Are you a writer or are you a storyteller?

[idontknowyet]

Another thread made me think of this. How do you define yourself are you a writer or a storyteller?

[RPatton]

I love this question!


I am definitely a storyteller who uses words to tell her stories. How those words come together on a page is less important to me than how the characters come alive. I gleefully break grammar rules and don't fret about word choices as long as I remain true to my characters and their story.

[DrewMcGunn]

Another thread made me think of this. How do you define yourself are you a writer or a storyteller?

Yes.

[Mark Gardner]

Definitely a storyteller.

[RappaDizzy]

Interesting. If someone asks I would say I’m a writer. But in truth I’m a storyteller because I don’t think about the words like RPatton says.

[ImaWriter]

ImaWriter.   :icon_razz:

Seriously though, I consider myself a storyteller. The storyteller gave birth to the the writer.

[Laughing Elephant]

Both.
Words are my playmates whether I speak or write them and they need to play nice, or a story will never get told ...

[Shoe]

Writer. The story gives me something to write about.

[Jack Krenneck]

I'm a writer, because words are music.


I'm a storyteller, because creating worlds and filling them with people that readers enjoy is an act of poetry. 

[Erron]

I'm a writer, because words are music.


I'm a storyteller, because creating worlds and filling them with people that readers enjoy is an act of poetry.

yes, me too. Well used words transport me, as do well made worlds.

[katc]

Both, I think. It's the way the words come together and make me feel, but it's also bringing the characters to life.

[JimJohnson]

Both. When I write fiction, I'm a storyteller. When I'm writing some nonfiction and freelance material (be it gaming stuff or professional work), I'm a writer.

[Anarchist]

Publisher first. Writer second.

[Kate Elizabeth]

I'm both, but I have a feeling that I'm a better writer, than I am a storyteller.

[guest120]

I'll call myself a writer from time to time out of habit, but I'm not a talented enough wordsmith for that to be technically true. William Faulkner is a writer. Margaret Atwood is a writer. I'm a storyteller.

[Vijaya]

Writer...of stories

I stuttered terribly as a child and I think of storytelling as oral. Writing is my natural state.

[LD]

I love this question!


I am definitely a storyteller who uses words to tell her stories. How those words come together on a page is less important to me than how the characters come alive. I gleefully break grammar rules and don't fret about word choices as long as I remain true to my characters and their story.

This is much like how I see it.  Storytellers are the ones who tend to have people gathered around them at parties, hanging on their every word, sprinkled with laughter throughout. 

I'm a writer.

[munboy]

I'm a story-telling writer. 

[guest390]

To take it beyond the level of hobbyist you have to be both. So it depends on your goals.

[bookworm]

I'm both, but I have a feeling that I'm a better writer, than I am a storyteller.

I'm definitely a better writer than storyteller. Writing comes naturally to me. Storytelling is what I am working to learn.

[thatquietchick]

Both, but I'm going to say storyteller first. I am a good writer, but I don't write for writing's sake—it always starts with that nugget of story that I want to communicate. The writing flourishes around that nugget.

[Max]

Storyteller. For sure.
Might have been a writer at some point of time, but I've evolved. Devolved? Let's just say changed.

[dgcasey]

I am more of a writer, but I'm trying to become more of a story teller. I think using DNS helps with that. Nothing like sitting is a darkened room, maybe with a cold drink and pretending you're sitting around a campfire with a bunch of kids and telling them the scariest ghost story you can think of. Using Dragon, I am more focused on telling the story than I am the grammar and spelling. The "writing" comes afterward.

[Pandorra]

A daydreamer who 'ghosts' for my inner child!   


My stories are as new to me as they are to my readers, I am just writing them down as they unfold.

[Lorri Moulton]

I've been a writer who was a frustrated storyteller.  Now, I can be both. 

[Jeff Tanyard]

Writer?  You mean like letters and such?

(Heh.  Just a little "Unforgiven" humor.   )

I tell stories via the written word, so I guess "both" is the only logical answer.  *shrug*  In any event, I prefer "author."   

[RCoots]

I can't be both? I tell stories. They spill out of my brain and onto paper or into a computer. But, *pokes* apparently I'm also a writer, because I try to do it in such a way that reading the finished product doesn't make me want to claw my eyes out and set my Kindle on fire.

[guest120]

Writer?  You mean like letters and such?

(Heh.  Just a little "Unforgiven" humor.   )

I tell stories via the written word, so I guess "both" is the only logical answer.  *shrug*  In any event, I prefer "author."   

The Duck of Death! 

[Rob Martin]

I tell stories, I write books.

[Sonya Bateman]

I'm a hack. 

[Captain Cranky]

but I don't write for writing's sake

Interesting you should say that, because I consider myself a storyteller buf I love the physical act of writing and will often write for writing's sake. Not sure why, but there's something about a good pen and paper that gets me. I hand write drafts etc for that reason, but sometimes find myself writing random stuff just so I have a reason to play with my pens. I could be a bit of a weirdo though, jury's still out 

[tdecastro31]

I'm a fiction writer ;)