I often wonder what I am. Am I a blogger who writes or am I a writer who blogs?
I read an interesting post last week from fellow blogger Teresa, aka The Haunted Wordsmith. In that post, Teresa, who blogs on both WordPress and Medium, wrote:
“Anyone who puts two words together with a purpose is a writer. A writer who takes those words and publishes them online on a blog is a blogger.”
I put words together with a purpose, but I am not sure I would call myself a writer. I think of a writer as someone who puts words together with the purpose — or at least the hope — of being able to make a living through the publication of their words in books that are sold to the public. The goal of a writer is to get something he or she wrote to appear on the New York Times bestseller list and to be generously compensated for having done so.
Writers compose their words to be read in book form, they tend to focus on the art of the sentence. They often write in long, complex, highly descriptive sentences strung together into long, complex, highly descriptive paragraphs, the objectives of which are to draw the reader into their long-form compositions for hours on end.
Bloggers, on the other hand, typically use shorter sentences and even shorter paragraphs in order to appeal to the shorter attentions spans of online readers. Their objective is to keep their readers engaged for five to maybe eight minutes.
And how many bloggers do you know who earn enough money from their blogs to make a living? I don’t even try. Thus, I fall squarely in the blogger category.
But then again, in order to be a blogger, you must write. You must, as Teresa said, put words together for a purpose, that purpose being to write posts that generate immediate responses from, and interactions with, other bloggers.
Bottom line, bloggers write and some bloggers may even get books published (or get their stories or poems published in anthologies). Published writers write and may or may not blog.
Does it really matter, at the end of the day, whether I call myself a blogger or a writer? Probably not. So, um, never mind.
More important, what are you? Do you consider yourself to be a blogger who writes or a writer who blogs?
Previous A to Z Challenge 2019 posts:
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
This, That, and the Other 
I think you’ll find many will disagree with your defined goal of being a writer. Many do not pursue being a NY Times Bestseller (in fact, most I know do not). For many, the point of blogging is to earn money. They are the content providers to websites. Most large companies do not write their own content. There is a whole market for content providers (i.e. bloggers). Interesting response to my post 🙂
For what it’s worth, I consider you a writer–not a blogger. But, all that matters is how we define and view ourselves.
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I know that my “definition” of a writer is uniquely my own. As to making money blogging, I think many of us WISH we could make money as a blogger, but very few actually do make much, if any, money from their blogs. I don’t even try to monetize my blog.
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I don’t think labels are that important, but I do think words should have meaning, so in that context here goes. If a person keeps a relatively active blog, then they’re a blogger. If they have a blog, but rarely or never post, then they aren’t really a blogger. I don’t believe that simply writing words makes a person a writer, since that means anyone who’s ever jotted a grocery list is a writer. I think there needs to be a creative intent for a fictional writer or a poet. For a non-fiction writer, the intention can vary ~ some may have the need to convey their opinion to an audience, others may want to make money for their research, etc.
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I consider myself a blogger, but I don’t really like that word. It sounds gross or lazy like plopper or slother. Writer sounds much better.
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Yes. Being a writer has a certain cachet, while being a blogger, not so much.
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Bloggers blog, writers write, and bookers book?? That’s what I think, anyway…
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😏
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I am not sure what I would call myself…but then that’s a life issue for me…too many interests, too few real passions. I don’t stay active enough to be a true blogger. I don’t write deeply enough to be a true writer. What I am though, is here. At least while the interest flows!
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And a great blogger you are. People are always looking forward to your posts, prompts and challenges.
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Thanks, Sadje. That’s very kind of you to say.
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You’re welcome 😊
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This is definitely something that a lot of bloggers consider. One thing that flipped it over in my mind from being a “blogger” into a “writer” is that even though I’m not getting paid to write, I am still publishing my work. Online publishing is as simple as writing a post for a blog. You are self-publishing every single time you finish a post and send it out into the world. So I think that all bloggers are, in fact, writers 🙂
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You have a good point, there. Thanks for your thoughts.
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I think it doesn’t matter and I hate labels. I do “it” because it’s fun and a challenge.
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That’s what counts!
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I never felt like I could call myself a writer until I was actually getting paid to write full time, yet strangely I had no issues saying I was a blogger as soon as I began a blog
Debbie
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Is there a difference?If you area writer who writer novels and short stories, are you a writer of short stories who also writes novels or a novel writer who also writes short stories? Oh and you blog, too. You write. The format is immaterial. You write.
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Seems a moot point to me…but maybe that’s because I’m not trying to make money. I will always be a writer, blogging just offers a window or cracked door to recluse writers 🙂
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If you write with an intention to communicate a story in some form, you are a writer. Even if you never share it with the world. If you do, which is what blogging is about, sharing, or get it published and earn money from it, which is being successful, you are a writer. Every story is important, no matter how short/long.
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Very interesting comments. As a graphic designer, a small part of me always felt I sold out as an artist. As a copywriter, now, blogger, I just feel free. . . to a point. 🙂
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I would think of myself as a writer who blogs. And forming that sentence — plus typing it in — just now sparked another thought: that I probably shouldn’t call myself a blogger even though I blog, because I don’t run a site.
Your statement about writers writing long sentences reminded me of an aunt [who made a living(*) writing, to obtain grants, as one example, for a research doctor at a university] reading something I wrote after I had gotten an A on it [at a different university in another state]. She said of one of the sentences that it was very, very long… but not a run-on at all.
And, of course, it was within long paragraphs in a long paper. and I have written many items like that. But, no, I have never made a living as a writer.
(* also served on the medical ethics board)
I like writing.
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I don’t write the same way blogging as I do in other contexts. I’m more careful for layout and verbal flow and don’t a!low for incorrect-casual grammar in finished work (and would look more closely for typos). Blogging is more like hanging out, for me.
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Good post! I am currently on travel and couldn’t leave my appreciation on your yesterday’s blog. Super liked the entry you made in this A2Z world. As for today’s post, I consider myself more of a dreamer with crazy and funny imaginations. It is with this power of imaginations I sort of took baby steps into the world of writing and blogging. I like to think dreaming/imagination is like a mother of writing or blogging. 🙂 Will wait for your posts till Z.
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Thank you so much for your very kind words. Your right that imagination is the key to writing good fiction.
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No, no, no. You cannot write all that and then try to back out of it.
I am a retired writer. I retired first (but I did a lot of technical writing for which I was paid) then wrote (creative and poetry),
I am a writer and a blogger, also a poet and (in a way) a publisher (my blog). I do not use the words author, novelist, editor, or journalist in referring to myself. Although I do all of all that.
Do you know the difference between a writer and a pizza? A pizza can feed a family of four.
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Oh my. Like jokes about artists and actors.
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😏
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I think any time you put forth a story, poem or a novel and you share it with at least one other person you are a writer. You add the word professional in front of writer, that is when you get paid.
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I’ve had poems published in school papers.
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I’ve written on internal topics for a synagogue.
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I had a short story published in my high school’s literary magazine.
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I also like that leigha said, if “you share it with at least one other person you are a writer.”
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Here’s my defined list: anyone who writes consistently is a writer, anyone who writes a book is an author, published or unpublished, anyone who writes for an online audience for money or for fun is a blogger. You can be one, or all three. Enjoyed your post.
Visiting writer/blogger from the A to Z. . https://shirleyjdietz.com/?p=11560
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Good list!
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Recently I had a classmate (our valedictorian nonetheless) tell his wife I was a talented writer. What?!! I just document my life in my opinion, but I’ll be happy to take that compliment lol Guess it’s just a personal opinion.
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Take it where you can get it!
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