Dave Sandel of Low Gravity Ascents posted a tweet this morning that caught my eye: “Still not a writer. Still just a blogger.” I stared at it for a second, processing, and trying to decide what I thought. Is there a difference?
For many, blogging and writing are the same. If you blog, you obviously write, so therefor, you are a writer. It’s like a process of deduction or something, no? Is writing one of those activities where if you do it at all, it counts, regardless of how well or where?
However, it’s not that simple! When I hear the term “writer”, I think of someone that writes for money or writes for highly-recognized sites. You know, someone who does it quasi-professionally and has proper grammar skills and a decent-sized vocabulary. As much as all of the blogging world would like to fall into that category, it just isn’t real. The majority of bloggers don’t make their full-time salary via their blog, and let’s face it: the grammar and writing skills are sometimes lacking. This isn’t a criticism; it’s merely an observation. But that’s the beauty of blogging, right? That you can write what you want, how you want and for whom you want without an editor or managing company hanging over your head. {I’ll be the first to admit that I frequently publish posts without even proof reading them! I would never do that for my editors!}
So, are you a writer? Am I writer? I honestly don’t know! Will always says I’m more qualified in the industry because of my undergrad degree in journalism, but I spent a long time away from the field. I was an associate editor for a magazine for a year before traveling, but I never returned to full-time writing and even now, I merely dabble. I regularly contribute to a few online sites and I have my own section in the fall edition of the print publication of a popular outdoor magazine (more details this September!), but I still question the label.
What makes a writer?
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14 Comments
I am a blogger but not a writer. A blog is opinion based, candid writing of varying length. I feel to be a writer, you have to write unbiased, informational pieces of some length.
You are definitely a writer because of your other writing gigs. 🙂
But what about a person that writes an op. ed piece for a newspaper? That’s all opinion, but it’s definitely their career, you know?
Nice write-up! I only started full time writing this year. I’ve been a contributor to several other sites, writing pieces once a month or adding colorful articles and blog entries but with this new position I’m actually a part of the website. For me a “writer” is someone who puts out pieces that have a permanent effect (new gear reviews, journalistic pieces, how to’s) and the blogging is more personal and in the moment. That’s how I’ve learned to separate the two and keep my blog and my professional opportunities from not crossing over.
I’m neither. I’m just me =)
My definition is the same as yours, Heather.
If all or a substantial amount of your income comes from writing, you’re a writer.
My grammar and vocabulary are typically on par with a writer’s, but since my blog generates virtually $0, I’m most definitely just a blogger. Likewise, I’ve seen writers write worse than me, but they get paid. So…
I’m a wannabe fiction writer, blogging just to keep my hand in. I think in fiction writing the approach is a little different, though, because you have to be willing to do all the work up front before getting paid. When you spend months and months working on a novel, dragging 75,000+ words out of your brain, you definitely feel like a writer. Even if you never make a cent. That said, I haven’t been published yet so I still haven’t worked up the nerve to answer, “What do you do?” with, “I’m a writer.”
Well..I make my living writing (not creative writing but journalist writing) so I guess I’m a writer. But let me tell you–a good editor is worth its weight in gold!
I’d like to take this from a different approach…….
People don’t have to get paid for running to consider themselves a runner. I believe people can assume the title of jobs that can also be classified as hobbies if they feel it in their hearts. There are great writers out there who will probably never get paid for their work, nor will mass amounts of people ever read what they’ve spilled onto paper or posted somewhere in Cyber-land…..but it doesn’t make them any less of a writer.
I agree with this point of view. I writer is someone who sits down to write on a regular basis. A runner is someone who goes for a run on a regular basis. You may not be a good writer or a good runner, but your still get the title of writer or runner.
I’m a writer who has written fiction, non-fiction as well as news articles. You are what the mind believes. I’d like to earn enough to help pay bills, but I’m not there yet. I blog too. Why? I like writing.
I don’t think it’s a matter of getting paid or being published. Nor is it a matter of how well it’s written (many best sellers would be crap and not best sellers at all if not for the Editor). I wrote a screenplay long before I wrote for television, had a blog, or published a book. But, I’ve been a writer for as long as I can remember, I just never referred to myself as one until I got paid for it. I wrote a poem in Kindergarten. I think the distinction is not necessarily in what you DO – because Assistants write for their bosses all the time – but does that make them a writer? For me – a writer is who I AM. I don’t have a degree in Journalism and never went to school for writing. Yet, I can’t imagine a day of my life without writing. In fact, although I’ve self-published three e-books, my first print publication is based on my Twitter timeline. I had no idea I was writing content for a book. I was just tweeting daily and people kept asking me “where’s the book?” I looked up 4 years later and had enough content for SEVERAL books. So are bloggers writers? Yes – even micro-bloggers on Twitter.
I think identifying as a blogger is just a more specific name for what you do; at the root of it, you are writing! As long as your write from the heart, you are a writer (no matter how many or how few readers you have). Blogging is just a medium you use to put your work out there! 🙂
Great discussion starter, btw!
http://www.redwinelipstick.wordpress.com
Really interesting.
For a long time I’d go out of my way to describe Modern Hiker as a hiking WEB SITE, not a blog, because the terms “blog” and “blogger” implied it was a little hobby – something I didn’t take seriously. I think most of the hand-wringing that comes with this stems from old media’s traditionally slow adoption of the new hotness … but I think That Writing Chic has the right attitude – the difference isn’t where you’re writing, it’s how you’re writing.
I also have been writing since I had the motor skills to hold a pencil – short stories, poems, plays, sketch comedy, TV shows, hiking write-ups, network promos, and everything in between. If you paint with words and care about the craft, you’re a writer – it doesn’t matter if you’re scribbling in moleskines or logging into a WordPress admin panel.
Saying “because you write, you’re a writer!” sounds similar to when I tell my fourth graders “you’re all scientists!” because they just wrote a hypothesis. I agree with you, there’s an element of professionalism that simply isn’t required in blogging. I think it’s good practice writing, but not the same as doing it professionally (from what I understand about that). I often don’t proofread either – when I do, I always miss stuff anyway! If I make a major mistake a family member always texts me to point it out 🙂