The Bloggers With The Most To Say
Is there a difference between Bloggers and Writers?
Do you think so?
Generally, I'm a life blogger. I write about my life on a daily basis. However, this doesn't stop me from striving to present my life with quality writing, as opposed to basic, ragged 'dear diary,' crap. I still have a respect for words, and more importantly- I respect other people's time, so if they stop to read my blog, I don't want to waste it.
This has caused some people to say things such as "You're not a blogger, you're a writer," or "this feels more like a novel than someone's life."
I follow a large number of blogs, but I personally find that the ones tend to follow most regularly are written by people who have a good sense of words, how to use them, how to make the point they were trying to make, and know what it is they are trying to say.
How do you feel about this? Do you think there is a difference between bloggers and writers?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Cassie on -
I can definitely see how this might be a fine line for some people, especially if they don't write for a living or in some professional form. Not that THAT would be the ultimate deciding factor either, because there are plenty of people who write, write well, and write constantly who are smart enough to pursue a more lucrative career path. (I, for the record, am not. Smart enough, that is.)
It's gotta be how you identify on a personal level, in addition to whether you write well and often. I do think it's arrogant of someone to call him or herself a writer if they don't also read constantly. If you're serious about being a writer, you should be equally as serious about studying the work of those who are better than you.
Being published certain helps give you street cred, but I don't think it's the only thing that earns you the title.
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Permalink Reply by Alexandra Tsaritsa (call me Tsa) on -
I agree with this. It's not a clear cut thing at all. Personally, I believe that being a writer means you're serious about your writing, you write regularly, you're always trying to improve your craft, and you're a dedicated reader, reading challenging and diverse materials.
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Permalink Reply by cooper on -
If you make money writing you are, I suppose a writer. A blogger can be a writers but many bloggers are merely bloggers...and honestly there is nothing wrong with that.
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Permalink Reply by Tim B on -
As a short, very stereotypical way to assess this, writers get paid to write while bloggers to not.
That said, I'd still like to think those who have a more eloquent and efficient way of speaking in their blogs have writer skills for sure. I'm not sure that I'd personally consider myself to be a writer unless I'm published, though I won't criticize a blogger who considers themselves to be one.
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Permalink Reply by Melissa Brander on -
You don't need to be paid to be a writer, so I'm going to disagree with the previous posters. Because the literal definition of a writer would be "one who writes." Not one who gets paid to do so, necessarily. So I think absolutely a blogger can also be a writer. I would say most bloggers are writers. Maybe not paid writers, but there's nothing in the actual definition of writer that says you HAVE to be paid to be a writer. Now, why I would say not all bloggers are writers is because some blogs are heavily photo based and I think that like 2 sentences with a bunch of pictures does not make you a writer. So for the most part, I think it depends on the kind of blogger, but if you look at the definition of writer, for most bloggers there is not a difference.
And there ARE bloggers who make money blogging, just to put that out there as well.
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Permalink Reply by Karie on -
If you take it that literally then yes, anyone who puts words on paper is a writer. However, I don't think someone putting words on a piece of paper or on the internet automatically constitutes the title "Writer". I think it takes more skill than that. Skill is where it's at for me, pay or no pay. If you can create a vivid image or make an accurate point through writing and you do it regularly and you love it, I consider you a writer. A pile of mumbo-jumbo that barely makes sense is hardly writing and does not make a writer. It's just a hot mess.
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Permalink Reply by Kelli Hale on -
I think it's a status thing. People who get paid to write are generally offended that some one with a "lesser" education (ie no degree) tries to take their title. That's just what I've encountered anyway. Which I guess I can kind of understand. I'm not trying to diminish anyone's accomplishments, but when you chose your profession in a field that is also considered a hobby, or something that is inspired by raw talent you can't get all huffy puffy about it. It's like some one saying that if I get a painting put on display at a gallery even though I didn't graduate with an art major that I'm not an artist. It doesn't work like that.
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Permalink Reply by Freeman Dyson on -
The word "amateur" comes from the Latin word for "lover". In the old days, it was the amateur artists who were considered the "real" artists, because they were simply doing it out of love. The professionals were something lesser than amateurs.
That being said, I don't consider you a writer unless you are good at it. Like an athlete. There are plenty of athletes by definition, but I would dispute their athleticism.
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Permalink Reply by Melissa Brander on
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Yeah, but there are plenty of people who write books and get published who I don't think are really that good of writers but that doesn't make them less of a writer just because I don't think they're good at it. On top of that, good is so subjective. I don't think someone who runs every day is less of an athlete just because they haven't gone to the Olympics.
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Permalink Reply by Freeman Dyson on
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So you consider the middle aged guys at the gym playing a pickup game on the same level as guys in the NBA? You don't consider them lesser basketball players? And there are also guys within the NBA who are clearly better than other guys in the NBA.
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Permalink Reply by Melissa Brander on
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I think there are different levels, but that they can both be athletes. It's not an all or nothing deal - it's not either you are the best in the field and then you are allowed to call yourself whatever title comes with that field or you're not the best and then you can't have that title at all. Isn't that why we have different sub-labels within categories? Like in the athlete example you have like professional athlete, college athlete, high school athlete, weekend warriors, etc. But a high school athlete is no less an athlete than the professional athlete - they're both athletes, but they're different kind of athletes.
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Permalink Reply by Freeman Dyson on
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They aren't just different. They are better, and at a higher level. The subcategories are not just labels, they are levels. Those levels denote skll. Something like sports could be objectively measured. The pros would beat all these high schoolers in all these competitions. That makes them lesser athletes. I'm a lesser sprinter than Bolt because he beats me badly. I'm not just a "different" sprinter than him.
I already said they are both athletes, but not all athletes are equal.
And obviously this is just my opinion, not something I can prove or think is a universal truth that everyone should recognize. It's my personal opinion as to whether someone is a writer or not. Nothing more. I know I can't prove one writer is better than another.
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