I don't remember where I picked up this association, but I think, at least in some circles, "writer" seems to imply someone who writes articles for online magazines or any kind of publication in a sort of "lowest common denominator" way (similar to the connotations that come with "blogger" sometimes).<p>Anyone know or heard of this usage? Or am I just making it up?<p>Maybe for this reason/bias, I've never felt comfortable calling myself a writer, for fear of being mixed in with this association, like someone who just "writes anything". I take pride in writing essays and feel aversive about writing articles meant as "content" for general/mass consumption (damnit I sound like a douchebag).<p>I know many people who proudly call themselves writers, so I know it's not a universal thing. And I know PG calls himself a writer/programmer (don't remember the exact source, but probably a tweet), which never made sense to me because he strictly writes essays, so I would've thought "essayist" would fit him better.<p>I know I shouldn't care about labels or whatever, but I find it hard to shake. I don't know, maybe I'm just thinking too much (sorry this got a lot more personal than I had originally intended). What do you folks think??<p>EDIT: Did some digging, I think this article explains what I'm talking about:<p>"Are You Really a Writer ... Or Just a Copyist?" https://copyblogger.com/writer-or-copyist/
I think of<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Didion" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Didion</a><p>and<p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Choderlos_de_Laclos" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_Choderlos_de_Laclos</a><p>as "writers" and have a lot of respect for them, not to mention many others.
I'm a developer at a large company, I've been able to build complex solutions myself, and I have many ideas to write since young. I tried several times to draft novels but have never been able to write a single whole page. Painting a world with words is really challenging.