"I'm a writer" vs "I write"

That's exactly it. It's not necessarily that people dont "deserve" the title of writer. It's that you don't want to come off as misleading to people, especially in this day and age. At least in America, people are already very tired of deception and lies, in large part due to Hillary Clinton, so I try to be sensitive to that and not be seen as a liar myself.

 

People also don't like dumbing things down to the level of the least common denominator. The word writer is a broad term, and also an accurate descriptor as it is being used in this conversation by those advocating its use. Do I believe that someone should feel responsible for another person's failure to understand the plain meaning of the word? No, I do not.

 

I think the difference is between calling writing a profession versus anything else. If I call myself a professional writer am I taking another step and saying that I make a living off of my writing? Or is that what you call someone who simply makes money off of writing regardless of whether it is enough for them to live off of or not? There are so many distinctions I think the difference kind of loses meaning if you think about it.

I'm a writer, I'm a professional writer, I'm a published writer, aren't they all slightly different with their own nuances? Or is it really the same thing?

 

Oh for pity's sake. Seriously, are you that obsessed you have to bring your politics up here?

 

There are different nuances. I think when I tell someone I'm a published writer, it is understood that I am talking about being published by someone other than myself (though I'm also self-published, if I were only self-published I'd probably phrase it differently). If you're selling work at a professional rate, you're arguably a professional writer. The SFWA requires, what, three pro-rate sales for membership? You're considered a professional, though no one can live off three short story sales even though that would qualify. If you've sold three stories at a semi-pro rate, I think you're clearly a published writer. I don't think you can say you're a professional writer yet.

 

Yeah even @Steerpike is picky about what titles to give himself. I think writer by it's lonesome just isn't very high up on the ranking. It makes my think aspiring writer is bit redundant.

 

To me, published writer = published by someone other than yourself, and not a vanity publisher
Professional writer = someone who does it for a living--it's their profession

Writer/author I think are much looser.

 

Going back to the OP, I think the best advice I can give is: write. Dithering about whether to call yourself a writer or not strikes me as more of a procrastination device than a useful preoccupation.

Write, and publish, and the world, which is to say, the literary market, will decide if you're a writer or not. You don't really get a vote.

 

This is my fourth and final try.
I swear, after this i'm done. I won't let the idea of this unanswered question eat at me and refuse the notion that, "everything is relative."

Screw all the, "I have to make money off of it" and "My quality isn't there yet" talk.
A writer is a person who, through the use of words, l e t t e r s and this ";" abomination, make a story.

 

Man. You really shouldn't freak with the ";". That guy will seriously eff you up.

 

Take a chill pill. You're not a writer. End of ****ing story.

 

I agree with Selbbin here. I don't really get the point of this post and i think what we can be called is infinite and it's just a frivolous, tedious task to preform.

 

For people who think it is frivolous or trivial, there certainly seems to be a lot of argumentation against people using the word. That's a bit incongruous.

 

I just think we're all writers to an extent, but what titles given by others is pointless. We shouldn't let other people define who we are. As writers, we craft what we want and we have a vision that should be respected. We don't want to be called something we're not or something that we have no place being called. There's just writers/authors and professional writers/authors. That's it.

I know I'm coming off as inapposite but i'm just not computing the correlation on why this thread was really created. It leads to aimless quarreling among writers of different fields and demographics.

 

@Fullmetal Xeno writing is solitary, people often are apprehensive about their craft, or want validation from an outside source.

I agree that we shouldn't let others determine when we can call ourselves a writer, but that flies in the face of some of the viewpoints here that say you're only a writer when the correct someone else says so.

 

I respect the thoughts and opinions of other writers here, i just feel like this just degrades or demeans certain writers who see themselves a certain way and have yet to showcase that to us. That's the worst thing for someone trying to find their voice. Everybody's different and that's what makes our world vivacious but we don't want to outcast anyone. That happens on accident and too often.

 

Having an opinion you felt like posting is not mutually exclusive of thinking it is frivolous or trivial. I think it's interesting how people think of themselves.

We all have opinions on the topic. Makes sense, this is a writers' forum. That doesn't mean I care more than curiosity what your opinion is @Steerpike.

I'm writing a book. Maybe just to annoy a few people I'll start calling myself a writer sooner than I had intended to. Does anyone care?

 

I'm perfectly fine with you calling yourself a writer, i just hate labels given to people without consent. You're not committing any transgressions there.

 

But that's narrowly defining the forum by a word form. What are witers called that write on a writing forum?

 

Simply clacking your fingers on a keyboard doesn't make you a typist.

 

Here comes the next round of debating