http://www.davidderrico.com/what-makes-a-professional/ Novels and E-Books by David Derrico, Science Fiction Author Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:09:37 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 http://www.davidderrico.com/what-makes-a-professional/comment-page-1/#comment-8 whizy Thu, 08 Apr 2010 01:55:16 +0000 http://www.davidderrico.com/?p=358#comment-8 If the great thinkers of our world only wrote because of royalty checks, we'd all probably still be picking rocks and eating dirt as people. A true "professional", in my mind, is someone who's passionate about their craft. Someone who's not only good at what they do, but also internally motivated by the love of being in "the zone" when engaged in their art. As for the metrics that you've described in measuring the "professional" standard, they are flawed in the following respects: Professional via publication - publishers are profit-driven, not a good indicator of excellence; Professional through number in print - numbers can be altered with marketing and time (by this logic, the Bible, Kuran, and the Communist Manifesto are perhaps the most professional work ever written); Money - there are plenty of professional idiots out there with more money than deserved; Peer review - depends on the peer. Long story longer, follow your heart and share your gift with the world. As long as the civilized world stands, your words will be immortalized for posterity. If the great thinkers of our world only wrote because of royalty checks, we’d all probably still be picking rocks and eating dirt as people. A true “professional”, in my mind, is someone who’s passionate about their craft. Someone who’s not only good at what they do, but also internally motivated by the love of being in “the zone” when engaged in their art. As for the metrics that you’ve described in measuring the “professional” standard, they are flawed in the following respects: Professional via publication – publishers are profit-driven, not a good indicator of excellence; Professional through number in print – numbers can be altered with marketing and time (by this logic, the Bible, Kuran, and the Communist Manifesto are perhaps the most professional work ever written); Money – there are plenty of professional idiots out there with more money than deserved; Peer review – depends on the peer. Long story longer, follow your heart and share your gift with the world. As long as the civilized world stands, your words will be immortalized for posterity.

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