I've just started reading a book from one of my favourite writers of fantasy fiction, Terry Brooks, called Lessons From a Writing Lfe: Sometimes the Magic Works.
This is basically a sort of memoir from Brooks exploring what it is like to go from a beginner to a best-selling author of award-winning fiction. But, as Elizabeth George explains in the prologue, it also demonstrates some of the important differences between being a writer and being an author.
George makes the point that "writers seek to write, and they seek to write better and better with every book" whereas "authors seek only to be published, and they seek advances to match their egos." She also uses the prologue to explain that Brooks is representative of long-term writers who draw on a game plan called craft - "and as any craftsman knows, that means work."
These comments draw my interest from several angles of English Language Teaching that I have been involved with, including ELT coursebook writing, actual classroom teaching, and teacher "training."
What do you think? Could it be useful to draw similar distinctions (as per the writer/author comparison above, along with the concept of "craft") as per the following?
- ELT writer versus ELT author
- English Language Teacher versus English Language Instructor
- Teacher Development Facilitator versus Teacher Trainer
Personally, I think so (as in, such comparisons can be useful to think about). That word "craft" strikes me as being very important, as do the points about "craftsmanship requiring work."
Anyway, hope it gives you something to ponder!
:-)
