Friday, August 12, 2016

Author vs. Writer


AUTHOR

A person who originates an idea, plot, or content of the work being written.

WRITER

A person who writes a book, article, or any literary piece.

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Essentially, a person could very well demand both labels, such as when writing an autobiography. Basically, as an author, a person inherently is a writer as well, as long as he/she is the one also penning the work; however, if this person hands his/her idea over to another person, he/she would not own the rights to claim the title of writer as well. For a separation argument, here is a simple view to adopt when searching for which word to utter or scribble:

Author = original ideas

Writer = recorder of unoriginal ideas (unless an author is recording his/her original ideas)

Why the hubbub concerning such a minor discrepancy? The answer: Simply because we cannot forget our language has distinct differences, each word holds its own power and beauty, and if, as a culture, we are not careful, Newspeak will become the language of the masses. 

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