Glad you got your advertising in. And, there are multiple typos in your post, not just that one. (wink) Hope you do extremely well.

Thank you for the post and vistit my blogs (I write in spanish about telenovelas (soapoperas) at http://www.casatelenovela.com or http://telemundo33.wordpress.com

thanks great post Ive done alot of reading on the suject.

I realize that I have the luxury of a pension from a respected publisher to back me up, which not everyone does — but I just don’t worry about those 1 cent per word folks, either the ones who post the “jobs” or the ones who will work for them for that amount. What they do for 1 cent per word is not the same as what you do — they know it as well as you do.
Scouting for gigs is hard, and at this point I’m barely making it in this business. But I know what I can do, and I understand that it’s worth so much more than 1 cent per word. I’ll come down in price sometimes to get the gigs I want, but I do have limits.
Good luck, Alexa.

I think that there is some confusion between the words “legitimate” and “professional.”

You highlighted the definitions of legitimate. Professional usually refers to writing for pay. Bloggers are usually legitimate (unless they are plagiarizing). But, as we all know, many are not paid for their writing.

Asking if writing is legit or not is a straw man argument. All writing is writing by definition. What needs to be looked at is good writing vs. bad writing…and that is done on a case by case basis.

Even the most “old school” writers recommended writing every day to keep in practice, to keep fresh, to keep…writing.

Even if a blog is just a tool to keep your mind fresh and the words flowing, that alone makes it legit – “old school” style.

Some people blog as a way of journaling about an important even on their sight. Blogging is the way if the present and future. Those who refuse to acknowledge it will be left behind.

Maybe, too, she has taken a lot of guff for being a romance writer and is just taking out her angst somewhere else. Her rant is just as misplaced as rants about romance novels. Both exist because there is an audience.

In a day and age where people overall read less than twenty years ago, I’m pleased people are taking the time to read any genre, whether it’s one I particularly enjoy or not.

Great topic again.

Time to get some coffee!

It seems to come up again and again… can anyone who can write be a writer? Sure, why not? Are they a professional? That’s a bit harder to define. In many jobs, including some that James names, a person is a professional because they’ve got some certification and membership to practice. Professionals band together and throw up some barriers to entry. Writers and editors do well to get some training, but we don’t have to, and there aren’t any standards that govern the practice.

Writers are legitimate all right, but we’re outlaws too.

But yes, blogging is legitimate writing. It’s more casual than most writing, but so are essays and columns in the paper. The important thing, I think, is for the writer to be professional in his/her approach. I’ve seen blogs that are informative and approach a topic like any magazine article, with interviews and quotes and outside research.

As a reader, it is almost impossible to tell a paying blog from a non-paying blog (ads excepted). I know of one blogger who claims to be a pro (no one I’ve ever seen post here) yet the blog I’ve read is filled with copy taken from other articles/blogs and photos lifted from the Internet without credit and likely without permission. IMO, that’s not legitimate; that’s theft. But it makes me wonder how many others behave the same way.

But I will say this about legitimacy:

When is a person a legitimate car driver?
When is a lawyer legitimate?
When is the phone technician legitimate?
What makes a legitimate plumber?
Who is a legitimate web designer?

Take those reasons, and substitute writer.

Footnote: I believe mostly everyone on this particular set of threads to be pretty heavy duty professional writers, and I for one learn a great deal by reading your posts.

However, a lot of print pubs require sources (old journalism quote: “If your mother says she loves you, be sure to check it with at least two sources”), whereas many blogs don’t have those standards, nor any warnings about that.

For example, I posted here in another thread a couple of weeks ago about copyrights, cautioning that I was going by memory from an old class and to confirm the recommendation. Some blog (and newsletter) writers will post things from what they hear, remember, etc., and post it as fact without checking or without cautioning the reader to check.

In terms of one format being better than another, that is in the eye of the beholder in my opinion. I don’t see one being better than another, but rather they meet different needs and work towards different audiences. Uppity editors and publishers are limiting themselves in terms of audience and writers that prescribe to the same attitude are only making themselves difficult to work with. Writing is an artform and like any other, it tends to grow over time. Writer’s need to learn to be as felxible if they want to truly succeed.

Of course, in light of this view, I consider blogs a very legitimate – and fun – form of writing.