Not everyone is a writer, but every one of us has a book within. Of course, some of us have more than one book and even then there may not be enough for us to be professionals. But that is alright. Because in this wonderful day and age, we can get our books published and not worry about anything else other than sending them out into the world.
Every occupation has hobbyists, amateurs, and professionals and that includes writing. Let’s take a little deeper look into each of these categories and see what they mean.
Hobbyist
What is a hobbyist writer? A hobbyist is one who engages in an activity for the fun of it. I enjoy playing board games. They’re fun. They constitute one of my hobbies.
People can write for a hobby, as well. I think most fan fiction writers are hobbyists. They write for the fun of it. So too many writers who are on platforms such as Wattpad.
These folk enjoy writing. However, they have lots of other interests and little to no desire to make writing number one in their life. Perhaps like bike riding for me. I enjoy it, but I have no desire to go on a road trip or engage in racing or participate in a club. I just like to ride my bike every now and again.
Writing as a hobby twenty or more years ago was pretty much a solo activity. Perhaps you shared your poems and stories and novels with family and friends. Perhaps got the shorter works published in magazines or fanzines and got a couple contributor’s copies for payment. Anything beyond that was pretty difficult.
Not today, however. Today, it’s easy to share your work with the world. If you want to. And who knows? You might decide you like writing enough to move to the next level.
Amateur
I’m not referring to someone who’s a bad writer. As in Oh, my God. He’s such an amateur!
No, I’m referring to a dedicated person who loves writing, has to write, but chooses not to make a career of it.
Many vocations have people who make an interest an avocation instead of their vocation. Why? For any number of reasons. For one, unless you are a tech writer employed by a company, you will probably be self-employed as a writer. And not everyone wants the uncertainties of self-employment. Others may truly love their day jobs and don’t want to give them up for a career as an author. So writing may become a part-time job for them.
For many years the Victorian novelist, Anthony Trollope, was an amateur writer. Even after he started achieving critical acclaim and a sizable income from writing, he held onto his post office job. He liked working at the post office and he liked the security a regular paycheck gave him. It wasn’t until he was passed over for promotion that he became disgruntled and quit the post office. By that time, however, he was earning a very large income from writing and felt secure to make his living solely as a novelist.
Being an amateur isn’t a bad thing. It simply means you don’t want to write for your day job. Not that you aren’t good enough.
Professional
Many writers, however, dream of earning their living via the pen (or keyboard as the case may be). And many people do indeed support themselves by writing. But most do so by writing non-fiction, rather than fiction. And this has been the case for many, many years now.
I remember back in the ‘80s the sage advice, if you wanted to be a freelance writer, was to write articles for the women’s magazines. The market was large and the demand was high.
When Woman’s World was new, I recall an article on growing orchids. At the time I was a serious orchid grower, with hundreds of plants. What was quickly obvious was that the writer of the article didn’t really know anything about orchids. He made too many factual errors. I began tracking that particular writer’s articles and noted two things: he was good with a camera and he wrote lots of articles. He was a pro writer. Making his living selling to women’s and other non-fiction magazines.
Making a living from fiction is difficult. It isn’t impossible; there are, though, far easier ways to make a buck.
Recently, I’ve noticed more and more indie fiction writers moving over to non-fiction by offering lessons on how to write or market your books. Claiming Amazon or USA Today bestseller credentials, they offer to tell you (for a hefty price tag) how you can do it too.
Why are they doing this? Because it’s easier than writing and publishing and marketing 4 or 5 novels a year. All you do is create a course, video record it, and you’re done. Simply advertise said course, collect the fees, and press “play”. And then “repeat” for the next group and the next one after that.
Now I don’t mean to be cynical. I’m simply saying these writers have found it’s easier to make a living via non-fiction than fiction. Something pros have known for over half a century.
What Kind of Writer Are You?
I make no bones about it. I want to be a professional novelist. Hopefully, one day I’ll succeed.
However, I won’t be sad if I end up being a serious amateur. Why? Because, due to today’s technology and opportunities, even as an amateur, I can publish and market my books and make at least some money doing so. And which I’m doing right now. Every month I earn a few buck from Amazon and the outlets I’ve signed up for through Draft2Digital. And that is a nice feeling. A very nice feeling.
What about you? What kind of writer are you?
