Thanks for the reply. I have to beg to differ about being “silly people”, “overly sensitive”, or a “zealot”, though. I’m not sure calling me or Jaime names really disproves the point. If you know that this was sloppily worded–

“Apparently I could have worded this part more carefully, but please.”

–maybe you should consider that a more helpful or productive response would have gone like “Apparently I could have worded this part more carefully. Sorry, dudes. I’ll check for that next time.” Because, like Jaime, I’m afraid what I read still looks to be what you wrote, and as was once said to Greg Feeley, if you’re a professional writer and people are consistently (apparently) misreading you in the same directions, you may have a problem on your hands.

I will accept that what you wrote is not what you meant, but you still wrote it. I wasn’t the one to equate real day jobs and professionalism with science and engineering.

And I’m not going to debate with you about context and wording things carefully, because I’ve learned the writer trying to break in never, ever wins against the established pro. The feeding chain doesn’t work that way.

I will say this. Writers I respect a great deal have taught me two things. A writer lives and dies by their words and once it’s out there, you can’t take it back.

The second is that you can’t control the reader’s fifty percent.

Really, my pet peeve on blog comments is people getting twisted up on their own issues when they’re not intended, and assuming the worst of an author. Apparently I could have worded this part more carefully, but please. Why is everyone out to assume the worst and always assume that they’ve got it right???

You know, I actually linked to this post on LJ until someone pointed this out to me. I took the link down once I realized what you were really saying–only those lucky enough to have the advantage of education and money can be truly professional. While I was agreeing with the life experience section of the essay you slipped the knife in.

The sad thing is that I’ve heard this kind of thing from so called ‘professionals’ so often during my working life my eyes slid right by it. As one of the first kind of writers you reference, the ones who do jobs to pay the bills and survive while writing, I’ve grown used to being told a trained monkey could do my job and no one would ever know the difference. And I don’t even blink anymore at being told none of the jobs I’ve held are “real jobs”.

Desensitized much? Maybe just a little.

I do wonder how many of the highly educated, well paid scientists and engineers, the ones with the real professionalism and talent, could do nine, ten hour shifts standing on their feet and still come home and write every night. Just how long would their commitment to writing last?

I’d place a wager on which type of writer gains more life experience in the bargain, but that would be a sucker bet.

I definitely agree that for the most part one gets better as one gets older. Mostly I wanted to point out that while a lot of people don’t make their way into a writing career while they’re fresh out of college, there are a few notable exceptions to the rule.

And to my chagrin I must admit that I haven’t actually read The Great Gatsby. Now I’ll have to read This Side of Paradise first, I suppose.

“Experience leads to good writing, but age is no guarantor of experience.”

Well, experience *can* lead to good writing; then again, maybe not. And while age does pretty much guarantee experience (on a quantitative, not necessarily qualitative, level), what it doesn’t guarantee is wisdom or insight. I haven’t read Zadie Smith, but here’s my point: If she was really that insightful at 22, just wait until she’s 32.

Case in point: F. Scott Fitzgerald, whom I think we all can agree was of a pretty high caliber at a relatively young age. Read “This Side of Paradise,” which he wrote at 24, and then read “The Great Gatsby,” written at age 29. That’s what I’m talking about.

I certainly meant no offense with my comments. As I said, there are many young people who write better than many best-selling “authors.” No argument there! But it is very rare for someone under, say 27?, to have gained any truly deep wisdom/insight. Again, I know you’re going to jump all over that. But, let me just say that I have always been “older than my age,” so, trust me, I know what you’re getting at.

I don’t know. I hate blog arguments, and I’m not looking to start one. Suffice it to say that there is a certain opportunity for wisdom that comes as one gets older, with a quality that is simply not available to us at a younger age. And here’s the thing: there’s nothing wrong with that!

Let me make one more point. Kant, one of the greatest western philosophers of all time, never left his tiny, little town in his entire life. A genius philosopher with “no worldly experience.” And yet, I guarantee that the ideas that make him a genius were not formed when he was 22. Seeds? Sure, why not. But, there’s a reason why the phrase “mature philosophy” is used when speaking about such greats.

Hi, Mike. I’m one of those first-type people. I do not have a science or engineering career. And for various reasons, one of which being my financial situation and one of which being a serious curiosity about how things work, I have one of those bounce-around resumes, one that’s kept ends meeting.

I assure you my job(s) require professionalism and talent, and they are very real.

Please consider your assumptions; thanks.