WHO IS A WRITER
Alobwed’Epie
Department of English
University of Yaounde 1
The words writer and author are so often interchangeably used that even their specific referents get confused and respond to them as if the one was the other. In several occasions, conferences designated for writers are attended by authors of books on history, sociology, geography, anthropology etc. When such attendees don’t receive due attention in the conferences, they complain that the organizers undermine them. Why that controversy?
The controversy may stem from the broad meaning of the word writer. The noun writer is derived from the verb write. To write means to scribble meaningful signs on a surface (blackboard, paper, screen) using a pen, pencil, chalk or typewrite or computer keyboard. Any person who scribbles meaningful signs on a surface is therefore a writer. This is the general meaning of the word. But writing goes beyond writing on a surface. Writers especially those who write on paper, compile their writings and publish them in book form. Such writers are called authors. An author is thus a writer who has published a book.
There are two types of authors – those who publish their complete works and those who compile other writers’ works, edit them and publish them. These are known as editors. In most cases, editors complement their works with those of other writers in the same field.
A writer is an author; an author is a writer. Why then do certain authors attribute to themselves the term writer and consider other authors non-writers? And why should other authors frown at not being considered writers? What makes the term writer that appealing?
The word writer is not all that encompassing. It is a specific word. It denotes writers with a difference. A writer with a difference is a person who is more concerned with craftsperson-ship than with facts. This does not mean that the writer scorns facts or distorts them. It simply means that they handle facts differently. This is the epicenter of the difference. Whereas a writer of history, geography, psychology, sociology and so on, presents facts in a logical sequence, the writer of the arts handling the same topic puts it on the anvil of creation and forges out something new. That is why writers of the arts are known as creative writers; and because they create, they are different. They create either from imagination or re-mould facts of history, politics, geography, sociology etc. into new entities and imbue them with living souls.
As such, the term writer has a hazy hue that distinguishes it from the concreteness of the term author. Writers deal with surrealism, with the sublime and with the human touch in many ways – in the genres they handle, in the envisaged audiences, in language and in scope and focus.
Creative writing is segmented into enlivened prose (which embodies novel, short story, essay and letter writing) poetry, and drama (which embodies theatre and film). In each of these genres, writers are engaged in the use of creative tasting, creative smelling, creative feeling, creative hearing and creative seeing. In other words, they explore and exploit all their senses in the act and art of creation in order to appeal to the senses of their audiences. The art of creation denotes a special use of language – and of course, language is the main evidence of the proper exploration and exploitation of the senses. Other disciplines are not that demanding.
A writer writes for two audiences – the public and the specialized reader known as critic. The public reader reads and appreciates the surface meaning of the work. The critic unbolts the deeper meaning of the work by appreciating its strengths and weaknesses using scholarly tenets known as theoretical frame (Romanticism, Marxism, Darwinism, feminism, etc.) storyline, structure of work and language and so propels the work from the ordinary to the academic. Thus, it is the critic who gives a work of art its value. Authors of other disciplines are not subjected to such literary tenets of evaluation. Their works are usually edited to render facts right and to correct language lapses.
Another way writers are different from other authors is that, whereas other authors are masters of only their fields, writers are all encompassing. Their ability to handle most facets of human experience, and the incredible insights they manifest in fields that are not of their specialties is best described as inspiration. So, writers have dual qualities – training and inspiration that distinguish them from other authors. Inspiration and inborn skills however play havoc as they warp the aspect of education. As such, while authors of other disciplines are necessarily academics, not all writers are. Some of the best poems I have read and highly appreciated have been written by youngsters who can hardly qualify as academics. Because of this twist, some institutions of higher learning doubt whether works of art merit being considered academic. The institutions give more value to articles written about a work of art than the work itself. So, the critic receives more academic recognition than the creative writer. Yet, it is the creative writer who wins the Nobel Prize and puts his country on the literary map and not the critic. And that is why I said the term writer has a hazy hue – hazy hue because even institutions of higher learning fall short of giving it the recognition it is due.
Other authors write from the flesh. Writers write from the soul. For example, history writers write about a historical event as outsiders with the sole aim of preserving facts. Writers handle the same historical event as insiders living the event. They personalize it, get the blunt consequences of personalizing it either through arrests, torture, incarceration, or praise, and in the end emerge to prescribe the required standards. Thus, they assume the position of leaders. Because of this difference, the writers are fondly described as committed. Committed writers are the cooking spoons that stir boiling broth when the going is rough; and the serving spoons when the table is set. By this I mean, writers are so sensitive to politico/economic and other injustices and upheavals that they handle them as if they were their personal affairs and risk their lives for the sake of the communities concerned. It’s a known fact that tyrannical regimes dread and incarcerate and even kill writers and not historians, sociologists, geographers etc.
Another difference between writers and other authors is that communities tend to hero-worship writers. For example, more school children rename themselves after writers than other authors. More quote writers than other authors. In other words they tend to manifest the impact of literature in their daily lives than that of any other subject. In fact, writers like Chinua Achebe, Bate Besong, Bole Butake tend to be the flywheels of communities. Writers tend to be more conscious of their roles in society than other authors. They tend to be more eloquent about themselves and their dreams than other authors. This tends to make them more prominent in society than other authors and it may be one of the reasons why other authors think they must share in the glory of being considered writers. This sounds rather unfortunate. Other authors are renowned scholars in their respective fields and society recognizes them as such.
But, though they are engaged in the act of writing, they are not engaged in the art of writing and so they are not writers in the specific sense of the word. To be called a writer, the author should be engaged in enlivened prose, poetry and drama. These are the genres of the sublime.