Poll: Are you a writer or a novelist?

[Prawn]

I tell people I am a riter, but they can't hear the homonym.

[seun]

Writer. No question about it.

[Provrb1810meggy]

A novelist is a writer...so both.

[c2ckim]

Yeah that's true but a writer doesn't necessarily have to be a novelist. I like to write novels but don't have a clue about writing fillers or articles

[Zolah]

Novelist and author both sound like slightly different things to me - a novelist is a swanky person who gets short-listed for the Man Booker Prize, and an author is a guy who goes on talk shows and sells How To manuals (probably about how to get rich and famous in ten days). Personally, I like the term 'scribbler' - but some people think that's derogatory. So I'll just stick with writer.

[Willowmound]

I'm a writer. Everything else sounds pretentious :)

[oneoftwo]

I write.
(I'm not a writer.)

[beezle]

A wannabe writer.

[Carrie in PA]

Writer. Although "columnist" and "novelist" work, too. Writer is all-encompassing.

[Saundra Julian]

Is there a third choice?

[sharpierae]

Honestly? I say, "I write." subject, verb.

It's something I do. Labels make me itch, never felt comfortable in one. Writer sounds nice though. Maybe one day I can wear it proudly.
xxxrae

[KiwiChick]

I don't know. I just write.

[Variant Frequencies]

Writer. I do short stories and essays, too.

[Jamesaritchie]

Writer. Novels are only a small part of what I write. If it can be done with words, I've probably tried it.

[Kharisma]

Funny how life works. I was driving into work and I was going to post this exact same question (actually I was goign to do writer/novelist/author) but still how funny.

I think I am leaning on novelist. :)

[maestrowork]

When I introduce myself, I say, "I'm a writer. And I write novels."

However, in my bio (which is sales tool), I write: "Award-winning novelist..." or author -- "Writer" just doesn't sound right.

[veinglory]

I rarely have any reason to describe myself in either way eveb except in short bio material where I sometimes use writer and sometimes author.

[Angela]

I'm a writer. I write a lot of things, so writer pretty much covers it. :D

[LloydBrown]

Word pimp.

[LeeFlower]

I say writer. When I think of "Novelists," I think of a particular author's 'how dare you call my book about wizards a fantasy novel; fantasy novels are all garbage and my book is deep social commentary that transcends genre boundaries' diatribes.

[RG570]

Going by the above description, I'd have to say I'm an aspiring novelist snob.

But really, I don't like saying "I am a ___", because I don't like defining people based on tasks they perform.

[blackbird]

I made peace with the fact that I'm a novelist long ago. Everything I write turns into a novel, whether I intend it to or not. I am notoriously unable to write a succesful short story. I've tried--oh how I've tried! I still struggle with it because I would love to have more publishing credentials in the big-name literary magazines. It's very hard to just put a new novel "out there" with no name that is recognizable, and most writers build their credentials with journal publications. I've tried sending self-contained excerpts of my novels to the journals that accept them, but evidently the excerpts are never quite "self-contained" enough, as one editor recently wrote me back and said "This story feels too much like a novel; there's just too much going on."

I know that a lot of novelists have taken this route. You'll often see something in the acknowledgements like, "Chapter so-and-so first appeared, in slightly altered form, in The Atlantic Monthly as (insert title)." I guess the real question to ask is, just how "altered" is slightly altered?
I guess it might behoove me to do some research in comparison and contrast.

Sorry for getting off-topic, but anyway, I was pretty much branded a novelist in my MFA program when even the shortest works I turned in tended to be over 30 pages in length. My instructor said it's nothing to be ashamed of. She said some of us are simply born to be story writers, and some of us are born to be novelists. I felt a lot better after that conversation. I think a lot of it has to do with how a writer looks at a story. Short story writers have the ability to hone in on the single moment, the single piece that is an intricate part of the whole. Novelists, on the other hand, want to stand back and look at the whole, bigger picture. Or in other words, short story writers (and poets) are more concerned with the parts, and the novelist with the whole, if that makes sense. But good writing, of course, is really all about both--it's simply a matter of what we choose to leave in, and to leave out.

[Tienci]

Definitely a writer- always been.

[SeanDSchaffer]

Both, with the word 'Aspiring' added beforehand for authenticity.

[Sesselja]

Writer. Or journalist. Depends who I'm talking to.

[Evaine]

Writer.

David Gerrold ran a writing class at a Star Trek convention I went to years ago, and he said, very emphatically, that everyone in that room was a writer - maybe not a published writer, but definitely a writer.

