Julie's Web Journal

As for writing, I'm with you. Being a pro writer involves more than a paycheck, IMO. One of the best pieces of writing advice that I got was, "if you want to be a pro, then act like one." There's a certain frame of mind involved. It's not simply the drive to write, but the ability (as you pointed out) to meet deadlines, to actually finish the work. You can apply that logic to just about any job. And yes, that's a simplified definition, but I think you get my drift.

I'm not sure that anyone can pin down the definition of "writer" any more then they can pin down the definition of "artist." I don't pen best-selling novels. Heck, I've never finished a novel, but I've got plenty of works under my belt. (Hey, maybe that's why I can't fit into smaller clothes! Yeah, that's it!) Yet, I produce work and get paid for it. Okay, sometimes it's harder to get the clients to pay up then it is to produce the copy, but I'm making money at what I do.

Having said that, I'm not sure that making money makes someone a writer. I've seen some horrid stuff that someone got paid to write. How about someone who works at the craft - seriously works at it. That's probably still not enough of a definition, but that'll have to do for now.

Tags: Writing
Filed under: Writing            

Fahim Farook said:
As you said, it's very hard to figure out what makes somebody a writer :) Is it the desire to write? Is it the fact that you spend all day sitting at the keyboard hammering away? Is it that other people like your writing? Of course, once you add in the "professional" aspect in, it becomes a bit easier - you have to be consistent, diligent, reliable and thorough to begin with :p But then again, I've seen many "professional" writers who are none of those ... so out goes that theory :) One scene that came to my mind when I read this entry was from the "X-Files" - Cancer Man is a failed writer and there is this one episode where they show him sending in story after story presumably only to be rejected. He finally gets one story published and almost resigns from his job ... No real idea what relevance that has to anything else. Just had to share :p
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julie said:
If it's the fact that other people like your writing, then you can count almost every teenager at fanfiction.net as a writer. Ugh.

Hey, the X-Files has got to be relevant to just about anything, right? ;-)
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Karen Funk Blocher said:
That last X-Files comment sounds like the Godfather theory in You've Got Mail. I find myself doing that a lot with BtVS, actually. Certainly your "work at it" concept ties in with my idea that you have to write stuff, and keep writing; but there's something to be said for the related work, too: submitting, promotion, and, in cases like yours, bill-collecting. I submit to you that teenagers who write fanfic are writers. They're just not very good writers- yet.
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julie said:
I'm not sure about some of the teenagers - the whiny ones who can't take concrit in particular. The ones who get so upset when someone suggests that they use a spellchecker that they get their little friends to gang up and leave hateful e-mails. Those aren't writers. They're spoiled brats. Kids these days get told that everything they do is just fine, even if it needs improvement. And then when someone suggests otherwise they go all ballistic. I really dread when some of my son's friends turn eighteen. They won't be able to cope.
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Fahim Farook said:
As you said, it's very hard to figure out what makes somebody a writer :) Is it the desire to write? Is it the fact that you spend all day sitting at the keyboard hammering away? Is it that other people like your writing? Of course, once you add in the "professional" aspect in, it becomes a bit easier - you have to be consistent, diligent, reliable and thorough to begin with :p But then again, I've seen many "professional" writers who are none of those ... so out goes that theory :) One scene that came to my mind when I read this entry was from the "X-Files" - Cancer Man is a failed writer and there is this one episode where they show him sending in story after story presumably only to be rejected. He finally gets one story published and almost resigns from his job ... No real idea what relevance that has to anything else. Just had to share :p
Date: Date:

julie said:
If it's the fact that other people like your writing, then you can count almost every teenager at fanfiction.net as a writer. Ugh.

Hey, the X-Files has got to be relevant to just about anything, right? ;-)
Date: Date:

Karen Funk Blocher said:
That last X-Files comment sounds like the Godfather theory in You've Got Mail. I find myself doing that a lot with BtVS, actually. Certainly your "work at it" concept ties in with my idea that you have to write stuff, and keep writing; but there's something to be said for the related work, too: submitting, promotion, and, in cases like yours, bill-collecting. I submit to you that teenagers who write fanfic are writers. They're just not very good writers- yet.
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julie said:
I'm not sure about some of the teenagers - the whiny ones who can't take concrit in particular. The ones who get so upset when someone suggests that they use a spellchecker that they get their little friends to gang up and leave hateful e-mails. Those aren't writers. They're spoiled brats. Kids these days get told that everything they do is just fine, even if it needs improvement. And then when someone suggests otherwise they go all ballistic. I really dread when some of my son's friends turn eighteen. They won't be able to cope.
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