did you go/are going to school for writing?

DivaNicoletta · Oct 21, 2005

Just curious how many people actually majored in writing/english at college/grad school. I am a senior in college, but I switched my major to Humanities. I thought about doing a PHD in English, but I there job competition is VERY tight, so I thought about going to law school instead.

What is your job/training, did you do anything in writing?

Jamesaritchie · Oct 21, 2005

DivaNicoletta said:
Just curious how many people actually majored in writing/english at college/grad school. I am a senior in college, but I switched my major to Humanities. I thought about doing a PHD in English, but I there job competition is VERY tight, so I thought about going to law school instead.

What is your job/training, did you do anything in writing?

I majored in English Lit., and in Journalism, and took some writing classes on the side. Worked for a small newspaper for a time.

I learned a LOT about writing in journalism. It's not only a major that involves writing, but it covers a wide, wide range of jobs.

scarletpeaches · Oct 21, 2005

Left school at sixteen, never looked back. People said "Your schooldays are the best days of your life." I say, "If they're my best days, kill me now."

AdamH · Oct 21, 2005

I only took one writing course a couple years ago and it was more about meeting writers in my area than anything else since I moved into a new place. It also helped me brush up on some skills I needed to sharpen. I took a theatre degree in university with a minor in english. I might as well had just filed for unemployment right then.

But most of what I've learned are from other writers and what I read.

Sage · Oct 21, 2005

Majored in enviromental studies. Surprisingly, I'm even using it... but not in writing fiction, of course :ROFL:

azbikergirl · Oct 21, 2005

At one time I was an English major, but at one time I was also an anthropology major, theater major and psychology major. Got my BA in Russian. I work as a software engineer.

I've had training as a writer, though. Workshops and the like. Do they count?

Tish Davidson · Oct 21, 2005

Majored in biology. The only English class I took was the required freshman English.

Fishmonkey · Oct 21, 2005

PhD in ecology and evolution. Not a single writing or English class.

sunandshadow · Oct 21, 2005

I majored in English and am finding that, as advertised, it is impossible to get a good job with an undergraduate English degree. But I learned a lot about the history and breadth of literature and a lot about literary theory in my classes.

Sarita · Oct 21, 2005

I'm currently in school with dual majors in Archaeological Science and Anthropology.

AncientEagle · Oct 21, 2005

Double major, English because it felt natural, and German for fun. Later graduate studies in Journalism for a short spell.
Although my college identified the major as English, it was in reality English Literature.

September skies · Oct 21, 2005

I went into Nursing school. But I loved writing too much and after 25 years, took some journalism classes at a community college and then became an intern for a local newspaper. Eventually left, now string for several publications.

FolkloreFanatic · Oct 21, 2005

My field is Folklore & Mythology. English was too large, not enough personal attention.

Kidding. At first, I didn’t understand why it was an honors concentration, but after studying English, Languages, Linguistics, History, Literature, Social Studies (yes, Social Studies is a concentration, and one of the two most difficult, with a 120-page thesis), Hist & Lit (the other hardest), Anthropological Archaeology, and the Dramatic Arts, I finally appreciate the reasoning behind the requirements.

It’s really fun—the ethnography and anthropology seminars are indispensable in comprehending the underpinnings of narrative structures and the art of storytelling, and the folktales and legends are the best kind of inspirational fodder for the mind.

Of course, I do endure the quizzical expressions, the Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons quote, and even the occasional Joseph Campbell fan *shudder*. (We spent exactly one day on Campbell in a seminar, and that was mostly to explain why every reputable folklorist and anthropologist thinks he was a certifiable quack. It was funny to watch his miniseries, though, in a scary sort of way—the generalizations he made were simply hilarious.)

Vanessa · Oct 22, 2005

My major wasn't in english or writing.

MadScientistMatt · Oct 22, 2005

Majored in Mechanical Engineering, which is actually relevant to my non-fiction WIP.

Saanen · Oct 22, 2005

My B.A. is in English, although I started out in art. I switched to English not because I wanted to learn to write better, but because I love to read and think about what I've read. I don't know that my English classes, or the creative writing classes that I also took, made me a better writer. Certainly they made me a more well-rounded person, which helps with my writing.

I'd be writing no matter what I majored in, though.

Christine N. · Oct 22, 2005

B.S. in Kinesiology (I never spell it right, either! Durn it). BUT... I did take a semester of Shakespeare purely for the fun of it. I took the requisite core classes in lit, the professors bored me to tears, since they talked to the lowest common denominator. Ack. Wrote the papers, read the material, never went to class, still got an A.

The Shakespeare professor was really boring too, but I liked the class.

KTC · Oct 22, 2005

Not I. But I am trying to make up for it by taking night courses and workshops whenever possible.

scarletpeaches · Oct 22, 2005

I make up for it by reading a lot, KTC.

Edited to add: Your signature made me laugh so much my bowels prolapsed. :ROFL:

unthoughtknown · Oct 22, 2005

Have only recently decided to apply for a course in professional writing which is 4 years part-time. If I get in, it will start next year.

Honey Nut Loop · Oct 22, 2005

well i've only just left school and am on my gap year. So no.

Monet · Oct 22, 2005

When I first started writing seriously, I took creative writing courses at the local college to point me in the right (write... heh, heh) direction!

katiemac · Oct 22, 2005

Currently majoring in Anthropology and Communication.

The latest class where I actually feel I'm learning something new about writing is my internship, where I tutor other students so they can improve their writing skills.

goatpiper · Oct 22, 2005

I started off with a major in writing, then transferred to a performing arts school and studied musical theatre and acting - my ego had taken over an excessive amount of territory in my brain.
Once I graduated, I didn't want to pursue a career in acting, so I did nothing but wait tables. Met my wife, built a relationship, got married, moved to Denver, CO, and now I'm back full circle to writing.
Once the mountain of debt I have accumulated is abolished (somewhere around my 126th birthday, I think), I plan to go back to school for Philology and a number of different languages - it has always been language, its origin, its development, its use and its abuse that has intrigued me.

Danger Jane · Oct 22, 2005

Hah, job training.

I can babysit and teach violin and Latin!

I plan on going to school for writing...it's what I really want to do. But there's a lot of other things I could do. I'd love to teach English (or LATIN!), probably high school. I'd like to teach Latin, particularly, because I really understand languages and it's a subject that SO many people hate. But I'll always write, no matter what I go to school for.

did you go/are going to school for writing?

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