Amateur writing I'm reading "Death in the Afternoon," Ernest Hemingway's book about bullfighting in Spain. It happens that there were both amateur and professional bullfighters, and Hemingway neatly slices the difference. An amateur, he says, enjoys the event more than the people watching it. Only when the bullfighter can promise that the spectators will enjoy it more than he does would someone have the appropriate economic basis to start selling tickets.

Those of us who write without being paid for it often hesitate to claim our vocation. Hemingway's distinction could be useful here: we are amateur writers, because we apparently enjoy writing our pieces more than our readers enjoy reading them.

Being an amateur writer is a bit pathetic, but it's better than being a bull.  ¶ 3:16 PM