Claim: Charles Dickens was a creator.

A writer is a person who uses written words in various styles and techniques to communicate their ideas . Writers produce various forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels , short stories , poetry , plays , screenplays , and essays as well as various reports and news articles that may be of interest to the public . Writers ' texts are published across a range of media . Skilled writers who are able to use language to express ideas well often contribute significantly to the cultural content of a society . The word is also used elsewhere in the arts -- such as songwriter -- but as a standalone term , `` writer '' normally refers to the creation of written language . Some writers work from an oral tradition .   Writers can produce material across a number of genres , fictional or non-fictional . Other writers use multiple media -- for example , graphics or illustration -- to enhance the communication of their ideas . Another recent demand has been created by civil and government readers for the work of non-fictional technical writers , whose skills create understandable , interpretive documents of a practical or scientific nature . Some writers may use images -LRB- drawing , painting , graphics -RRB- or multimedia to augment their writing . In rare instances , creative writers are able to communicate their ideas via music as well as words .   As well as producing their own written works , writers often write on how they write -LRB- that is , the process they use -RRB- ; why they write -LRB- that is , their motivation -RRB- ; and also comment on the work of other writers -LRB- criticism -RRB- . Writers work professionally or non-professionally , that is , for payment or without payment and may be paid either in advance -LRB- or on acceptance -RRB- , or only after their work is published . Payment is only one of the motivations of writers and many are never paid for their work .   The term writer is often used as a synonym of author , although the latter term has a somewhat broader meaning and is used to convey legal responsibility for a piece of writing , even if its composition is anonymous , unknown or collaborative .