I think I may be in the wrong section for this. If so, mods, please feel free to move it. I see what I'm about to ask as more a question than anything.
So... hello everyone. I'm Kody Boye. I'm a fiction writer and, also, a community college student, one with no focus or projected career goal at that. My current major in college is... guess... 'General Studies.' To say I'm not happy with that would be an understatement, and though I've had many a discussion with people recommending different fields of study for me to get a degree in (Journalism, English, History, etc.,) I've got a bit of a conundrum. Basically put, the three I've mentioned above just don't do much for me. There's no spark, no interest, no... heart, I guess you could say. I don't want to be one of those people who get a degree just to have it for job purposes and then be stuck in a miserable position. I know what I want to do with myself--write--and while I wholeheartedly believe I have the potential to make a career for myself with my writing, as I've somewhat developed one now, I'm trying to figure out if studying creative writing as a whole would benefit me, as I'm well aware that a very low percentage of writers actually make enough money to sustain themselves financially through their craft.
A few things I should probably point out before this article goes any further:
- I've been of the opinion for a while now that studying creative writing would be useless because I know the mechanics of writing, story-structuring, that sort of thing, etc. from some six years of critiquing from groups and editors, so this is a major concern for me. This is something I've been reconsidering for a while, especially since the idea struck me that I could possibly teach it if I actually decided to get a degree in the field.
- I've been worried about the old stigma of the 'arts' schooling--meaning that studying the arts will kill your desire to actually do it.
- I've also been concerned about studying creative writing as a career because I don't know if teaching it would be beneficial to me as a person (meaning I could live off it, happily, without worry, etc.)
Now... my current idea for next semester is to do what I've been planning on doing all along: sign up for three classes, but make one of them be creative writing. My secondary plan, once school starts up again, is to scope out the curriculum, see just what is taught, and choose to either stay or run based on what I see.
My main question for the forum is this: Have any of you studied creative writing? If so, how was it? And if those of you who've studied it managed to keep with it, have you received your degree and are you making progress in your life with it? (i.e, teaching, having a stable income, not being homeless and hanging out, scraggly-bearded and stinky-clothed, at the Jack in the Box at odd hours of the morning, that sort of thing.)
I know the creative writing field of study has a thing against genre writers (that much I'm already aware of.) I've had recommendations mostly to 'fake it,' per se, if attending said classes, by using my duality of writing both genre and contemporary/literary fiction to my advantage and therefor disassociating myself from genre whilst attending school. While I do think I could do that without potentially scaring myself, I'm a bit wary, as you all may have already figured out.
I'd appreciate any and all feedback you all could offer.
Thanks,
- Kody
So... hello everyone. I'm Kody Boye. I'm a fiction writer and, also, a community college student, one with no focus or projected career goal at that. My current major in college is... guess... 'General Studies.' To say I'm not happy with that would be an understatement, and though I've had many a discussion with people recommending different fields of study for me to get a degree in (Journalism, English, History, etc.,) I've got a bit of a conundrum. Basically put, the three I've mentioned above just don't do much for me. There's no spark, no interest, no... heart, I guess you could say. I don't want to be one of those people who get a degree just to have it for job purposes and then be stuck in a miserable position. I know what I want to do with myself--write--and while I wholeheartedly believe I have the potential to make a career for myself with my writing, as I've somewhat developed one now, I'm trying to figure out if studying creative writing as a whole would benefit me, as I'm well aware that a very low percentage of writers actually make enough money to sustain themselves financially through their craft.
A few things I should probably point out before this article goes any further:
- I've been of the opinion for a while now that studying creative writing would be useless because I know the mechanics of writing, story-structuring, that sort of thing, etc. from some six years of critiquing from groups and editors, so this is a major concern for me. This is something I've been reconsidering for a while, especially since the idea struck me that I could possibly teach it if I actually decided to get a degree in the field.
- I've been worried about the old stigma of the 'arts' schooling--meaning that studying the arts will kill your desire to actually do it.
- I've also been concerned about studying creative writing as a career because I don't know if teaching it would be beneficial to me as a person (meaning I could live off it, happily, without worry, etc.)
Now... my current idea for next semester is to do what I've been planning on doing all along: sign up for three classes, but make one of them be creative writing. My secondary plan, once school starts up again, is to scope out the curriculum, see just what is taught, and choose to either stay or run based on what I see.
My main question for the forum is this: Have any of you studied creative writing? If so, how was it? And if those of you who've studied it managed to keep with it, have you received your degree and are you making progress in your life with it? (i.e, teaching, having a stable income, not being homeless and hanging out, scraggly-bearded and stinky-clothed, at the Jack in the Box at odd hours of the morning, that sort of thing.)
I know the creative writing field of study has a thing against genre writers (that much I'm already aware of.) I've had recommendations mostly to 'fake it,' per se, if attending said classes, by using my duality of writing both genre and contemporary/literary fiction to my advantage and therefor disassociating myself from genre whilst attending school. While I do think I could do that without potentially scaring myself, I'm a bit wary, as you all may have already figured out.
I'd appreciate any and all feedback you all could offer.
Thanks,
- Kody