Writing vs Creating Content
THE WAY YOU SEE THIS DISTINCTION DETERMINES... WELL, JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING
The distinction between writing and creating content — and, concomitantly, between Writers and Content Creators — is singularly important.
This is true, even though some amount of copy writing is legitimately included on the content creation side of the ledger.
Writers are primarily interested in the nature and “quality” of their work product. In contrast, Content Creators, even when they are writing, understandably focus more on the business and mechanics of publishing and selling their work product (or having their work product sell some other product) than upon the writing itself.
Content Creators and their natural clients see “content” as a fungible commodity, one that has a job to do and is judged solely on the basis of how well it does that job.
This affects a lot of writers in different ways, not the least of which is whether and how they choose to employ AI as a tool. But make no mistake… it’s about more than just AI. It’s about style and voice and a host of other key factors in writing and self-publishing, which we’ll be discussing over the next several months in the Pivot to Writing Backroom. If you haven’t already, be sure to join us “on the inside” for the rest of the conversation.
— Phil Friedman
P.S. - What do you think about the dichotomy between writers and content creators? Is it real, and does it make sense to you? Let us know in (yep, you guessed it) the comments thread below. — PLF
Copyright © 2025 by Phil Friedman — All Rights Reserved
Read somewhere that Papa wrote and rewrote the first page of his 'A Farewell to Arms' over a hundred times before he felt he nailed it! Now why did he do that time and again? Would any programmed or even a 'learning algorithm' that functions on layers of logic and syntax, on rehash and mish-mash, on clever patchwork and plagiarism ever do that? For the same reasons that Papa did it? I don't think so.
I maintain my stance from the BeBee days Phil, that we have failed to define and establish what writing and writers are all about, caught up in generalizations.
There was a time Content Writers were called Content Developers. Content at times could mean both textual and visual. Visual content could be static or dynamic. If dynamic either animated or real footage. A 'Writer' is a broad definition of a large classification of 'types'!
These days you can easily make out 'information economy' content, personas, avatars, bots, and agents. It is all starting to sound and look alike. Not long before the mistrust and boredom will set in deep. There are already apps that tell you XX% of some content is AI generated and such.
Creativity and originality are a whole different ballgame. It is not meant for mass consumption (for which there are many devices and tools of enablement). Originality and authenticity is what connoisseurs pay for. Even through their noses. Sometimes it is the artist not the art that inspires. And thanks to all this talk of 'transformation' and 'tectonic shifts', originality and inspired talent will cost ten times more in the not too distant future.
The abacus got replaced by the calculator. The compression spray gun got replaced by Adobe suite. Now we have even more tools than before. We should look at things that way and use them judiciously to help save some time and repetitive effort if those are a concern. I suspect most of the evangelists of Gen AI are nothing but brokers trying hard to sell half-baked products through fear mongering for a commission/doomsday profit. ;)
Nicely put together sub-stack, amigo.