WRITER THREAD: Are you a bogus author?
- Thread starter CharleyH
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Rumple Foreskin
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Dictionary.com - a person who writes a novel, poem, essay, etc.; the composer of a literary work, as distinguished from a compiler, translator, editor, or copyist.CharleyH said:What is an author compared to a writer?
“I'm a commercial writer, not an "author." Margaret Mitchell was an author. She wrote one book.” Mickey Spillane
Either one will do for me.
Rumple Foreskin
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Here's how I've always seen it:CharleyH said:What is an author compared to a writer?
Authors write literary prose. Novels, short stories, memoirs, stuff like that.
Writers write other kinds of prose. Articles, information pieces, instruction manuals, debate columns, political speeches, school books, commersial copy, that kinda stuff.
I'm a bogus author, but a pro writer.
Jenny_Jackson
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Authors are writers. Writers are not necessarily Authors. The difference is in the creative sense of what is written. A newpaper reporter is a writer but is he creating anything?
My thought
JJ
My thought
JJ
oggbashan
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Jenny_Jackson said:Authors are writers. Writers are not necessarily Authors. The difference is in the creative sense of what is written. A newpaper reporter is a writer but is he creating anything?
My thought
JJ
One of my daughters is a reporter. The difference between reports she writes and reports that other reporters write about the same event tend to convince me that a reporter IS participating in creation of the record of the event.
Comparing what the same daily newspapers say about a single event is an instructive exercise. Apart from the editorial policy and the newspaper's assumed readership, the difference that a single reporter can make to the perception of what occurred can be significant.
I used to be a writer of instruction manuals, training manuals, directives, interpretations of the impact of legislation etc. There was a significant amount of creation in much of that work.
Is the author of a history or any other non-fiction work not an author?
The only definition of a writer that I would accept as not being an author would be the military writer who records dictated orders in writing - and then only when doing just that. If the 'writer' is keeping a log of activities or actions then there is a selection process involved and at that point the writer becomes an author. If you read reports of 18th century naval battles as published at the time the creative process is obvious. The writer has made the event real to the readers in detail yet must have selected and chosen what to write and how to present it.
Back to the original post. What is a bogus author? Perhaps someone who does not create. The only bogus author I would recognise would be a plagarist who only changes the name at the start of the work.
Og
rgraham666
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Man, Charley. And I thought I was a shit disturber.
CharleyH said:What is an author compared to a writer?
I am both.
I am a technical writer; that means I write non-fiction documents for pay. It's my job. It's not something I would choose to write on my own in my free time because I enjoy it; I write because I'm good at it and I can get paid to do so.
I am an author in that I have penned a few stories here and there. I consider my non-fiction to be works of art <cough> created by an author.
This question is like asking what the difference is between a painter and an artist. A painter can be someone who paints houses, while an artist is more often thought of as someone who creates works of art, i.e. Monet, Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Picasso, etc.
As for a bogus author... hmmm... someone who claims to write stories but doesn't?
BlackShanglan
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CharleyH said:What is an author compared to a writer?
About 1600 pages earlier in my dictionary.
I've probably read too much Raymond Williams, but to me the writer/author distinction feels like one of those socially constructed barriers designed to preserve privilege sort of things. If you push me into a corner I suppose that I will eventually concede that writing out a grocery list does not make one an author, but really, I prefer to let people call themselves anything they like. I'm happy with an author being anyone who feels that he or she is one.
Shanglan
cheerful_deviant
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For myself, I vote none of the above:
I'm a hack.
I'm a hack.
rgraham666
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cheerful_deviant said:For myself, I vote none of the above:
I'm a hack.
Works for me.
FallingToFly
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I write.
That's all I can really say- I write. I don't give two pancake flips if you call me an author or a writer, or anything else that comes to mind. I have no use for the label- I just write.
Eventually, I'll be published, more than what I have been already. It still won't change my opinion.
I write.
Everything else is perception.
That's all I can really say- I write. I don't give two pancake flips if you call me an author or a writer, or anything else that comes to mind. I have no use for the label- I just write.
Eventually, I'll be published, more than what I have been already. It still won't change my opinion.
I write.
Everything else is perception.
G
Guest
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me too! me too!cheerful_deviant said:For myself, I vote none of the above:
I'm a hack.
a hack story teller.
(but i love your non-author/writer stories)
