IMVHO the usefulness of a degree, college or otherwise, depends on many factors, some of which have already been mentioned above.
I have multiple degrees, an Associate's Degree in Liberal Arts, two Bachelor's Degrees, one in English/German and one in Computer Science, and an MBA with a concentration in MIS. I also completed studies for a secondary ed teaching degree in English but never pursued a teaching career because I ended up owning a business instead.
For me personally, getting the degrees have helped insofar as the studies taught me many things I can apply to my writing (jury is still out on the success/failure
, hope to have an answer soon!).
My English degree required me to do a lot of reading outside of my comfort zone at the time (translation: hot steamy romance novels). I also had to analyze works and write research papers on the findings, among other things. As an English major my writing was required to be as flawless as possible, which helped me obtain a solid foundation for the grammar/spelling stuff (not claiming to be perfect here, just less angst-ridden about that aspect of writing!). I also took German, Spanish, French and Greek, which exposed me to other cultures, more fodder for the future.
I did take one creative writing class, and although I did well I was told by my instructor that I should not waste my time trying to become a novelist at my age because I did not have enough life experience (I was 22).
My teaching classes included a lot of psychology, and my student teaching was an experience I will never forget that has been tucked away for future use (I was placed at my old high school and given very challenging students.).
My computer science degree taught me logic and problem solving, which has been very helpful in plotting and putting pieces together. This may sound strange to some but the skills I learned and have applied for the past 10+ years as a programmer have made putting a novel together a much smoother process (again, the jury is still out!
). For example, programming requires a lot of 'if-then-elseif-else', something I do a lot in plotting.
And of course the life experiences that go along with getting my degrees have planted fodder in my brain for later use, although life experiences come from everywhere, not just school. I never served in the military, for example, and I am sure that that experience would produce a lot of fodder for an aspiring novelist!
Everyone is different and has different life experiences, and as previous posters have already stated, I don't think that having a degree or not impedes a career as a writer. I feel that one of the unique qualities a writer has is the ability to absorb and translate experiences into words that eventually become books of all kinds.
I'll let you know how it works out for me if you're interested.
. Lol.
