Are you a professional writer? As a professional writer you will do some, if not all of the following:
- Belong to at least one organization that supports your genre
- Belong to a writing group that meets regularly & critiques works
- Read not only in the genre you write in but also in other genres
- When getting critiqued, a professional writer reminds himself/herself that it is the work being critiqued and not their person
- Seeks multiple views on work—not just from family and friends
- Takes constructive criticism well and then utilizes it to improve their work
- Does not depend on spell check to check for errors in a manuscript
- Reads books on writing and learns from them
- Takes classes on writing and applies what they’ve learned
- As a Professional Writer, you are always learning and trying to improve your craft
- Takes classes on editing
- Realizes that writing is hard work—and has put time aside regularly to write
- Understands that it usually takes 50 rejections for every acceptance (even if it makes you pull out your hair and scrub the bathroom with a toothbrush in frustration)
- After sending out a work, you will immediately start on your next project
- Takes time to exercise
- Eats properly
- Spends time with family and friends
These are just some of the things that will make the difference between a professional writer and someone who is in love with the idea of the writing life.