And I always think that "novelist" sounds a bit posh.

[allion]

"Novelist" sounds too exclusive, as if all you ever do is write novels.

"Writer" brings in everything, from greeting cards to books to articles to whatever you can get paid for.

JMO.

Karen

[Thomma Lyn]

Text Wrestler.

Seriously, though I write novels, I refer to myself simply as "a writer" when asked. On my blog, though, I call myself a "novelist." So I guess I'm a writer when I speak and a novelist when I write. ;)

[nicegrrl]

As of Monday, I am a writer. I am not yet a novelist and I may never become one either, but I am a writer.

[Chisem]

Journalist/writer who aspires to have a novel-length fiction work published. IF you reject journalist, then I prefer author over writer, since a writer can be someone who writes non-fiction for magazines, etc.
Please note your question is in the "novel" section of AWWC.

[Becky Writes]

I'm a writer.

[aadams73]

I'm a writer.

[Serenity]

I am a writer who is 83,874 words into becoming a co-authored, hopeful novelist. :D

[wordmonkey]

I'm a writer.

That's not what I do. It's what I am. I can't NOT write.

[stormie]

Writer.

[BardSkye]

Novelist. I try to write a short story and 300 pages in realize it isn't.

Note that I don't claim to be a good novelist.

[Aubrey]

I guess I'd be a writer, though I don't feel like a writer. I don't do it full-time (or even much of the time except in a few spurts once or twice a year) and I've done a lot of fun works (fan fiction, unpublishable (for whatever reason) original shorts), so I forgot that I could warrent any title. But at least it isn't a title that has any obligations behind it.To me "novelist" implies you've churned out dozens of completed novels and "author" implies you're published several times over and successful. As a short story writer who really struggles at stretching stories out, I'm not sure I could ever be able to wear any title but writer, since I'm not sure I'd ever be able to complete more than one (if one) full-length novel. I'm trying, but like I said, it's still a struggle for me.

[janetbellinger]

Writer. I refuse to describe myself as an aspiring writer.

[dragonjax]

Writer. Although I usually refer to myself as an author. My goal is to be a full-time novelist.

[Shadow_Ferret]

I write. Call me what you like.

[Perks]

Is that a dare?

[Shadow_Ferret]

:tongue

Yeah. I dares ya.

[Perks]

Listen mongoose, you set yourself up, you're gonna cry. Impertinent little weasel, aren't ya?

[maestrowork]

I'll call you Ferret Faucet.

[Shadow_Ferret]

*makes a mental note to look up impertinent*

So, what do you call yourself, Perks?

[Perks]

At this point, I suppose I'm a wannabe. Since I write predominately novel length fiction, I suppose I'm a wannabe novelist.

I wish I had the guts to call myself a writer. Someday, stoat-boy, someday.

[PattiTheWicked]

Writer. I'll let OTHER people call me a novelist.

[moblues]

Writer-thingy. I still have to figure out how to use this piece of crap called a keyboard. Lemme get back to ya. Oh, fudge. I spilled coffee on it again. The key to all of the questions we have about our world, and all things is: 2t34y6u7i9sv89.

I hoped this helped. ;)


For Douglas Adams.





Mike

[Southern_girl29]

It depends on who I'm talking to and the context of the conversation. If someone asks what I do for a living, I'm the editor of the Lifestyles section. If someone asks me what I want to do, I'll say I want to write novels full-time. Before I became the editor, I would say I was a journalist or a reporter. I don't know why I don't say writer when people ask what I do for a living. Part of my job as Lifestyles Editor requires me to write feature stories.

[DragonHeart]

I refer to myself as a writer. Not aspiring but not published, either. It's just what I am. I don't really care what people think when I tell them; if they judge me by what I do then I don't want to know them anyway.

~DragonHeart~

[NeuroFizz]

Sorry, but this seems like a bit of a silly distinction to worry about. Write to the best of your abilities and let others call you what they will. If you have to attach labels--if you write, you are a writer. It you write novels, you are a novelist. If you have published something, you are an author. If you have done all three, you are all three. If you have to list an occupation, it really doesn't matter much which you use. The person reading it will get the idea.

[badducky]

I'm a novelist because I'm only paid to write novels.

It's like a web designer calling himself a programmer. Yes web design is coding, and the guy probably knows a few coding langages. However, he primarly writes one kind of code.

Most I've ever made for fiction is 5 bucks, and for poetry is a free copy.

