What Does an Author Do?

portrait of J.K. Rowling
Authors like J.K. Rowling work very hard to bring your favorite stories to life.

You probably have a favorite book. Maybe there is a character that you love to read stories about. Maybe you like books that make you laugh. Maybe you like books that make you scared. But do you have a favorite author?

November 1st is National Author Day. Let’s take a look at what authors do.

The author is the person responsible for the words in a story. Some even draw their own illustrations, or pictures. Authors plan the plot, or what happens in the story. Authors write the dialogue, or the words the characters say. If authors are writing nonfiction about a real event, they must research the event. Perhaps most importantly, authors make sure the story has a satisfying ending.

All of this takes great effort from the authors. After all, they start with a blank piece of paper or a blank computer screen. Even after they write their stories, they revise [make changes to] their stories to make sure they are perfect. Authors spend many hours, even years, working on their books. All this hard work pays off for authors when they make a great book that people can enjoy.

What Do You Think? Does being an author sound like something you’d like to do?

Photo Credit: Shutterstock/s_bukley