Am I a writer or a blogger?
Are they the same,
or two very different things?
Does it actually matter?
I have a blog on which I write.
Is the quality of what I write,
disregarded or looked down upon,
because I use a medium,
which is available to the masses?
Are we a sensitive lot?
Overly upset if our work is deemed less,
because we have blogs.
The poor sad neighbor of the literary world,
A collection of “wannabes”
I have heard it said,
“Ah sure everyone has a blog”.
Does that mean everyone is a writer?
I read many blogs,
and I am unsure how many, if asked, would say,
“I am a writer”.
For myself personally I think,
if I were asked I might say,
“I am a blogger”.
I do wonder though,
if perhaps I am a writer?
I do write a lot after all.
However I have never looked to be published,
or to write short stories or a book.
If I did I think that then I might say,
“I am a writer”.
I have read many blogs,
and I can quite definitely say,
they are the blog of writers.
Maybe blogging is a gateway to writing?
An exploration of ourselves,
and what we think we like to write.
An education we give ourselves,
as we put our work out there for critique.
Perhaps there is no definite answer.
Just a personal one,
which is different for each one of us.
If that is the case,
I think that on reflection I will have to say,
“I am a blogger”.
But in time I would like to think,
I could be a writer!
photo credit: Annie Mole via photopin cc
photo credit: Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com via photopin cc
photo credit: hjconti via photopin cc
My thoughts on a page. 
I think you are a writer.. and a good one too! For me, well, I’m mostly a blogger, though I hope to be a writer someday 🙂
I think that to be a writer I would have had to do more than just write. Be working as a writer or have had content published. Maybe though in time we will be well read by many!
It’s all about labels and our individual definitions of them.
I write therefore I am a writer. I sing therefore I am a singer. I talk therefore I am a talker.
These are basic definitions which cannot really be disputed.
But once someone decides that a REAL singer is someone who sings well with technique, tone, whatever.. then it all changes.
Different people adhere to different philosophies with such things.
So there is no universal answer to the question in my opinion.
Good comment. I think you are right it is the degree of expertise I am probably judging.
I would say I am a singer too, when I have a few on board, and can hold a tune but that wouldn’t get me in the charts!!! 🙂
I am a blogger
You, tric, are a blogger and a writer
I read many blogs and yours stands out a mile in terms of the quality of the writing and the content of your posts
Your daily posts are a joy to read
P.S. Think about self-publishing a book of your daily posts in time for Xmas and I would buy (at a special reduced rate, of course 😆 ) several copies to give as presents to family and friends. I am sure they would enjoy reading them as much as I do
Thank you so much. I will have a swelled head! The idea of self publishing my posts is a fab one but it fills me with terror. It would mean marketing myself as a writer, and I am more than a bit awkward in that department. Mind you then I could call myself a writer!
You know what Duncan, I really will think about it, and thank you. Of course you would indeed qualify for a price reduction. ( It’s the Scot in you!) 🙂
I remember having this discussion with some friends. I am a ‘writer’ because I write things. They are ‘Writers’ because they HAVE to write things.
I wonder which one of you enjoy it more. You I expect. Did they begin as you and things changed?
No, they always had the compulsion to write, I think. You know how you read about famous authors that they had scribbled their first story at the age of five, that kind of thing. I don’t have that kind of inbuilt need to write. Nor the discipline to practice the art, nor even the desire to. I think they probably enjoy it more. I just like sharing ideas, and online that has to be through writing.
You are a good writer and I don’t think you have to be published to be a writer. I think your audience decides if you are a writer or not and i’m in the front row
Thanks Mocha. You are an excellent writer and it is reading what you are capable of writing that makes me question myself.
I do hope by this time next year I may be more qualified to deem myself a writer.
However whatever my label I do know that I love love love my blog!
stop being a ‘sensitive lot’ your stuff is awesome…the post you wrote about “like” got me. I was like man this gal has skills and i’ve been checking in ever since…
🙂
I think that if you do it for more than 6 months and write posts more than once a week, you are a writer. Or some arbritrary thing like that. I takes a lot of writing to be able to maintain a blog for more than a week.
I am bitterly disappointed to hear you believe me to be a writer not a blogger! Well in another three weeks anyway. 🙂
I never said you were. I was referring to me. I am glad you are bitter about it though.
We, as bloggers, are writers. It is the medium/the delivery method that is different than some writers have used in the past. It is no less writing.
I think it is all in the interpretation of “writer”. Up until I began to blog I thought of writers as those who wrote professionally. It is taking me time to realize there are many other type of writers out there.
I think I stick with the personal definitions. I write because I love to write. So I write a lot. And I am a blogger. Blogging can, however, be comics, or photos, or reposts, etc. So I guess I am a writing blogger. Now what KIND of writer am I? 😉
A personal, mostly non fiction, often humorous, or thought provoking and always entertaining one?
Awwwww, now I’m all happy inside. THank you Tric. You’re my favorite today! 🙂
Maybe the difference is the dependence that people have on writing? Someone who writes regularly and as routinely as brushing their teeth and who couldn’t imagine doing otherwise regardless of which medium they use is a (capital W, underlined, in bold) Writer.
