Write

To "write" an option means to sell an option contract that you did not already own, creating a brand-new short position rather than closing out an existing long one. The person doing this is called the writer, or sometimes the "seller" or "grantor" of the option.

When you write an option, you are taking on an obligation, not a right. A call writer must sell the underlying stock at the strike price if the buyer decides to exercise the contract; a put writer must buy the underlying stock at the strike price if exercised. In exchange for accepting that obligation, the writer collects a payment upfront called the premium, which is paid by the option buyer.

Writing is the mirror image of buying an option. The buyer pays a premium for the right to do something (buy or sell the stock at a set price) and can simply let the option expire worthless if it's not worth using. The writer has no such choice: if the buyer exercises, the writer must perform. This is why writing options is often described as having "defined income, undefined risk" in some setups (like writing an uncovered call), while buying options is "defined risk, undefined reward."

The tricky part for beginners is separating "writing" from "selling to close." If you already own a call option and you sell it back to the market, you're just exiting a position you held — that's a closing sale, not writing. Writing specifically refers to the opening transaction where a new short option position is created.