Defining Who Is A Writer

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Defining Who Is A Writer

By Eric George
Jan. 12, 2005

After a day in which I did not quite manage my daily target of 2000 words before I run out of steam, I scrolled through Useless Knowledge to see what the great and good of the world are debating. And one of the topics that seems to be very 'hot' is the attempt to define who is entitled to use the title 'writer'.

That seems a strange thing to argue about. A bit like arguing who is entitled to call themselves a football fan. My first reaction was to say that if a person thinks he/she is a writer, then he/she is a writer. End of argument.

But I suppose all those fired up people must be arguing about something serious, so I thought a bit harder on the topic. I don't think that being 'published' is a safe definiton for a variety of reasons. One is that you immediately get into arguments about whether (for instance) PublishAmerica counts as a publisher.

Another important argument concerns what publishers actually get printed and sold. They will publish the dullest musing of a baseball star (as provided by a cooperative moulder of the greaat man's prose) long before they will look at the efforts of a budding Shakespeare. Publishers are in the business of selling books, and they make no judgement of the contents beyond 'Will it sell?' (I wonder if a collection of my kitten's paw prints will get further than my books? Don't answer... please.)

Clearly a typist who copies out a book, or a translator or an editor are not 'writing'. The writing has gone on before and has to do with an act of creation. A 'writer' produces a text that is significantly original, and that's about all there is to say about his/her role.

Of course there are good writers, lots more who are not so good (I think I'm probably in this group), and some who are bad by any measure. There are also writers who annoy by writing in poor English, badly spelt and with erratic punctuation. Some of this is just laziness, but if their work is substantially original, then they are writers.

Writing is a club that anyone can join, and calling yourself a writer does not add any prestige to your name. The Club of Successful Writers is another matter - that is much harder to join.

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About the author: Eric lives in tropical Queensland and writes books - some naughty, some nice - that can be found through Renaissance eBooks (renebooks.com) He reads widely and when he is not thinking about lunch, worries about the state of the world.

Email: ericge@westnet.com.au

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