I think it's been said several ways that anyone can draw, but an Artist makes art. Anyone can write, but an Author can tell a story. But so many things are subjective.
Maybe we consider a real Artist a person who has been to school, knows their history, and puts in their time. But what do we say about the prodigies that make cool stuff people fawn over faster than the work of scholars? Maybe it comes down to how detailed the work is. Attention to detail is important. But not everyone can draw/paint/ink at the same level just because they want to.
And in writing, we can ask similar questions. Is an Author a person who never publishes their work with mistakes? I can show you best-selling novels with plenty of grammatical and punctuation errors. Even the best editing team can miss things. So is it fair to say a stay-at-home mom who overlooked a misused conjunction or improper quotations isn't an Author? She didn't have a big budget or a team to comb through her work at all like the "professionals." Maybe we consider an Author authentic by how long they've been around, how many books they've put out, or the number of fans they have.
At what point does a person stop being "someone who draws a lot or writes a lot" and becomes an "Author or an Artist," in your opinion?
For me, I think it comes down to a numbers game.
I started my journey as an Author by writing explicitly adult stories. Most of it was stuff teenagers read late at night when they thought no one was awake. And I'll be honest; I was successful at what I did. I had a significant fan base. People were hooked on my words. But then came the point when I questioned whether I was plucking low-hanging fruit. Was I a story teller or just an alternative to p**n? So despite the growing fan base that I had, I ended my life as that kind of writer.
I decided to try telling stories that didn't revolve around sexual content.
And you know what I found out? It wasn't easy. I wasn't the worst writer in the world, but without a sex scene every few pages, I struggled to draw attention to my new body of work. Not only that, but suddenly I had people pointing out my flaws.
When I was writing stuff for people to ..."have fun with," no one cared if I accidentally misused " there, their, and they're." No one cared if I forgot a period. No one cared about my overall quality. But after I left all that to become a "real Author," I couldn't escape the criticism. To this day, I still get messages about minor things, but they always feel like the most earth-shattering discoveries. I pay for software to help correct and fix errors, but I still miss things. There's nothing worse than writing what feels like the master class only to have a complete stranger knock holes in it.
But I've stayed on this journey. I've continued to try becoming a real Author. Years have passed now, and I've been put through the paces. I have more than a dozen novels, and I'm even writing video games.
But I still don't feel like the real deal because as far as I've come, I'm still not as popular as I was when I wrote my "explicitly adult" stories. Sometimes I log into old accounts just to see how those old stories I abandoned are doing. Even now, after years of being untouched or edited (and boy, do they need editing), they're still more popular than anything I've put out today. I think when this version of me finally catches up to that one, I'll finally consider myself authentic.
I'll still call myself an Author. I've put in the work, and I've done my time. But until I pass the old me, there's a bit of imposter syndrome I'll have to face.
But what do you think makes an Author or an Artist different from those who just write or draw? Have you met your standard?
Feel free to promote your work here, but only if you answer the question.
Here's my current story in progress