A hobbyist? Nothing wrong with that. Have fun and share your fun with the world.
An amateur? Good for you. Self-employment is not for everyone. But that doesn’t mean you can’t be serious about your poetry, short stories, or novels. And who knows? You might end up just like Anthony Trollope.
Maybe you’ve scaled the mountain. You’re on the peak. You’re a pro. Congratulations! Your hard work paid off and you deserve your reward. I envy you and also am inspired by you. Onwards and upwards!
As always, I look forward to your comments. And until next time, happy reading!
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Interesting read. I don’t have much time for my usual lengthy response (something the Spam filter will be no doubt happy about), but I’d happily put myself in the professional category (or perhaps with a crushed foot in the door).
Why? Well, I’m certainly not a hobbyist. I don’t write for fun. That’s not to say I don’t find it enjoyable, but… well… it has its moments. Sometimes writing can be frustrating, difficult, and despair inducing. That’s not a hobby in my book.
I had to rule myself out of the amateur category simply because I ‘do’ want to write for my day job. This is where reality glances up from its morning newspaper and offers me a stern look. I just don’t have the money to even attempt writing for my day job.
I’m lucky if I sell more than three to five books a year. No advertising obviously doesn’t help matters, but as my good friend reality is all too keen to point out, such luxuries require ample coinage. Unfortunately, the last tree that money sprang from got fed up with all the grubby hands clamouring for it, so it just upped roots and went on an extended vacation to parts unknown (apparently it’s somewhere in western Scotland, but that could just be hearsay).
In all seriousness, I don’t dwell on the categories. Writing is breathing. A story is told with every exhalation and another conceived with every intake. The rest will fall as it may.
All the best for the year ahead!
I agree. I write whether or not anything sells. And when I was writing poetry, nothing “sold”. There was no payment for anything one submitted. I think all told I might have gotten $5 or $10 in several years of writing and submitting poetry — and receiving that was akin to my rediscovering the last living dodo. Yet I wrote poems with abandon. Why? Because, like most writers (I think), writing is indeed breathing. It is something we just do.
I do think, though, I’m heading for western Scotland. There’s a money ent I need to talk to. 🙂
May the new year treat you kindly and send a little prosperity your way!
I would put myself in the amateur category. So, I better get myself in gear and do the job.
Amateur is a great way to think about doing something you are passionate about.
Thanks as always for a post that gets one thinking.
You are welcome, Alice! Big life changes can get one off track. But things will settle down and you’ll be back writing. The most important thing is a regular time and a regular place, but a regular time most of all. And you’ll get there!
I would like to put myself in the serious amateur category. It is true that the huge change in my life has derailed previous writing plans and I am behind on courtesies to my fellow struggling writers. I hope I can get my head and my writing back in the game soon. Reading your blog always puts me in the mood to push forward.
An excellent breakdown, as always. I didn’t see the three divisions until you pointed them out; I saw hobbyists and amateurs as the same group, those who don’t support themselves by writing. I see now that you are right, but I’m not sure where I fit in. I sell books on amazon.com in far less volume than I need to pay any bill, but just love doing it, to the point that I don’t mind if a month goes by with no sales. I’m as thrilled when someone comments on my blog as I am when someone buys my book.
Here’s another point to consider: I’m retired with a good package that will see me through for as long as I make it. In other words, the payment of the bills will never be dependent on me creating something saleable by next Tuesday, so how does that lack of pressure affect my writing?
Have fun, and I’ll talk to you next time!
Hey Jack! Like you, I always lumped hobbyists and amateurs together. But now I think they are two different creatures. And I suppose the difference has to do with dedication to writing.
I see an amateur as someone who is as dedicated as a professional, but doesn’t want to make the shift to self-employed (i.e., professional) writer. The amateur keeps the day job, either for security, or because he/she really likes the day job, or both.
The hobbyist is more of a dabbler, in my opinion. He/She writes for fun, but perhaps feels no compulsion to write regularly.
You and I, being retired, don’t have that pressure to produce for an income. However, I, perhaps, more than you, want to get a steady and significant income from my writing. I won’t starve if I don’t. It is, though, what I want. So probably for us it has to do with emphasis.
I put the pressure on myself to produce. And I want to produce lots. If I were a hobbyist, I might say, I really would rather enter this correspondence chess tournament than write. I’ll go back to writing after the tournament.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!