Professional & Professionalism

There are so many ways to go with this, B., and the simplest may be to just go with the "paid for your writing" concept. But that doesn't address the professionalism part, so you really have two very different questions listed here. To me, professionalism has both an ethics component (i.e. honest approach to the business/endeavor), and a mature approach in terms of one's overall technique. As an example of the latter, if a person has good self-discipline for their writing, they embrace the pursuit of excellence in writing even though they realize it is a lifelong learning situation, and they treat comments on their work as opportunities to learn and improve, they show good professional maturity. If they dabble in writing, don't finish projects, react negatively or arrogantly to criticism, and think their own writing is absolutely brilliant, they do not show that maturity that contributes to professionalism. As we've seen in threads about very successful people who have meltdowns in the face of negative reviews, success (being a professional) doesn't equal professionalism.

I don't have a freelancing career, so I can't really answer that specific question, but I would think having a strong ethical stand and a mature approach one's chosen activity would be a prerequisite for professionalism in any chosen occupation, and that professionalism would be of utmost importance if anyone wants to develop a career rather than just take a job.

I think the idea of getting paid = professional is a pretty good one (it may not even be monetary payment). However, I think a person can be established in a profession, be in demand, and have zero professionalism in the way they handle their affairs and interact with others. Ego, immaturity, stubbornness, etc. can make them seem anything but professional.