Do all writers…. write??

With the increasing popularity of audiobooks, and the different sides of the debate over whether this constitutes ‘reading’ (spoiler alert: cognitive tests show no difference in information retention or comprehension and so… it does), it got me to think about writers.

Do all writers… write? I don’t just mean that some type (although my first drafts and best ideas still come from pencil scribbles on real paper). I mean that writing implies the prior construction of words into phrase, sentences, and paragraphs. But story telling doesn’t require any actual ‘writing’. Sure, it needs character, setting and plot. But none of that needs to be written or even made up in advance (picture a group huddled around a campfire telling ghost stories).

Does that mean story tellers are different writer? I once saw Jeffrey Archer speak at Usher Hall in Edinburgh and he was very clear: he didn’t see himself as a writer. He was a storyteller.

Does any of this matter? Maybe not. But when I read a book, listen to an audio book, or hear someone telling a story IRL, I’m increasingly thinking about what I admire. For me it is the way their words create characters, settings and stories that leave me grinning, or sobbing, or terrified, or inspired. Whether the author considers themselves writers or storytellers doesn’t matter to me. So long as I know when to order their next instalment.