Editing Writer (section)

{{short description|Person who writes texts}}
{{Other uses|Writer (disambiguation)|Wordsmith (disambiguation)}}
{{About|writers of literature|writers of music|Composer}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2014}}
{{Infobox Occupation
| name= Writer
| image= [[File:Francisco de Goya y Lucientes - Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos.jpg|250px]]
| caption= [[Gaspar Melchor de Jovellanos]], a Spanish writer depicted with the tools of the trade (by [[Francisco Goya]], 1798).
| official_names=
<!------------Details------------------->
| type=
| activity_sector = [[Literature]]
| competencies = [[Language proficiency]], [[grammar]], [[literacy]]
| formation = 
| employment_field = [[Mass media]], [[social media]]
| related_occupation = {{flatlist|
* [[Journalist]]
* [[novelist]]
* [[poet]]
* [[columnist]]
}}
| average_salary=
}}
A '''writer''' is a person who uses [[writing|written words]] in different [[writing style]]s, [[List of writing genres|genre]]s and techniques to communicate ideas, to inspire feelings and emotions, or to entertain. Writers may develop different forms of writing such as [[novel]]s, [[Short story|short stories]], [[monograph]]s, [[Travel literature|travelogues]], [[Play (theatre)|plays]], [[screenplay]]s, [[teleplay]]s, [[song]]s, and [[essay]]s as well as [[report]]s, educational material, and [[Article (publishing)|news articles]] that may be of interest to the [[Public|general public]]. Writers' works are nowadays published across a wide range of [[Mass media|media]]. Skilled writers who are able to use [[language]] to express [[idea]]s well, often contribute significantly to the [[Culture|cultural content]] of a society.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Magill |first1=Frank N.|title=Cyclopedia of World Authors|edition=revised  |volume=I, II, III |year=1974 |publisher=Salem Press |location=Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey |pages=1–1973}} [A compilation of the bibliographies and short biographies of notable authors up to 1974.]</ref>

The term "writer" is also used elsewhere in the arts and music, such as songwriter or a screenwriter, but also a stand-alone "writer" typically refers to the creation of written language. Some writers work from an [[oral tradition]].

Writers can produce material across a number of genres, [[fiction]]al or [[Nonfiction|non-fictional]]. Other writers use multiple media such as graphics or illustration to enhance the communication of their ideas. Another recent demand has been created by civil and government readers for the work of non-fictional technical writers, whose skills create understandable, interpretive documents of a practical or scientific kind. Some writers may use [[image]]s (drawing, painting, graphics) or [[multimedia]] to augment their writing. In rare instances, creative writers are able to communicate their ideas via music as well as words.<ref>Nobel prize winner [[Rabindranath Tagore]] is an example.</ref>

As well as producing their own written works, writers often write about ''how'' they write (their [[writing process]]);<ref name=Nicolson1>{{cite book|last=Nicolson|first=Adam|title=When God Spoke English: The Making of the King James Bible|year=2011|publisher=Harper Press|location=London|isbn=978-0-00-743100-7}}</ref> ''why'' they write (that is, their motivation);<ref name=Blythe>See, for example, {{cite book|title=Why I write: thoughts on the practice of fiction|year=c. 1998|publisher=Little, Brown|location=Boston|isbn=0316102296|editor=Will Blythe|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/whyiwritethought0000unse}}</ref> and also comment on the work of other writers (criticism).<ref>[[Jonathan Franzen]], for example, criticised [[John Updike]] for being "exquisitely preoccupied with his own literary digestive processes ..." and his "lack of interest in the bigger postwar, postmodern, socio-technological picture" {{cite journal|last=Franzen|first=Jonathan|title=Franzen on Kraus: Footnote 89|journal=The Paris Review|date=6 September 2013|issue=206|url=https://medium.com/slush-pile/franzen-on-kraus-footnote-89-92335fb9c2e?postPublishedType=initial|access-date=11 September 2013|archive-date=23 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200423133400/https://medium.com/slush-pile/franzen-on-kraus-footnote-89-92335fb9c2e?postPublishedType=initial|url-status=dead}}</ref> Writers work professionally or non-professionally, that is, for payment or without payment and may be paid either in advance, or on acceptance, or only after their work is published. Payment is only one of the motivations of writers and many are not paid for their work.{{Citation needed|date=May 2022}}

The term ''writer'' has been used as a synonym of ''author'', although the latter term has a somewhat broader meaning and is used to convey legal responsibility for a piece of writing, even if its [[composition (language)|composition]] is anonymous, unknown or collaborative. Author most often refers to the writer of a book.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/author|title=Definition of AUTHOR|website=www.merriam-webster.com|date=12 October 2023 }}</ref>

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