[CaroGirl]

Sorry, but this seems like a bit of a silly distinction to worry about. Write to the best of your abilities and let others call you what they will. If you have to attach labels--if you write, you are a writer. It you write novels, you are a novelist. If you have published something, you are an author. If you have done all three, you are all three. If you have to list an occupation, it really doesn't matter much which your use. The person reading it will get the idea.
I completely agree with NF. Currently, I call myself a professional writer, even though the tendency in this industry is to call people like me a Documentation Specialist or Information Developer (or some such nonsense).

If I ever get paid for writing fiction, I'll still call myself a writer, but others might decide to call me an author or a novelist (should I be so lucky).

I think we should just write what we write and leave the labels off. Don't clutter up your headspace worrying about trivialities.

[Nakhlasmoke]

I lie. I hate that question, "so, what do you do?"

If I answer truthfully ("I write") the next question is invariably, "have you published anything?"

Lying is more fun anyway.

[NeuroFizz]

If you say novelist, you will be accurate--novelists write fiction, which is just a way of saying they make stuff up. Pretty close to telling lies for profit.

[badducky]

I don't just make stuff up!

(I'm lying...)

[Akiahara]

i'd love to say novelist, but it makes me feel hokey. i'm also a visual artist... and i don't have a problem writing it, 'cuz it's true... i mean, i've been a fine arts major, i have a small portfolio, etc., etc., but writing seems... i dunno. you tell someone you're a writer and unless you have published work they wouldn't believe you. it's just not so for artists.

so i'll just say i'm trying to write a novel. :P

[aadams73]

Anytime I tell people that I lie for money, their next question invariably is, "Oh, you're a lawyer?"

[Akiahara]

Anytime I tell people that I lie for money, their next question invariably is, "Oh, you're a lawyer?"
gotta love that stereotype. ;)

[badducky]

I also call it "Torturing my imaginary friends for fun and profit".

People usually don't ask me anything after that. They just back away slowly.

[icerose]

I'm quite fond of scribbler myself, and when people see my handwriting it's no stretch as to why I think that of myself, but openly I say writer.

Around here being a writer is almost as exciting as being an international spy.

[badducky]

No joke, Icerose.

In my suburban wasteland people think "writer" and have very... strange thoughts. I never knew it would be considered so exciting to sit in a room and type all day.

Sometimes I dream of going to New York or LA where being a writer is as normal as being a car mechanic (and your car mechanic is probably a writer).

[aadams73]

I also call it "Torturing my imaginary friends for fun and profit".

People usually don't ask me anything after that. They just back away slowly.

*perk* Hey, I'm going to borrow that line! Then I can alienate everyone.

[azchick]

I'm an author, a word juggling, phrase managing, scene setting, drama building, tension high, bad guys are dead author. Writing is just the road I take to get to the end of the story....

[Jamesaritchie]

Writer. I refuse to describe myself as an aspiring writer.

Someone once told me it isn't the aspiring writer who succeeds, it's the perspiring writer.

[Popeyesays]

Interrogator: What do you do?
Me: I write.
At this point I have to look at their eyes, if a glaze forms, I find a way to withdraw. If it doesn't then the avenue is open to dialogue.

[spacejock2]

Author ;-)

[OmenSpirits.com]

Neither. I'm a storyteller. :)

[Joanna_S]

I'm a writer. I've also been known to call myself a storyteller. Even my nonfiction books are full of storytelling in some form or another. But the tag I think fits most comfortably, that communicates the most, is writer.

-- Joanna

[jpserra]

I'm a novelist because I rarely write anything less than 60,000 words (Short of these posts).

I am a story teller, because I choose to be published.

[Dario D.]

I'm a writer. Everything else sounds pretentious :)
I agree. I just say "writer"... and when they ask me what I write, I say 'novels'.

[Penguin Queen]

I'm a writer. I write a lot of things, so writer pretty much covers it. :D

Yup, I'm like that. ;) Short fiction, long fiction, non fiction, radio scripts....

Writer. And sometimes journalist, as that actually pays some of my bills! :)

[KTC]

I'm a novelist. I'm a writer. I'm a poet. I'm a columnist. I'm a freelancer. I'm a journalist. I'm a...well, you get the picture. I'm a creator of wordstrings.

[Inkdaub]

I think writer about covers it.

[KTC]

I'm an overkillist.

[TeddyG]

i am an angst purist. if it has angst it goes in. Otherwise dump it. :D

[KTC]

Angst nuttin wrong wid dat.