I'm about to give up!!!

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runt

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I have been writing since elementary school. I had a few poems published in middle school. But now that I graduated high school it seems like the hope of getting anything published is extremely doubtful. I am taking courses for Children's Literature and I'm going to be going for my Master's degree in English soon. I feel so worn out between finishing this children's book I've been working on and school and work. I'm also doing all the housework, taking care of my daughter (she's a toddler who gets into everything), and looking for freelance writing work. I am completely exhausted. I'm about to give up on writing. Maybe I should just get my Bachelor's degree in English and go for an Editorial position or something.
 

blacbird

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runt said:
Maybe I should just get my Bachelor's degree in English and go for an Editorial position or something.

Well, yeah, you probably should do something like this. We all have to pay the bills, and most writers don't pay the bills, at least not all of them, through writing. So what does this step have to do with whether or not you continue writing?

caw.
 

eldragon

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Yes! Go to college and get a degree now!

Continue writing, of course, but get your degree now, or regret it later.
 

runt

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blacbird said:
Well, yeah, you probably should do something like this. We all have to pay the bills, and most writers don't pay the bills, at least not all of them, through writing. So what does this step have to do with whether or not you continue writing?

caw.
Actually it has nothing to do with paying bills. I have no problem in that department. It's just that I have a lot of stuff going on and the pile of rejections isn't helping. The pile just makes me feel like I'm not a very good writer.
 

JenNipps

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eldragon said:
Yes! Go to college and get a degree now!

Continue writing, of course, but get your degree now, or regret it later.

I don't think not getting a degree is a matter of being something to regret, although that part of it is highly personal.

I have two degrees and I'm not using either one of them. Nor do I want to at this point. The only reason I don't regret wasting six years in school is that I learned a lot about myself during that time, so it wasn't a complete waste.

Sometimes I think getting a degree is highly over-rated. Any job I have ever been hired for was because of someone I knew putting in a good word for me, not necessarily because of my degrees, though I don't doubt they did help some.

But, that's just my opinion based on my personal experiences. Someone else may very well have an entirely different take on it.
 

JenNipps

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runt said:
I have been writing since elementary school. I had a few poems published in middle school. But now that I graduated high school it seems like the hope of getting anything published is extremely doubtful. I am taking courses for Children's Literature and I'm going to be going for my Master's degree in English soon. I feel so worn out between finishing this children's book I've been working on and school and work. I'm also doing all the housework, taking care of my daughter (she's a toddler who gets into everything), and looking for freelance writing work. I am completely exhausted. I'm about to give up on writing. Maybe I should just get my Bachelor's degree in English and go for an Editorial position or something.

I've often heard it said that if you can stop writing, do it. If you can't, then you're a "real" writer.

Personally, I think there are times when you need to take a break, especially when there are a lot of other things going on. It doesn't mean you completely stop writing, but you just put it on a back burner for a bit until you feel like you can handle it back in the mix.
 

Yeshanu

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Personally, I think there are times when you need to take a break, especially when there are a lot of other things going on. It doesn't mean you completely stop writing, but you just put it on a back burner for a bit until you feel like you can handle it back in the mix.

That's about where I've been a number of times in my life. I never completely stopped, but I didn't deliberately set out to write anything, either.

Be easy on yourself. The rejections don't help, I'm sure -- no-one likes getting them. But they do mean you're submitting, and that's something to be proud of.

If you want, you can join our "rejection game" and take the pledge. That way, when you get a rejection, you'll at least be able to add to the total at the bottom of your sig, and it won't be a complete loss... :D

As for the degree, I'm in both Pam's camp (Go for it!) and Jen's camp (Degrees are okay, but somewhat over-rated.) If getting a degree is really what you want to do at this time, do it! If you'd rather stay at home and spend most of your effort raising your toddler, that's a noble pursuit as well, and you'll be gathering enough writing material to last a lifetime.

The word "vocation" comes from the latin "vocare," "to call." What's calling you right now?
 

Kudra

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My five years in school were a complete waste. Well, the part that I actually spent in school. Most of the time, I wasn't attending classes-- I was working a full-time job and freelancing.

I have a degree now, in Information Technology, no less, and it's useless to me. Education for the sake of a degree usually is. Now if you want to learn or snag a high-paying job, that's a whole other story... (and one I'm not familiar with ;) ).
 

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runt said:
I have been writing since elementary school. I had a few poems published in middle school. But now that I graduated high school it seems like the hope of getting anything published is extremely doubtful. I am taking courses for Children's Literature and I'm going to be going for my Master's degree in English soon. I feel so worn out between finishing this children's book I've been working on and school and work. I'm also doing all the housework, taking care of my daughter (she's a toddler who gets into everything), and looking for freelance writing work. I am completely exhausted. I'm about to give up on writing. Maybe I should just get my Bachelor's degree in English and go for an Editorial position or something.

Only you can decide if you want to go for the degree or not.
It's true most times it's not what you know but who you know. I can relate to the difficulty of trying to write when you have children, especially a toddler!
My youngest is 13 and when he's not in school I just don't have the same intensity of concentration, and he's 13! So I can only imagine and think back to when my kids were that small. It's rough, but they do grow up and much too quickly, trust me. Enjoy your time with her, you'll have to become an expert on budgeting your time. Is she a good sleeper? Perhaps that's when you can write. Even if it's for a few hours at night or early in the AM.

Remember 'this too shall pass'.
 

