A writer is a literary Auteur whose texts are officially published by a publisher (in general in a book, a magazine or a review) in order to be read. These texts are protected by a Royalty.

Definition

As writers people are classically regarded who practice a concerning trade the literary writing:

• the Poet S;

• the novelists;
• the essay writers;
• dramatic authors (or Playwright S);
• critical arts persons;
• the short story writers;
• the fabulists;
• the lampoonists;
• etc

When a person cumulates several of these activities, one often uses the generic term of 'writer or author.

Certain trades do not gain the adhesion of all to be classified like forms of literary writing, in particular:

• the Journalist S;

• the Scenario writer S for the cinema;
• the Scenario writer S of cartoons;
• authors of detective novels or Romance blacks bottom-of-the-range;
• authors of mawkish novels;
• authors of Song S;
• the gastronomical and critical authors gastronomical;
• any person writing of the texts and placing them free at the disposal on Internet (e.g. in the form of Blog or those which make faires readings public of their works (Charles-Albert Beauchamp);
• etc

The continuum that one observes in the production of texts, between best and worst, makes difficult differentiation between what raises of a literary production and what usurps this title. There are no really objective criteria on this subject, only of the opinions.

In addition, the growing use of media other than the books, magazines or re-examined to transmit texts of quality to others (for example of hybrid media cumulating texts, sounds and images) will perhaps lead, a day, to widen the circle of the trades classified under the label writer .

Feminization

With, one used autrice rather (also spelled auctrice or authrice ):
“All that you dittes on the women autrices is admirable. ” Chaplain, 1639.

At the 18th century, Restif of Breton the will try auteuse , but the authoress of the 19th century, under English influence, will be pushed back without care:
“a newspaper discoursed at one time on authoress and, proscribing it with reason, wanted to express it by author. Why this reserve, this fear of using of the linguistic forces? We made actress, professional singer, bienfaitrice, and we move back in front of autrice , and we will seek the same Latin word coarsely anglicized and decorated, like ring in the nose, of a grotesque HT. ” Rémy de Gourmont, Esthetic of the French language , 1899.

One finds the word escrivaine under the feather of Chapelain, the first occupant of the armchair 7 of the French Academy in a letter addressed the October 9th 1639 to Guez de Balzac. It was used in a pejorative direction by Jules Renard in his Journal (1905): “The women seek female with “author”: there is “bluestocking”. It is pretty, and that says all. Unless they do not love better “plagiarist” or “écrivaine””.

Since the 20th century, the use seems to oscillate between Woman of letters , écrivaine and auteure .

In France, the word écrivaine is not recognized by the French Academy which, having accommodated one of them of its center a little less than three centuries and half after its creation, prefers to him the not very used term of woman writer .

With the Swiss Quebec and in , the use of the terms écrivaine and auteure spread since the years 1980.

In Belgium, these two forms are even recommended by the Service of the French language.

Alternatives

• the terms writing and écrivante also exist but are not very used.

• With pejorative, one will find sometimes scribbler or scribouillard . The term literary man can sometimes also be pejorative in certain contexts.
• a public writer is a person who places at the disposal of the public, often of illiterate people or weak culture, her capacity to be written. Nowadays, this profession, which did not completely disappear, is especially occupied to help people in their administrative approaches.
• a negro is a person who writes for the account of an other, without being mentioned.
• a author apocryphal book is a person to whom one allots a work wrongfully.

Quotations

• “Writers: vain writings” (Paul Valéry)

• “to be interested in a writer because his book is liked, they is as to be interested in ducks because one likes the foie gras” (Margaret Atwood, quoted by Jonathan Littell in Le Monde of Nov. 17, 2006)

Lists of writers/authors

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