![]() Many published writers are never introduced as “an author” (though they may be said to have “authored” a given book. The term is used loosely through society, but always suggests something “more” than writer, but publication isn’t it. “Author” acquired social-literary cachet from both auctor and authority and was the way (some) writers and (some) critics distinguished between those who wrote serious, important, worthy-to-be-read work and those who wrote ephemeral, undistinguished, “merely commercial/entertaining/whatever slam was in style” work…the subset of “writers” you could safely call “scribblers” or “hacks.” When photography and book covers met, “authors” were the ones in glam photos (which for men might be the tweed jacket and pipe and appropriate dog, and for women might be the backlit hairdo, the pearl necklace or wispy scarf) and “writers” had a blurb on their covers–if they had covers–and not a photo. At one period, it was considered proper for those who wrote stories to rewrite old stories rather than make up new ones…which is, in many cases, what Shakespeare did…took an old story, adapted it for the stage, and made it much better than it had ever been.) But not all authors were writers: “He was the author of the Marshall Plan” doesn’t mean that he published a book titled “The Marshall Plan” but that the concept was his, and he was directly involved in its development–“author” in the sense of “originator.” In older literature, the “auctor” was the one who first presented a story (and thus became the source material for later storytellers, who reworked it. “Author” comes from the Latin word “auctor” (one who enlarges, originates) and that comes from the Latin word “augere” (to increase.) Authority and authorize come from the same root. It can help to go back to the words’ roots to find out why. If “writer” meant “unpublished” and “author” meant “published”, writers’ organizations whose membership requirements included being published wouldn’t be named (for example) “Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America.” The distinction is social, and like most socially defined terms, slippery. You become an author when your books are published, but if your writings never publish, you remain a writer. An author must have a specific skill set but writer’s skill is suited to the job required.ģ. To be an author, the idea of your writing must be your own and you must get your work published.Ģ. ![]() And a write must have the capability to understand and convey an idea correctly to the readers.ġ. To be an author one must have the capability to think and express the thoughts. So only the author is always associated with that particular idea or work. This ensures that nobody else steals or uses the original idea as it is. So if you write a lot, but never get them published and out to the public, you remain a writer.Īn author can get the work copyrighted under the copyright laws. And when your work is published you get to be known as the author of the work. If your work is unpublished, and even if the idea is purely your own, you will still be considered as the person who wrote the work. When it comes to writing books, a person becomes an author only when the book is published. Only a skilled writer is capable of portraying ideas, events, and pictures through the mere use of words. These skills can be obtained through constant writing and may be an inborn talent in some. Writing skills include the command over the language and the expressiveness with the play of words. But an author must have exceptional writing skills to be dominant in the field. An author may be excused if the writing skills are not that competent. The reason being that an author has to create, develop, and communicate an idea, while a writer has to only communicate somebody else’s idea. Being a writer is at times easier than being an author. And if you are penning down someone else’s ideas or stories, you will be known as the writer of the work. If you are writing a novel or short story based on a plot developed by self, you get to be known as the author of the novel. Though the difference may not seem to be much, depending on the situation, the difference can be more. The ideas of thoughts of another are being written. But in cases like biographies, the writer is not the author. So the author is expressing his own thoughts and ideas. In case of an autobiography, a person writes about the own life. At times, the author and writer can be the same person. A writer is a person who writes a book, article, or any literary piece, while an author is essentially the person who originates the idea, plot, or content of the work being written. But indeed both these words are quite different. We often use the words author and writer interchangeably.
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