Author, Writer, Aspiring Author or Aspiring Writer, Which Are You?

By Patricia de Hemricourt

There are a lot of posts lately revolving around defining the difference between an author and a writer. As the advent of e-publishing and the subsequent success of self-publishing has enabled a vast number of people to either publish their writings or consider writing and publish, this question is indeed increasingly relevant.

Surprisingly enough, or so it seems at first glance,  these posts about defining authors and writers never go back to check what a dictionary say about it, so let’s have a look.

 According to Webster:

Definition of AUTHOR

1 a : one that originates or creates : source <software authors> <film authors> <the author of this crime>
b capitalized : god

2 : the writer of a literary work (as a book)

Definition of WRITER

one that writes: as
a : author
b : one who writes stock options

According to Cambridge dictionary

 author

Definition: a writer of a book, article, etc., or a person whose main job is writing books

writer

Definition: a person who writes articles, books, etc., to be published

 According to Wikipedia

 An author is broadly defined as “the person who originates or gives existence to anything” and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.

A writer is a person who produces literature or nonfiction, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, essays, articles, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images.
A writer’s output sometimes contributes to the cultural content of a society, and a society may value his or her work as art.
Broadly, a writer is anyone who writes, especially one who writes professionally. The term writer is customarily used as a synonym of author, although the latter term has a somewhat broader meaning.

It seems that dictionaries are as confused as the rest of us as to the meaning of these two words and what makes a person who writes a writer or an author.

For Webster’s followers, they had better beware with capital letters as the wrong use of a capital might translate into an internment into a mental facility since they would equate themselves to God J.

Cambridge aficionados who have already one or more book published might want to think twice before calling themselves an author if their main job is not writing, though it is not quite clear. Actually, Cambridge authorize any blog owner writing his own posts as an author or a writer, even if they have never even written the first word of a book. So according to Cambridge dictionary, writing this post would make me both a writer and an author, and every journalist on this planet is both as well.

As for Wikipedia, they seem convinced that “writer” is a term better suited for book writers than “author”.

If dictionaries and encyclopedias are unable to agree on the meaning of thee words, it is no wonder that so many bloggers are asking that question, nor is it so surprising that no-one refers to dictionaries to get a proper answer . In addition, the terms aspiring writer and aspiring author are gaining popularity. Yet, to be aspiring to something, one has to first define what it is they are aspiring to become.

Many self defined aspiring writers or aspiring writers have already written one or more books but have not yet published them, and are shy of removing the aspiring as they seem of the opinion they will fully qualify only once published.

So, what do you think?