What is the difference between the terms author and writer?
Because the terms “author” and “writer” are so similar in meaning, there is often confusion as how they should be used. Even though the difference is small, it still does exist.
An author is a person who writes books on a regular basis. A write is a person who writes shorter pieces for magazines, journals, websites and newspapers. However, a writer can also write books, though not as regularly as authors and this is not the only type of writing that this person does.
One way of explaining the difference between the two words is to say that an author is one who only writes books, where a writer engages in many different forms of writing. A person who writes fiction is referred to as an author, but a person who writes non-fiction material is referred to as a writer.
An author is a subset of a writer. This can be looked at in terms of the time spent writing. An author does not write all the time, but a writer does and usually writes every day.
The main aim of an author is to complete a book that he/she is working on. There may or may not be another book written after the first one or it may be one of many. Once a person has a book published then this person is an author. A writer, on the other hand, is constantly writing and has a variety of pieces ongoing at the same time.
When an author finishes a project, then he/she can take time off until the decision is made to start another one. A writer has this option as well, which makes the difference between the two rather claoudy.