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Writer

For other uses, see Writer (disambiguation) and Wordsmith (disambiguation).
This article is about writers who use words. For writers of music, see Composer.

Writer
Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos, a Spanish writer depicted with the tools of the trade (by Francisco Goya, 1798).
Occupation
Activity sectors
Literature
Description
CompetenciesLanguage proficiency, grammar, literacy
Fields of
employment
Mass media, social media
Related jobs

A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles, genres and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as novels, short stories, monographs, travelogues, plays, screenplays, teleplays, songs, and essays as well as reports, educational material, and news articles that may be of interest to the general public. Writers' works are nowadays published across a wide range of media. Skilled writers who are able to use language to express ideas well, often contribute significantly to the cultural content of a society.[1]

The term "writer" is also used elsewhere in the arts and music, such as songwriter or a screenwriter, but also a stand-alone "writer" typically refers to the creation of written language. Some writers work from an oral tradition.

Writers can produce material across a number of genres, fictional or non-fictional. Other writers use multiple media such as graphics or illustration to enhance the communication of their ideas. Another recent demand has been created by civil and government readers for the work of non-fictional technical writers, whose skills create understandable, interpretive documents of a practical or scientific kind. Some writers may use images (drawing, painting, graphics) or multimedia to augment their writing. In rare instances, creative writers are able to communicate their ideas via music as well as words.[2]

As well as producing their own written works, writers often write about how they write (their writing process);[3] why they write (that is, their motivation);[4] and also comment on the work of other writers (criticism).[5] Writers work professionally or non-professionally, that is, for payment or without payment and may be paid either in advance, or on acceptance, or only after their work is published. Payment is only one of the motivations of writers and many are not paid for their work.[citation needed]

The term writer has been used as a synonym of author, although the latter term has a somewhat broader meaning and is used to convey legal responsibility for a piece of writing, even if its composition is anonymous, unknown or collaborative. Author most often refers to the writer of a book.[6]

  1. ^ Magill, Frank N. (1974). Cyclopedia of World Authors. Vol. I, II, III (revised ed.). Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Salem Press. pp. 1–1973. [A compilation of the bibliographies and short biographies of notable authors up to 1974.]
  2. ^ Nobel prize winner Rabindranath Tagore is an example.
  3. ^ Nicolson, Adam (2011). When God Spoke English: The Making of the King James Bible. London: Harper Press. ISBN 978-0-00-743100-7.
  4. ^ See, for example, Will Blythe, ed. (c. 1998). Why I write: thoughts on the practice of fiction. Boston: Little, Brown. ISBN 0316102296.
  5. ^ Jonathan Franzen, for example, criticised John Updike for being "exquisitely preoccupied with his own literary digestive processes ..." and his "lack of interest in the bigger postwar, postmodern, socio-technological picture" Franzen, Jonathan (6 September 2013). "Franzen on Kraus: Footnote 89". The Paris Review (206). Archived from the original on 23 April 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2013.
  6. ^ "Definition of AUTHOR". www.merriam-webster.com. 12 October 2023.

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