Freelance Writers -- A Different Breed by Joan-Marie Moss
If you want a profile of a writer, you'll look long and hard -- and be very disappointed. Writers come in all shapes and sizes. The only common denominator they share is that they use ink and paper (or digital data) to communicate with others.

When the Bloomingdale Writer's Group formed in 1990, that diversity was most pronounced. The people who joined that group included people who admittedly only write "for my own enjoyment" as well as those who dreamed of getting their names in print and those who work as freelance writers. Frequently the group's discussions focused on what is required to become a successful published writer.

It was surprising how many of those people were afraid that success would happen to them. These were the people who wrote breathtaking prose and poetry and then "put it in a drawer" afraid to expose it to potential criticism. And, it was surprising how differently each approached writing both in terms of their goals and the methods they used to get achieve what they thought of as "success". Perhaps the most astounding revelation that came out of that gathering is that the only consistent distinction between the published authors and amateurs, is that published authors were getting paid for their work -- even while they learned.