"hours slaved over your private notes. " While I appreciate your point of view Ellen, I wholeheartedly disagree. I'm a prolific writer and have been getting paid to write online for years. It all started with journaling, of course back in the day we just called it keeping a diary. But writing, any writing, helps to open us up. Journaling for a writer is almost the equivelent of brainstorming, and no smart businesse person would ever deny the benefit of that. I think the problem is the amout of time that people dedicate to the endeavor. Would I spend all day journaling and pouring over what I've written like I would when writing for pay? Hell no. But do I take moments now and then to write my thoughts, feelings, and even potential ideas about writing for pay. Yep! And I still managed to publish 300+ stories in 4 months. I credit jounaling for that, but EVERYONE is different. We each have to do what works for us, so ultimately, there is no right or wrong in all this :-)