Interesting post on Pinoy Copywriter the other day about the distinction between a professional writer and an amateur.
My feeling on this is that, while the term “amateur” is often used in a derogatory way (often rightfully so) it’s not always the case that a professional writer is the better writer. Now, don’t misunderstand me, I do think that 99 times out of a hundred the amateur writer is an amateur because he’s not good enough to make it as a professional. However, the only real distinction between an amateur and a professional is that a professional gets paid and an amateur does not. It’s not a fair determinate as to whether one has talent or not. First off, some genres pay little or nothing. Take poetry, for example. A gifted poet can write and publish poetry for years without earning a dime. An SEO writer can make possibly make a living writing content for websites. Secondly, some kinds of writing are easier than others.
Is the SEO writer necessarily the better writer because of what they are paid? Hmm? I’ve written pretty much everything, including SEO and SEO requires scarcely any ability at all. Anyone with a basic understanding of composition and an Internet connection can write an SEO article. Many poets I know can write SEO without blinking if they wanted to. Can the SEO writer compose a publishable poem? And I know other writers who are technically professional in that they get paid for many of the things they write who are not — at least in my estimation very good writers. Any fool can call themselves a writer these days and often they do. There may even be more “writers” sucking air on planet Earth right now than lawyers, and that’s saying something. And any writer who has ever been paid for any writing they’ve done can call themselves a professional but not every writer writes well enough to call themselves a good writer or even a competent one regardless of their status. That takes effort and talent and it’s much easier to give yourself the title of “writer” than to do the hard work. ’nuff said.