For others who think of it as just a passing fancy, something to do until the next thing to do comes along… maybe they just write. But they don’t define themselves as writers?
Good one! So many of us with different interpretations of the word. 🙂
I nodded my head all through this post – I often ask myself the same question. The word “Writer” seems to have an implicit aura about i. I sometimes even find people who self-proclaim themselves to be “Writers” a little full of themselves. For me it’s like self-involved people claiming that they are philosophers because they have scratched the surface of some existenial dilemma they had in the local coop – they come across as fakes. I don’t know how to explain it, but it’s probably because I feel that a real writer is scared of being pointed at and judged to be self-involved? Kind of along the lines of what you say above, really. So I’d say you’re a writer, but a “feet on the ground” one 🙂
Thank you.:) I don’t feel I am a writer but it is more to do with how I class a real writer. I think calling myself one is disrespectful to those who do write. However the more I think about it the more I think that I would like to some day bridge whatever gap real or imagined that is there between blogger and writer.
Could blogging be considered a hobby vs writing as a profession? That would assume that one is paid for his/her writing. Then again, there are some bloggers who generate income from their blogs. I think I’m just going to sit on the fence afterall.
I hope you don’t get splinters on that fence of yours!:) Good point though. I think I do view my blog as a hobby even though I do spend quite some time on it.
Ditto for me. Probably too much time but I spend more time reading and commenting than writing. My other writing is done on paper first.
Wow you transfer from paper? That is a lot of work. Do you just rough work it or actually write the whole thing?
The whole thing is done on paper first. I like to manipulate the qords manually. Having said that, the ‘whole thing’ for a picture book is only 500 words so no biggie really.
I call myself a writer, hoping one day to be an author, but right now, a writer. Besides I have never liked the word Blog so I most certainly do not call myself a blogger. I think it sounds frumpy for some reason, perhaps too close to the work Blob! 🙂 You are a great writer and one of very few blogs I choose to read regularly!
Thank you, and especially thanks for reading regularly.
I am amazed to read you do not like the word “Blog”. I love it and I love my blog. When I write a post it is as if I am writing in my own notebook. One that is open to any passer by to read and comment on. One that I can change the look of and group writing together into bundles. To me my actual blog is like my very own personal space and every time someone visits especially if they press “like” I feel I am opening my
front door and welcoming them in.
Oh I agree wholeheartedly! I just don’t like the actual word “BLOG”…for all the enjoyment, fun and good we do spreading our writing… the word Blog just doesn’t seem to sum it up for me…. I have to think now what I would call it instead 🙂
Let me know what you come up with!
From my experience, a blogger is a blogger, until there are readers who keep coming back for more. Then, all of the sudden, you’re a writer.
Maybe not in your mind, but in there’s. And if your readers see you as a writer, then just go with it.
I think blogging has evolved over the years. It’s not just an online open journal anymore. Anything you write, can all of the sudden make you an expert on that subject to those who are reading.
Very interesting comment. You are the second person to say that if your readers come back for more you are a writer in their mind. It is something I would never have thought.
Me too. I am a blogger but like to think I could be a writer! For what it’s worth, I think you are a writer already!!
Thank you! I have read some great posts from you too. I think the first time I saw your blog you had posted the picture of the phone box on something. Definitely memorable.
Oh, Tric
Your head must hurt after all that cogitation!
Yes, you’re a writer (- and a good writer at that). A writer…writes. As an unpublished writer, you are a writer, but not an author!
(On the bottom of my computer screen is a little sign that reads: I am a writer! sometimes I need to be reminded. ;))
\o/
I too will need to get one of those signs! Good point too a published writer is an author.
Think of the cost of aspirin I saved you by straightening this out for you. You’re lucky to have me following you so closely. 😉
(See – I SAID you’d be a great mentor. How’d I do??? lol)
\o/
Ha ha. I’d say you are ready to graduate. )
I always wanted to “write” but I never could. I would stare at the page willing myself to write. No idea what I wanted to write about or any patience to draft or edit. Then all of a sudden I had something I wanted to say (when Wade was born and I wanted to help others who were experiencing what we went through). Now I think about writing all the time, have endless topics appearing in my mind all the time and the confidence to write drafts, edit and be self critical. Maybe being a writer just means you have something to say however you choose to say it.
Great comment. I would never have known on reading your blog that you did not always write.
Nice post, tric. I think all bloggers are writers too, and their format and delivery style can be different, not necessarily differentiating but distinct from traditional writers. It is mostly informal, and often not staged or corrected repeatedly before its publishing. IMHO are a very good writer and a good blogger too.
Compiling the posts and publishing in the form of a book can be self-gratifying, particularly for those who love to see their names in print. IMHO the process of blogging the posts has surely served the purpose of reaching thousands of true readers already. I am sure this can be argued by many who love publishing their posts, and I am not going to dispute. Sometimes second bite of same apple tastes better, for some, than the first one. 🙂
Have a great day. – Deo
Thanks Deo for that comment. I agree with so much of what you say. I am only relatively new to blogging and have to date never considered any form of publishing but I have read some differing opinions on blogging v writing. It wont really change anything though I will still keep posting away here. 🙂
Thanks tric. As I said before, you are a great writer, and an excellent blogger too. Have a good one!