Writers and Their Craft

What's the dictionary definition of the word apprentice? The one that applies to us writers is:
     

  apprentice: a learner; novice; tyro.

Below the definition, there was a section called Words Related To Apprentice. Under that was:

pupil, flunky, rook, tenderfoot, beginner, novitiate, neophyte, newcomer, heel, student, rookie, amateur, tyro, starter, greenhorn, probationer

Reading those related words made me smile and even grin a little. As our quote says, we are all apprentices or learners,, but many of the related words describe us at different stages of our writing journey quite well. My personal favorites are:  flunky, tenderfoot, rookie, and greenhorn. Which ones do you relate to?

What the poster quote says, and what I've written here, shows that we are never finished learning this craft. In one way or another, we will always be apprentices. Just as an apprentice carpenter moves from the simplest tasks to the fine art of creating wooden masterpieces, we start with the easiest types of writing. Then, as we gain experience, we increase our output, our ability to relate to the reader, and our more professional type of writing. We are rookies when we begin writing, but we raise our status as we increase the amount of writing we do as well as the kind of writing. 

Never be offended by considering yourself as an 'apprentice' writer. You may be at an advanced stage of apprenticeship but still learning. As for me, I hope that I never stop learning about my craft. No matter how much we've learned, there is always more knowledge to be gained. 

In the quote, the phrase where no one ever becomes a master may be slightly off. I do think that some writers are true masters of our craft, but their numbers are in the minority of writers. Even so, it's what we all strive for.