27 Differences in amateur and professional writers
Which one are you? How to go from being one to the other. How are they different?
If you had to make a list of the differences between the two what would you put on it? Is there a difference? What are the biggest things that point out an amateur and a professional?
in this blog, we will be looking at the 27 differences in amateur and professional writers
27 DIFFERENCES IN AMATEUR AND PROFESSIONAL WRITERS
Table of Contents
It’s been said the difference between a professional and an amateur is rewriting. A professional will rewrite as many times as needed, whereas an amateur will write once and leave it believing they are done. Are there any more we can add to the list?
THEY ONLY WRITE DOWN ONE-TENTH
1/ Amateurs see their story playing out in detail in their mind and only write down about one-tenth of it. In their mind it makes sense, but to anyone reading their novel they cannot make sense of anything happening. Whereas a professional writer would spend the time necessary writing down everything necessary for the reader to understand the story. Describing the details of the background, characters, and locations. Painting the correct picture for the reader to see. All ten-tenths are described not, one-tenth.
NOT USING ALL 5 SENSES
2/ An amateur may not use the 5 senses as much as they should. They will describe what they see, but leave it at that. No description of smell, sound, or touch. Whereas a professional knows to use all 5 to bring a scene to life. Knowing to pull the reader into the story as though it’s real.
IGNORING GOOD ADVICE
3/ Amateurs don’t like being told what to do. They may not like taking advice from friends or Beta readers. If someone tells them to change the ending to make it better they’ll ignore it. Whereas a professional will listen to others’ advice and see if the advice truly will make the story better and make the changes if needed. They put aside their own ego for a better story.
SHOW DON’T TELL
4/ Amateurs doesn’t care about “show don’t tell”. They’ll race through their novel like it’s a newspaper column giving a basic rundown of the events. Without showing or describing anything. The reader fails to connect on any level. Whereas a professional is fully aware of show don’t tell and paints a picture in the reader’s mind where everything comes to life as though they’re really there.
ALL EDITORS ARE WRONG
5/ Amateurs think all editors are wrong. If given advice on changing anything they’ll reject the advice and change nothing. Believing they’re right and the editor doesn’t know what they’re talking about. Whereas a professional writer will listen to what an editor has to say about the flow of their novel. Respecting a professional editor’s thoughts.
CHANGING OF GENRES
6/ Amateurs will suddenly change genres in the middle of the book and not care. They’ll send a “horror” novel to a literary agent even though it switches to an action-comedy halfway through. But a professional will stick to one genre from start to finish knowing what sells.
THE FIRST DRAFT IS THEIR ONLY DRAFT
7/ Amateurs do not have the energy to write anything. They want to move on to the next novel as quickly as possible. their first draft is their only draft. They lose all motivation to rewrite. But a professional will get to work on a rewrite right away. They may not like it but know it has to be done for the sake of a good story.
WRITING WITH NO ENERGY
8/ A professional will sit down to write even when they have no energy. Were as an amateur will only wait for them to feel the energy to do so. It might be days or weeks. But they will sit around waiting for the moment to come to them.
LEARNING HOW TO WRITE
9/ A professional will read other books to learn the craft of writing. Wanting to become better in every way. Take the advice given and apply it. Whereas the amateur will skip on reading anything that could help them. Wondering why bother. Who cares about reading other books that teach about reading.’
NOT BEING DEDICATED AND FOCUSED
10/ A professional will dedicate at least 3 hours a day to their writing. They are disciplined and focused. Not letting anything get to them. Whereas an amateur will write for about 15 minutes or so then stop. Waiting to watch TV or chat on the phone, play video games. Planning on “coming back to it later.”
NOT HAVING A THEME
11/ An amateur will not care about a theme or not care about finding one while writing. Even though professional writers say finding a theme will make a huge difference with the finishing of your novel. A professional will focus on the theme and incorporate it through the novel message.
REWRITING THE BEGINNING
12/ An amateur will not go back and rewrite the beginning after they have finished the novel. They will “find their characters” by the end of the book but submit it with weak characters in the beginning. A professional understands as a writer you find your characters as the story goes on, but once you have ended your novel you have to go back and rewrite the beginning with the updated strong characters. But an amateur finds this boring.
