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Tigerp, we all come to the table with different views of
what we do as writers. For some reason, I got it stuck in my head that I wasn't a 'real' writer until I'd actually written something and got paid for it. That's happened several times since then - being paid, I mean and still I sometimes hesitate to think of myself and writer in the same sentence, almost as if the title of 'writer' is too much of an honour to bestow on myself. Even when I write the fluff stuff, I'm doing something that I enjoy and that's the be all and end all, that I enjoy writing whether I'm getting paid or not.
posted by
word.smith
on June 10, 2005 at 7:27 PM
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With a background in computers and the sciences (and business), all of which depend on something other than words being put on paper, I suppose that I'm in a kind of "between" area. Since I did a bit more than earn a living in those other areas, one could say I'm a professional scientist, a professional computerist, a professional businessman. However, I've always maintained that my success in those areas was because I write (started before I knew what those others were). So, I'm also a professional writer (but I prefer to be just called a writer)!
posted by
L.E.Gant
on June 9, 2005 at 7:58 PM
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Great post!
Good food for thought. Thanks, enjoyed reading it.
posted by
RAME
on June 9, 2005 at 2:34 PM
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mmm-w
Isn't the passion for writing just delicious?
posted by
tigerprincess
on June 9, 2005 at 12:14 PM
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LizzyMorrow
I could not agree more. The only reason I put in ametuer was to distinguish the difference between someone who does and does not make a living writing
posted by
tigerprincess
on June 9, 2005 at 12:13 PM
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Professional only means that you are getting paid and/or making a living at writing. But there is no such thing as an amateur writer (that's just my opinion, I didn't read it somewhere) I think that as long as you write, you're a writer and if you hope to become a professional someday then you're considered an "aspiring" professional writer. Anyone who sits down to intentionally put words on a page in a way that gives them a creative feeling is a writer. Anyone who loves to write for the sake of writing is a writer.
posted by
Narek
on June 9, 2005 at 11:59 AM
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i would like to think....
that there are days when i fit into each catagory.... the mere idea of amatuer leads me to think that it means "still learning, striving and hoping to become...." and i for one, hope that drive and passion never dies....
posted by
mmm-w
on June 9, 2005 at 7:34 AM
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