors? Not solely the script writer, no one pays to read the scripts aside from students or buffs.
Many writers do not tell stories, are they authors?
Homer did not write [down] his stories, was he an author?
Many songs (popular, folk, opera) tell stories. Is the songwriter an author? What are the lyrics without the music?
Many poems do not tell stories, are their writers authors?
drksideofthemoon
West of the moon. . .
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Me...I'm just a hack...
Liar
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Just because you ask questions, here are some answers.
Probably just my subjective view, but since I'm right, here goes.
Probably just my subjective view, but since I'm right, here goes.
Grushenka said:A few thoughts:
Films tell stories, who are their authors? Not solely the script writer, no one pays to read the scripts aside from students or buffs.
Yes, the script writer. The script has an audience, if not a big one. Directors and cast, for starters. And if they alter the script (aka artistic intepretation) they become the co-authors of the movie.
Many writers do not tell stories, are they authors?
Yes. Authors make prose. Prose is not only fiction, (fiction is one kind of prose). Fact books like popular science and biographies are prose too.
Homer did not write [down] his stories, was he an author?
Tough one, but I'd say yes. He "wrote" it in the most common media of his time, the memory of his listeners.
Many songs (popular, folk, opera) tell stories. Is the songwriter an author? What are the lyrics without the music?
Song lyric writer, poet, script writer, novelist... where do you draw the lite for what's authorly stuff or not? I'd say lyrics and poetry go together as two variations of the same thing. But is it prose? (what authors write) Probably not.
Many poems do not tell stories, are their writers authors?
See answer above.
Minervous
Really Experienced
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From The Free Dictionary:
au·thor (ôthr)
n.
1.
.....a. The writer of a book, article, or other text.
.....b. One who practices writing as a profession.
2. One who writes or constructs an electronic document or system, such as a website.
3. An originator or creator, as of a theory or plan.
4. Author God.
I qualify as 1a, perhaps 1b (depending on interpretation), sometimes as 3, but definitely not 4. n.
1.
.....a. The writer of a book, article, or other text.
.....b. One who practices writing as a profession.
2. One who writes or constructs an electronic document or system, such as a website.
3. An originator or creator, as of a theory or plan.
4. Author God.
Liar
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So after writing the text above, you're an author? (assuming you hadn't written anytrhing else before)Minervous said:
How about a diary?
How about a post-it note saying "Dinner at 5"?
How about a line in a chat room?
How about your signature on a bank slip?
"Text" is such a fuzzy bastard. I think I'll stick to prose.
I write advertising copy for a living. And magazine articles. Reviews, news and a column. I guess I'm by some definition the "author" of those, but if anyone asks me, I'm a writer, or people will ask me what books I've written.
Minervous
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Yes. I don't see that you could dispute that I am the author of that post.Liar said:
Yes. By your own definition, a diary is typically prose. See, for example, The Diary of Anaïs Nin. Surely Ms. Nin, even if she had never published a novel, would be considered an author?Liar said:
But aren't these examples prose? They certainly aren't poetry.Liar said:How about a post-it note saying "Dinner at 5"?
How about a line in a chat room?
How about your signature on a bank slip?
"Text" is such a fuzzy bastard. I think I'll stick to prose.
prose (prz)
n.
1. Ordinary speech or writing, without metrical structure.
2. Commonplace expression or quality.
3. Roman Catholic Church A hymn of irregular meter sung before the Gospel.
"Prose" is nearly as fuzzy a concept as "text" in my opinion. So by your definition, someone who writes a thank you note to their grandmother is an "author", but William Butler Yeats (if all he ever wrote was poetry) would not be? That seems a silly conclusion.
n.
1. Ordinary speech or writing, without metrical structure.
2. Commonplace expression or quality.
3. Roman Catholic Church A hymn of irregular meter sung before the Gospel.
That statements "I am an author" and "I am a writer" would seem to me to have similar content. These are statements most people would interpret as statements about one's occupation. "I'm a writer" would, I think, prompt the same (or an equivalent) question: "How interesting. What have you written?"Liar said:
But you're right. Grocery lists would not count here. But neither does a simple statement like "an author creates prose".
Liar
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Hmm, that's not the definition I had in mind. I guess I assumed that my native word for it was a direct translation. "Primarily describing text in a literary context", is more like the defitition I had in mind. But true, "prose" is not the word. I wonder if there is an English word for it. none that I know.Minervous said:
Minervous
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I think in litcrit, "text" is normally used to mean something like that. Charley may know. I think she reads more criticism than I do.Liar said:
The word "prose" in English usually means something like "writing that is not poetry".
I think.