THEY WILL PUT OFF WRITING
13/ An amateur will wait endlessly until they have the full story in their mind before getting anything down on paper. But a professional knows to get writing right away (even if it’s in point form) and find the story as they write. They don’t let a story pass by them.
WRITING A WEAK ENDING
14/ An amateur will write a weak ending quickly that has nothing to do with the story and not care. As long as it’s done and they can move on. But a professional will take all the time needed to come up with something amazing. Wanting a powerful message to the story overall. They will rush nothing.
NOT CHECKING SPELLING OR GRAMMAR
15/ Amateurs do not care about doing a spell check. They’ll quickly write everything down thinking it’s someone else’s job. They will let the editor or literary agent care about the spelling or grammar. But a professional knows that they have to look over their work and make sure everything is done right. Even if they have to check it over multiple times, if that is what it takes, no problem.
NOT READING IT OVER
16/ An amateur will not read over their novel after they finished writing it. They will type “the end” and quickly send it off to an agent the same day. Whereas a professional will know that’s when the real work will begin. They will have others read it and take notes, they will rewrite it countless times if needed. They will not send it unless it’s truly ready.
WRITING A LONG NOVEL FOR KIDS
17/ Amateurs will not look into the length of a novel and what’s considered too short or too long. They’ll write a thousand-page story for 10-year-olds. Or 80 pages for adults. Whereas a professional would look into the length of a novel for what age group and not cross the word count limit.
TOO MUCH VIOLENCE FOR KIDS
18/ Amateurs will write for young adults but fill it with sex, swearing, and violence. A professional will know you can’t put such things in a book meant for young kids. They’ll see the bigger picture and know what to leave out.
NOT HAVING AN ENDING
19/ An amateur will not have any idea for an ending. They’ll let the story drift as though driving a car with eyes closed. If you point out to them their story is all over the place they’ll not care. Saying “it’s just like life.” But a professional will have an idea of where they’re headed at some point, (may not be right at the start, but they get an idea at some point and move towards it.)
STARTING WITH THE ENDING
20/ An amateur will sit down to write staring at their laptop waiting for an idea to come to them. Starting on page one, word one. If they do not have an idea they’ll continue staring at the screen. A professional knows you don’t have to start on the first word. You can start in the middle or write the ending first. Margaret Mitchell came up with the end of “Gone with the Wind” first then moved back towards the beginning.
TOO MANY TALKING HEADS
21/ An amateur creates “talking heads” where two people are talking and the reader has no idea where the conversation is happening. It’s as though two people are floating in space having a conversation. Whereas, a professional knows how to paint a picture clear enough for the reader to know who’s talking and where. They can see the events happening around the characters talking.
NOT RESPECTING THE READER
22/ An amateur will not respect the reader. They’ll treat them like idiots, spelling everything out for them. Telling them over and over who’s good and who’s bad. A professional will respect the reader, take them along for an adventure where the reader figures things out for themselves. Where the reader is given two plus two and they figure out four for themselves. Because they are respected they will read on.
THERE IS NO WANT OR NEED
23/ An amateur will not create any sense of want or need for the protagonist or antagonist. Just have two people wandering around the story not carrying about anything. Not in pursuit of anything. The reader will not sense anything important is happening. A professional writer will fully understand what their character’s wants and needs are and why. How they go after them. What the protagonist has to learn to give up on his want and embrace his need.
THERE IS NO INTENT OR CONFLICT
24/ An amateur will not create intent and conflict in any scene. Or know what the character wants and what obstacle stands in their way. Creating interests and tension for the reader. A professional will fully know what each character wants and what stands in their way. Letting the reader sense the tension throughout the novel.
CHARACTERS ARE ALL FAKE
25/ An amateur will create boring, dull, fake characters. Not carrying about bringing them to life in any way. Giving the reader no desire to turn the page. A professional will create real-life people who could be a neighbor or family members. Someone you can relate to. Care about how they will get out of their problem.
THE PROTAGONIST IS BORING
26/ An amateur will create a weak protagonist who stands around and does nothing. Everyone else in the novel is active, doing something. Leaving the reader bored with the lead character. Whereas a professional writer will know to put their protagonist in the greatest of danger. Knowing the lead character should have it the roughest. Which leads to a strong interesting novel.
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