Writers - do you think sci-fi is a breeding ground for amateur authors?

Writing is a breeding ground for amateur authors. There are probably more crappy romance novels and fantasy novels written and published at the moment than sci fi.

The REAL problem area for truly amateurish stuff is probably fan-fic.

I think you are right in saying that a lot of people start out in sci-fi, for whatever reason, but a lot of people start out in all genres. There is probably not a genre in which I have not written some rubbish.

No, definitely not. I could see why it would appeal to amateurs because you can create you're own time/place setting and not have to do too much research, therefore you're free to just write you're little heart out (the universal 'you' not you specifically). Sci-Fi is probably the broadest genre that there is, it covers vampires, aliens, the future, alternate reality and many more in it's sub-genres. Young writers often start out writing what they like to read and so because it's so broad it possible has the largest reader base, therefore a good chunk of people would start writing some sort of speculative fiction. There a lot of terrible books in every genre, but sci-fi, being as broad as it is, possibly has more books than other genres (save perhaps romance, but romance books tend to be very similar to one another in my opinion, it might just be that I'm not romantic enough to spot the subtleties) so with more good comes more crap.

Whoever said that is either an idiot or a romance writer. I think most amateur authors get a start in romance or, god forbid, vampire/ wannabe Twilight fiction. There are some truly amazing sci-fi authors like Isaac Asimov, Douglas Adams, Frank Herbert, and many more that don't deserve to have their genre talked down. Their is some sci-fi that is pretty bad, but you pretty much can't go wrong with any of the Hugo or Nebula winners.

Simple answer: no.

People have all these conception over what is professional or acceptable about writing. For example:someone once told me that writing in first person was unprofessional. That person was wrong. If they had said, "first person is hard to get right and requires constant practice" I might have agreed, but honestly writing *anything* requires constant practice.

I agree with Adrian: any genre is a breeding ground for amateur writers. BUT How does one become an experienced writer? Practice. TONS of it.

Personally, I don't love science fiction,(writing or reading) but I do love fantasy(writing or reading), but I am picky who I read from in this genre. I tend to go off of recommendations in this genre rather than plucking a book off the shelf myself and I pick subjects I know something about.

Fantasy/Sci-Fi Authors: Edgar Rice Burroughs, Robert Aspirin, Terry Brooks, Peter David Songwriters: Harry Chapin and Jim Croce; along with John Lennon, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney both as Beatles and individually.

I'm not going to give a complex answer. It's not.

I have a lot of respect for science fiction authors. You have to not only make up your entire world, but you have to clarify and follow your own rules (and how tempting is it to tweak when you want to take the easy road?), and along with all that, find a way to base your new aspects in reality so your readers relate. It's a very complex genre. (I've tried but I can't get the hang of it. My science fiction nearly falls back into what's normally considered fantasy.)

The person who told you that is correct, or rather would have been correct if he or she said that a decade or two ago. Now, the young-adult genre serves as the breeding ground.