When I tell people I write for a living, there are often a few moments of confusion as they try to discern what exactly it is that I do. I used to refer to myself as a copywriter, but in spoken conversations (and even a few written ones) I found this often led to a mistaken conclusion that I rubber-stamped patent applications for a living. When I call myself a freelancer, I find that the average person attributes the term to a more artistic bent – graphic designers and the like. When I call myself a writer, people instantly summon up phrases like “great American novel” and “poetry anthology”.
While it is true that a writer, novelist, copywriter, copy righter, designer, and freelancer can all be facets of the same person, it’s considerably more likely that only one or maybe two apply when speaking about a single entity. I’ve decided to clarify a few terms in this post so those that may be confused as to the meanings can get an easily broken down guide.
Workers of any sort: as with any potentially business-related interaction, bear in mind that you are in a position to gently (and without condescension) educate, but should always refrain from taking offense over a simple misnomer. It’s a positive thing to be proud of your work, but a negative thing to let it go to your head!
The terms are below, for your reading pleasure. Anything in italics is courtesy of Dictionary.com .
Writer: A person who writes. Period. This can reference anything from limericks written for personal enjoyment only to giant ad campaigns for million dollar companies.
Freelancer: A writer, artist, or other skilled tradesperson who sells services to different employers without a long-term contract. A freelancer will often be doing several small jobs for different companies at the same time.
Copywriter: A person who writes copy, typically for the purposes of marketing and advertisement.
Copy: the text of a news story, advertisement, television commercial, etc., as distinguished from related visual material.
Copyright: the exclusive right to make copies, license, and otherwise exploit a literary, musical, or artistic work, whether printed, audio, video, etc. A good way to distinguish this from a Copywriter – a writer of copy – is simply to break down the word. Someone who has a copyright has a right to make copies!
