What is an 'experienced writer'?

[burginlewis]

I agree with @JRHoch about "experienced writers" being those who've earned money doing it. Although we might need to insert shades of gray here. I have done tech writing professionally. I'm under no illusion that magically made me an experienced novelist. Definitely still working on the latter.

Also, I recall that twenty-odd years ago, it was accepted wisdom in writing and publishing that the apprenticeship period for a novelist was their first half a million words. (Not joking. Google it.) So I guess another working definition of an experienced writer could be "anyone on word 500,001?"

[ViktorGrim]

Actually, being paid is generally the dividing line between "Amateur" and "Professional". Just as the diving line between "writer" and "author" is whether or not one has been published. Experience doesn't have anything to do with being paid. Experience is defined, as per dictionaries, "the knowledge or skill acquired by experience over a period of time, especially that gained in a particular profession by someone at work."

I've spent the last decade and a half taking care of my dying and elderly family members. I've learned via trial-by-fire how to manage their medication, get them from point A to point B, clean up after them, etc. I would say I'm an experienced caregiver by this point. Am I a professional? No, I've never actually been paid for it. Do I know everything? No. Could I effectively babysit someone with dementia even though I'm not a "licensed caregiver"? You bet your ass.

[therealbereth]

I would also caution against using the "experienced = paid" narrative. It leads to elitism in the writing community. Is someone who has written for maybe two years more experienced than someone who's been at it for over a decade, simply because they took to an agent and were pulled under contract? No. They may be more experienced when it comes to querying and the business behind it, but that has nothing to do with actual writing.

[yansusu]

To add to that: Not everybody even has the goal of getting paid. Some people just consider writing their hobby and are happy if they can share it only for free. That doesn't mean they don't gather experience though or develop over time.

[therealbereth]

Yes, and don't forget all the talented and experienced fanfiction writers! Many of them produce gems the quality of which you won't find on the market at all, simply because they've developed a style that surpasses any first-time writer who gets published traditionally.

In general, self-published or free work needs to be acknowledged more. I'm not a big reader of fanfiction (I used to dive into Zelda fics, back in the day, before I started writing some myself), but the narrative of "paid" or "under contract" = "experienced" throws all of these writers under the bus, so...

Let's not do that, shall we?

[AVXP]

Let's not do that, shall we?

Professional is both a noun and an adjective. "Professional" work is a statement about the quality of your work. It means "You create (stuffs) at such a high level that it is worthy of being sold." Usually that means "finished" which is what a lot of pre-pros tend to stop short of. At the hobbyist level, one is still afforded excuses. They can back down from criticism and hide behind the status of 'not being that serious' and naming all the challenges they face(d).

I've even heard the "No one is paying me to..." line, which I find ironic.
So I would admit there is a difference in the type of experience between doing something a lot, well and doing that thing 'on a professional level'. I'm not a big fan of mixing those two worlds together since the mind sets vary so much and it almost never goes well.

Which in turn makes it very hard to get/take professional advice or get the blueprint from the very successful.
What we usually get is/are observers trying to reverse engineer the 'experience' based on the results.

[therealbereth]

We were talking about experienced, though, not "professional". Different conversation.

[AVXP]

I would admit there is a difference in the type of experience between doing something a lot, well and doing that thing 'on a professional level'.

Same conversation. Professional experience should be valued more than general experience.
And since this is the original question

And how can a novice writer or new writer gain from your input as an 'experienced writer'?

The answer would be X and much more if there's been a professional 'experience' thrown in there.

[yansusu]

I think if we want to take this into consideration, we'd have to define 'professional experience' much more explicitly first. Like, you mentioned:

"You create (stuffs) at such a high level that it is worthy of being sold."

So, what does that even mean? Even if we take out people who write as a hobby and just look at people who write for a living, there'd be at least the routes of traditional publishing, self-publishing and hybrid.
Now, who says what is of a high enough level that would be worthy of being sold? Agents and similar don't apply to self-publishing. (And I've seen novels published by 'publishing houses' that were so bad I wouldn't even know what to say about them in regards to any part of their writing.)
So then, is it the audience that decides since them buying or not will decide whether it's worth selling or not? But then where is the difference between the professionals or the hobbyists? Because the audience would decide in regards to the hobbyists as well with whether they're reading or not. The only difference would be whether they have to pay or not. So does that mean that the experience would get 'professional' as soon as the author slaps a price tag on the novel?

[AVXP]

It's weird to answer questions about what I wrote with ...what I wrote.

You create (stuffs) at such a high level that it is worthy of being sold.
So, what does that even mean?

I said: "adjective. "Professional" work is a statement about the quality of your work."
Someone says "Wow, your stuff looks professional" They mean it looks worthy of being sold.

Next question
So then, is it the audience that decides since them buying or not will decide whether it's worth selling or not?
No, the store does. Most stores don't take just anything and there is a level of the 'same professionalism' that goes into what stores sell what. We all know the difference between a place that sells anything that a vendor wishes to sell and a place where there is an entry bar. Without even selling a single unit you can get a "Congratulations for getting your stuff on there."

Next question
does that mean that the experience would get 'professional' as soon as the author slaps a price tag on the novel?

Do you mean after they've brought it to market? Yes. They would be (should be) able to answer all the questions about publishing their own book. Using their experience about finishing a book and getting it on [insert selling place].

question
But then where is the difference between the professionals or the hobbyists?
This is a can of worms and in the context of THIS conversation, I would say it's about your ultimate goal and possible goals you have not yet imagined. I'm only advising - valuing advice from someone who has done what you are trying to do.

[yansusu]

Thanks for taking the time to answer with some more detail! I feel like I do understand better what you meant before. I'll have to meditate on this for a while.