Anyone living as I do near to Stratford-upon-Avon will be all too aware that April 23 marked 400 years since the death of William Shakespeare – the world’s most famous playwright.
Unlike the Bard, I’m no playwright or poet.
But I am a writer and a fellow lover of words.
So, as my personal homage to the great man, I thought I’d dedicate this week’s post to exploring various synonyms and related names for a writer.
Definition of a writer
Collins English Dictionary defines a writer as “a person who writes books, articles, etc, especially as an occupation”.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary uses “a person who has written a particular text”, while Merriam-Webster opts for “someone whose work is to write books, poems, stories, etc”.
My preferred definition comes from Thesaurus.com, which defines a writer as a “person who composes with language”. To me, this acknowledges that writing is an art form – a creative process.
The antonym for a writer is, of course, a reader.
Alternative names for a writer
Author = a person who writes a book, article, report etc
Auteur = a writer with a distinctive style and practice
Autobiographer = a person who writes their own biography
Bard = a poet-singer who recites epic or heroic verse
Biographer = a writer of someone else’s biography
Blogger = a person who writes blog posts
Clerk = a person employed in an office, bank, court or local council to keep records
Columnist = a person who writes a regular feature in a newspaper or magazine
Composer = a person who writes music
Contributor = a person who contributes an article, story, etc to a publication
Copywriter = a person who writes the text for online or printed marketing material
Correspondent = a journalist reporting on a particular subject or from a foreign country
Critic = a professional reviewer of art, music, literature, restaurants etc
Dramatist = a person who writes plays or dramas
Editor = a person who commissions or prepares written material for publication
Epistler = a writer of epistles (letters or literary works in the form of letters)
Essayist = a person who writes essays
Fabulist = a creator or writer of fables
Fictioneer = a writer of fiction, usually with little concern for literary quality
Fictionist = a writer of fiction, especially novels
Ghostwriter = a person employed to write material for another person, who is the named author
Hack = a writer who works to order
Hatchet man = a writer who specialises in strongly abusive or critical language
Ink-slinger = a composer of written work
Journalist = a person who writes for newspapers or magazines; a person who keeps a journal
Librettist = an author of a libretto (text or words of an opera)
Memoirist = a person who writes a historical account from personal knowledge
Novelist = a person who writes novels
Penman = a person employed to write by hand on behalf of others; a person with a specified ability in handwriting; an author
Pen(cil)-pusher = a person with a clerical job involving routine paperwork
Playwright = a person who writes plays
Poet = a person who writes expressive, rhythmic verse
Pot-boiler = a person who writes a book, film etc catering to popular taste
Prosaist = a person who writes in prose
Reporter = a person who writes news stories for a newspaper or broadcaster
Romancer = a writer of medieval romances
Satirist = a writer of plays, novels etc using satire
Screenwriter = a person who writes screenplays
Scribbler = a writer whose work has little value or importance
Scribe = a person who copied out documents; a writer, especially a journalist
Scripter / Scriptwriter = a person who writes scripts for plays, films or TV shows
Scrivener = a person who writes out deeds, letters, etc
Songwriter = a person who writes songs
Stringer = a journalist retained by a newspaper on a part-time basis to cover a particular place
Versifier = a writer of light or inferior verse (e.g. for greetings cards)
Wordmonger = a writer who uses words for show or without particular regard for meaning
Wordsmith = a skilled user of words
Bonus material
Did you know that Shakespeare was born AND died on 23rd April – 52 years apart?
If this list has whetted your appetite, here are some archaic names for a writer: 14 Old-Fashioned Words for Writers and Old Words for Writers.
Over to you
I was expecting there to be quite a few different names for a writer, but who knew there are so many? And so many different types of writing?
I’m sure I’ve missed some out too…
Were any of these new to you? Or do you have any other names for a writer you’d care to add? Please share them below.
(photo courtesy of Simon Howden via Freedigitalphotos.net)
Surely the “reader” is the *complement* to a writer?
I wonder if “censor” is the antonym? Or perhaps, at times, “editor”!
Interesting perspective – I guess it depends on which way you look at it. Certainly writers are doing it all for nothing (other than for the pure pleasure of writing) if no-one reads their work. And yes, the ‘nemesis’ of any writer is surely the editor. In terms of copywriting, that’s usually the client 🙂
Thanks for stopping by!