I don't consider the word professional to necessarily mean "good at." When I started this thread, I was thinking professional as someone who has made publishing their own writing as their main source of income.
Try editing the poll options. Open the post, in the top right corner you should see an edit the poll option. Don't allow people to change their votes. It has a conflict with 'don't allow people to see the results until they vote'. Never mind. It's seems to work now.
I don't quite see it that way. I'm simply a writer. I believe I am a good one - good enough that those who have read my books ahve enjoyed it and not regretted it. It's my passion and the one field I feel I really know anything about. I feel that "amateur" implies you don't know how to write. That isn't true of me, or of a lot of people on here. "Pro" - I suppose that means you're traditionally published? But that seems to discriminate against self-published writers, which I dislike. At the end of the day, I'm a writer. And as long as people enjoy my writing and my books, I'm perfectly happy. I don't see myself as amateur by any means, but I'm not a pro either.
Probably cus the title of "writer" or rather, "professional writer", or simply the implication that one is good or bad at writing - amongst writers - is a very personal one at least for me, the term "writer" defines a part of who I am. That's not the case for a lot of people, but I'd guess that that is the case for a lot of other people too.
Look up "amateur;" it can be used to mean unskilled, but its original and first definition states nothing about quality, and neither does the definition of "professional." I've always considered it a shame that the connotation of "unskilled" became attached to the word. I've been traditionally published, yet I still call myself an amateur because I've never been paid for my writing. I would consider self-published authors making a livelihood off their writing to be a professional.
Some of my work is in print in a book of short stories published by a non-profit that donates all proceeds to charity.
I would like to know how to differentiate between professional writers and amateurs? Is it experience, qualifications, level of writing, etc? I find this interesting........hmm?
I have doubts that we will ever reach a consensus about that on this thread. Heck, now I'm no longer sure what "traditional publishing" means.
