I was reading the December 2002 The Writer magazine and saw the cartoon Snapshots by Janson Love. What caught my attention was the definition below the cartoon.

The writer: Someone who devotes himself to a liftime of solitutde for the sake of communication.

I was just wondering what other definitions of "the writer" you all particularly like....yours or someone else's. Not a challenge, just curious.

Writer? That backroom subconscious of imaginitive souls that screams for escape? A disease plaguing those cursed with an over-abundance of imagination and vocabulary spliced with a mundane life and an unstoppable yearning for a different one? Or... One who has read so much in their life that the only release is a reverse trip?

Quite good on that last. I think the easiest answer, of course, is someone who is good at writing; a person with good communication skills toward a professional application. But that just isn't any fun. ;)

How about; someone with a story to tell and the will to tell it. Jack

I think a writer is someone who abhores a blank sheet of paper. jon

The Sci-Fi quote "I have no mouth, yet I must scream".

Attached Link: More on the writer's duty here: http://members.tripod.com/~zena/writing/windex.html

"What is a Writer's Duty? Finally Philosophical" by CLMathew To provide a view of the slant of light through the drapes? Or the shadow at the crack of the door? Or is it to illuminate that which few have seen, and confuse that which many have seen? Or is it to tow the line and follow in the footsteps of the fathers? To make the next logical contribution? Or is it to reveal just how stark raving crazy things seem sometimes, on the outside chance that you are not the only one with these perceptions, which means you aren't so crazy after all? Or is it to reveal the unadulterated truth, down to the crumbling corner of the fence? Or is it to let some of the tints, from your rose or blue or multi-colored glasses color the words? Is it to color with a new crayon? Is this perhaps the writer's ultimate duty? To contribute that uniquely terrifying vision which is yours alone? 1997 by Christina Mathew. All rights reserved.

Attached Link: PPsphere

Do you not mean who likes to write?? You make it sound like a writer is a freak or something. I think writer's fail the mundane much more than other artists. They are not as interested in chit chat and idle blabber about life ot other forms of art that much. Writers want to say and/or express things with new clarity and insight, much like the new 3-D artists want to show off the mundane in a new way or make faeries and so forth much more sexy than they used to be,

Attached Link: http://webpages.charter.net/pprochnow

Excellent thread can I forward an image that needs help for a siggiE! OH...I'll attache it anyway. How many of these writers like the graphics here?

Writers MAY indeed be freaks. Assuming one can define freak as a deviation from the norm. Like a visual artist drawn to the canvas like a moth to... (I won't bother with the cliche), writers may suffer from a need to "release". Whatever they are...I'm sure everyone here will agree..."THANK GOD we have them!" To me, they are one of the fulcrums of society.

Apparently someone took offense at my question: "What is a writer?" because they felt it was making writers into things and not human beings. I would be surprised to think someone thought I was trying to dehumanize them by asking the question. I could have asked: "Who is a writer?" but that would be any of us who write. or "Why is a writer?" but that is because we don't have the choice to do anything else. or "How does a writer writes?" but that is a question we asked before, and has been eloquently answered in another thread. or "When is one a writer?" but that is as we make ourselves time to do it. or "Where is one a writer?" but that is everywhere and anywhere. I only asked the question that I was applying to myself. This individual implied I was depersonalizing him/her as an individual by my question. I don't know him/her, and that was not my intent by asking the question. "What" didn't refer to a person, but to a profession or a calling, as most people seemed to understand. Because I am questioning my own place in the world, and if I have any place in it as a writer. And I think it is interesting that such a question would result in such a reponse. This has been an interesting exercise. My greatest thanks to you who understood the question was not an insult, but a simple inquiry. No more than that. Thank you for your thoughtful responses. I appreciate them greatly.

Attached Link: http://webpages.charter.net/pprochnow

DIALYN- - such a response was indeed in order. It may have been mere carelessness or superficiality on your part. I assume that everyone can write. You to Dialyn can write, though I am not familiar with any of your writing. Look at at this way, dialyn, to pull your fat out of the fire: some people who write become a writer that is a thing, such as the greats in literature like Plato and Catullus and Euripides: then a man who writes can assume the position of a demigod a demiurge or a demigogue. A writer on this level had transcended mortality and becomes a god, a god with a small "g". Find this demigod where you can. I will feel free to set you staight if any more of this misapprehension, Tom Foollery,or desire to battle at a losing game of wits, I do acept money for your projects, but I find all the fools I want on the net and generally do not engage them for nothing for more than one minor skirmish. ************************************************ PP's Story and Poetry Site! http://webpages.charter.net/pprochnow PP's Sound and Audio Site! http://artists.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/PPsphere/ PPz4um http://forums.delphiforums.com/PPz4um/mesages ***********************************************

A writer is someone who needs to express something with words. It could be a dream they want to share, a slice of life that others don't see, or simply information that needs to be communicated.

Who am I?

I am the dreamer with that far-off look.
I am the observer who sees slightly askew.
I am the painter with sounds as my colors.
I am the sculptor with words as my clay.

I am the writer.

(Needs a bit of work - feel free to make suggestions.)

Attached Link: PPsphere

very positive stuff coulb be an EAGLE pop lyric start like Barry Manilows "I write the songs" http://artists.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/PPsphere/

The most amazing thing about writing is that when you let others see your work, they often say 'That is exactly how I feel!'...And then you know you are not alone.

tresamie - - that is a good point! Then on the other hand, do you even want to right to make people think you are right even if you know you are wrong? WOW! That's sort of a definition of what a lawyer does!

When a writer poses a question that allows us space for reflection, is the writer then responsible for what the reader discovers in that space? I took no offense at the original question in the thread, and was surprised when there was some objection to it. I had to hurry back and read through the original post again, and again found nothing offensive. I am missing something here. :o( - M the Dense

Nope. I don't think you're dense. jon the denser

A hunch is creativity trying to tell you something." - Frank Capra (1897-1991) US director "Creativity -- the power to connect the seemingly unconnected." - William Plomer (1903-1973) S. African-British man of letters "Creativity arises out of the tension between spontaneity and limitations, the latter (like the river banks) forcing the spontaneity into the various forms which are essential to the work of art or poem." - Rollo May (1909-1994) US psychoanalyst "The Courage to Create," 1975 Bikermouse quoted the following quote on another forum. I posted in as a separate quote but deleted it to add to this thread because it seems appropriate here as well, if you didn't see it: "The objective in writing is, to reveal. It is not to teach, not to advertise, not to see, not even to communicate (for that needs two) but to reveal, which needs no other than the man himself." -William Carlos Williams

"A desk is a dangerous place from which to view the world." - John le Carre