What Makes a Writer a Writer?

[Zen]

Simple question, with a possibly long winded question.

What makes a writer a writer? Is it their ideas? Their prose? Is it the way they can tell a story?

Throw in links, throw in quotes from professors or famous authors. I don't care! It's a discussion people!

DISCUSS!

​

 

[Malakyee]

Their ability to create scenery and emotion. A story is as only good as its words.

 

[Malkuthe Highwind]

I think what makes a writer a writer is his/her ability to weave words into this masterful tapestry that keeps the reader entranced, that evokes emotions and reactions in the reader. I agree with Malak. Anyone can tell a story, but not everyone can write one. To further my point, anyone can think up the worlds that writers think up(just that we feel more liberated to do so), but not everyone can put them to words that actually make sense and make you see the world.

... I vote that writers be called "wordsmiths" from now on! Who's with me?

 

[etondmt]

To put this simply a writer is someone who writes. That is all that is needed to become a writer. No trick or trade here just write! Of course we have great story tellers but now that leads off into something else but simply put a writer is someone who writes.

 

[GreenLady]

I think anyone who writes can be a writer, but I think to be a good, or even great writer, there has to be the ability to relate to the writer. To capture emotions and thought seamlessly. A great writer needs to not only capture, but inspire.

That's my thought.

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

In my opinion writers write to say something. It goes beyond merely putting the words on a page, telling a story, or taking the reader away to fantastic lands. Honestly, I don't think anyone can be a writer. Anyone can write -even badly-but not just anyone can be a writer. My English teacher in high school said "happy people don't write." When he first said that I was shocked and offended. I feel wonderful when I'm writing! It wasn't until recently I understood what he meant. Writers do not write only for their readers or even solely for themselves, they write to express the world around them. You never read about characters who are perfect with looks and wealth who do not either go through by the end of that book/short story or went through and are now better than before. That's just how the world is. Whether or not people notice this stories are not merely tales to escape into- they kind of make us look at our world differently. Writers write in order to change our view of the world. This is how I see it and this does not go for every writer out there but, seriously, you can't say you don't look at things just a little differently after reading a good book. This quote also fits here kind of nicely I think.

"The difference between fiction and reality? Fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy

 

[Jester]

A miserable little pile of words.

Seriously, everything has a plot point where things get difficult. If you can type some words with an underlining drive or problem and solve it, you're a writer, regardless of your level or length of the story. Words are how you express it, so anything you write down could be considered a form of writing. Doing it more and more only makes you better at it, just like any other skill.

 

[Villamvihar]

Honestly, I have no idea how one should define a writer. Does the act of writing an essay make one a writer? Technically, from the roots of the word and the way my strange logic interprets it, a writer is just a person who writes anything. However, people do not usually call the child writing his homework an essay. Rather, people associate a writer with telling a story, but even then, there are distinctions. People who tell a story through a poem are called poets, yet they too, are writers, because they are also playing with the same tool as a writer. Maybe they are not using the same expressions, but regardless of that fact, the object in their hand remains the same, a quill that is designed to leave words behind that stay with us for a long time.

Maybe that is what defines being a writer; creating a story which withstands the sand of time. Maybe being a writer is just as simple as putting one's thoughts into words on paper. Maybe being a writer means using a certain kind of format to tell the stories one can tell. There are just so many ways to be a writer that it would be impossible to list them all, so I am not even going to bother. But there is one thing for certain, and that is, that being a writer is a subjective thing. The favourite writer of a person may be considered the bane of all books by another, or a writer may not be recognised in certain circles despite their clearly staggering achievements. Therefore, it is troublesome to define what makes us writers, it is bordlerline impossible to tell where the thin line lies between a person who writes and a true writer.

I think that an easy way to define being a writer would be the following: "A writer has the ability to put their freely flowing creativity and imagination into terms that others can enjoy and understand." That is only my opinion of course, and I think that every single human being on this planet has a different definition of just what is fitting of a writer.