Writer facts for kids

A writer is a person who creates written works. This can be anyone who writes, but the word usually means people who write creatively or as their job. Writers show skill in using language to share ideas and pictures. They do this whether they are writing fiction (made-up stories) or non-fiction (true stories and facts).

Different Kinds of Writing

There are many ways to write and many things to write about. Here are some examples:

• Poetry - Writing that uses rhythm and special language to express feelings or ideas.
• Prose - Regular writing that is not poetry, like in books or articles.
• Novels - Long, fictional stories, usually found in books.
• Music - Writing the notes and structure for songs.
• Lyrical - The words that go along with music in a song.
• Plays - Stories written to be performed by actors on a stage.
• Myths and legends - Old stories that explain things about the world or tell about heroes.
• Newspapers - Articles and reports about current events.
• Screenplays - Scripts written for movies or TV shows.
• Monologues - Long speeches given by one person in a play or movie.
• Nonfiction and creative nonfiction - Writing about real events, people, or facts. Creative nonfiction uses storytelling techniques to make true stories interesting.
• Greeting card writer - Someone who writes short messages for cards.

This list shows just a few of the many types of writing you can find!

Who Are the Writers?

Writers often choose to focus on one type of writing. Here are some common types of writers:

• Novelist - Someone who writes long, fictional stories called novels.
• Poet - A person who writes poetry.
• Newspaper reporter - Someone who writes news stories for newspapers.
• Columnist - A writer who regularly writes articles or opinions for a newspaper or magazine.
• Magazine writer - A person who writes articles for magazines.
• Head writer - The main writer for a TV show or a team of writers.
• Ghostwriter - A writer who writes books, articles, or speeches for someone else. The other person then gets the credit.
• Blog writer - Someone who writes articles or posts for an online blog.
• Business writer - A person who writes documents for businesses, like reports or marketing materials.

Images for kids

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  Portrait of Swedo-Finnish writer and poet Zachris Topelius (1818–1898) by Albert Edelfelt

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  Composer Richard Wagner, who also wrote the words (libretti) for his works

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  Title page of Shakespeare's The Tempest from the 1623 First Folio

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  Flaubert's heavily edited page of his manuscript for Un Cœur simple

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  Sculpture in Berlin showing a stack of books with names of great writers like Goethe and Brecht

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  Writing Letter (Photograph by Kusakabe Kimbei)

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  A scribe in India taking instructions from a client

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  Throes of Creation by Leonid Pasternak

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  William Blake "Nurse's Song" from Songs of Innocence and of Experience

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  The Ninety-five Theses (at the All Saints' Church, Wittenburg)

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  Signature of Mariana Alcoforado (Maria Anna Alcoforada), once thought to be the writer of the epistolary fiction, Letters of a Portuguese Nun.

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  Cumaean Sibyl by Michelangelo

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  John the Evangelist Ethiopian c. 1540

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  Nobel Prize Swedish winning poet and translator Tomas Tranströmer signs a book about his work by Modhir Ahmed (2007)

See also

In Spanish: Escritor para niños