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runt said:
I have been writing since elementary school. I had a few poems published in middle school. But now that I graduated high school it seems like the hope of getting anything published is extremely doubtful. I am taking courses for Children's Literature and I'm going to be going for my Master's degree in English soon. I feel so worn out between finishing this children's book I've been working on and school and work. I'm also doing all the housework, taking care of my daughter (she's a toddler who gets into everything), and looking for freelance writing work. I am completely exhausted. I'm about to give up on writing. Maybe I should just get my Bachelor's degree in English and go for an Editorial position or something.

I'm finding the chronology of your post very confusing. Did you recently graduate from high school. If you haven't gotten a bachelor's, how can you go for master's 'soon'?


It appears that you have little, if any, professional experience. Your observation 'getting anything published is extremely doubtful' is based on what?
 

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I agree with some posters, like Jen, that a degree doesn't mean everything. If the urge to write--the unique unquenchable desire to write-is in you, then go for it.

I went to college right after high school. Got my BA in psych and ed. Used the degree. Never felt the need to get my MA. Someone I know really should have taken the time off after high school to pursue her dream, then go to college (or not at all), but she didn't. Watching her struggle through four years of college was torture. She felt she had to do it. It was a wasted four years of her life.

Everyone, no matter what they do, needs time off from work. Perhaps you do now. It sounds like you're overwhelmed. Take a break. If you really want to pursue writing, then you'll pick up where you left off.
 

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I've been writing since 1989 and have only one ebook published so far, and that came last year. I write a weekly opinion column and news beat for my local paper, but it is only a weekly paper, and the job isn't paying the bills. I am certain I'm not meant for the real job world, yet I bounce from retail place to place. I don't regret not going to college (Left Princeton a week into it) but I think you must really want the piece of paper and you should use it for the price you pay.

I'd like to get into a real nespaper job, but keep getting blocked by my lack of a degree. It kind of makes me scratch my head considering I did get a newspaper job without a degree.

Go figure. I hate real jobs. They take away from writing, as does the business end of writing, like rejections.

I did take a year off from writing once. I worked at Sears to buy a car, but my parents were separated and the muse just wasn't there. It was the worst year of my life, personally and writing wise. Writing breaks can go either way.

Boo.

Kristin
 

Jamesaritchie

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runt said:
I have been writing since elementary school. I had a few poems published in middle school. But now that I graduated high school it seems like the hope of getting anything published is extremely doubtful. I am taking courses for Children's Literature and I'm going to be going for my Master's degree in English soon. I feel so worn out between finishing this children's book I've been working on and school and work. I'm also doing all the housework, taking care of my daughter (she's a toddler who gets into everything), and looking for freelance writing work. I am completely exhausted. I'm about to give up on writing. Maybe I should just get my Bachelor's degree in English and go for an Editorial position or something.



If you can get a better degree, or more education, then get it, writing or not. Education is wasted only by those who decide to waste it. Far and away the majority of high-paying jobs in this country demand some sort of degree, and any employer looks at a degree as a huge plus, even if it's in a field you won't be working in.

The odds of writing paying the bills is extremely slim. The odds of a degree and more education being a great thing is 100%, if you want it to be. Only you can decide whether or not you'll waste your education, but there is no such thing as a bad degree, and never, ever a time when more education is wasted on the wise.

As for writing, William Saroyan had a stack of rejection slips that reached from the floor to the top of his desk before he sold a single short story. That works out to just about 4,000 rejection slips. Erskine Caldwell had almost as many.

When your stack of rejections reaches from the floor to the top of your desk, you have a right to complain. Until then, you're still learning the art and craft of writing well.
 

Carlene

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I was blessed to have Gary Provost as my first writing teacher. He made his living from writing, but never went beyond high school. Instead, Gary travelled around the country, worked a variety of jobs...and he wrote, and wrote, and wrote. He published many wonderful books on How to Write, published true crime books and sold some to Hollywood and was very inspirational to writers. One thing Gary told me right off the bat and stressed to students in his class was, "If you are a writer, you can write anything."
 

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As far as getting a degree--

It seems that the expectation for going to college and getting further education is to get a better job. And in some cases, this can be true. However, in a lot of cases, higher education is just that...EDUCATION. Once I stopped looking at my degree as the ticket to whatever career I wanted and simply a pursuit of more knowledge, I stopped feeling as if I wasted 4 years and a lot of money on my degree.
 

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runt said:
I feel so worn out between finishing this children's book I've been working on and school and work. I'm also doing all the housework, taking care of my daughter (she's a toddler who gets into everything), and looking for freelance writing work. I am completely exhausted.

Geez, I should think so. That would make anybody feel like giving up on something.

I think you're just overburdened. Got any opportunities for some R&R? You need to recharge your batteries so you can face those rejection slips and keep honing your skills.

For what it's worth, on the "degree or not degree question," I graduated with a degree in teaching French, then joined the Army as an Arabic linguist. While in the Army, I taught myself computer programming, and after I got out I got a job doing tech support at a computer dealer, based on a couple programs I wrote in the Army. From there, I kept tinkering with computers, worked my way up to jobs in database programming, tech support at a university, web applications programming, and management (of the web apps group). Then the tech bubble burst, and now here I am writing freelance programs, and using my experience documenting code and writing memos as the basis for a new career (hopefully) in freelance writing.

But remember, my degree is in teaching French.

I'm glad I got the degree; I've had at least one job where a degree (any degree, they didn't care what) was required in order to get the job. It's only a BA, and I'd like to get at least a master's someday. But there you go.
 

Greenwolf103

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runt said:
I have been writing since elementary school. I had a few poems published in middle school. But now that I graduated high school it seems like the hope of getting anything published is extremely doubtful. I am taking courses for Children's Literature and I'm going to be going for my Master's degree in English soon. I feel so worn out between finishing this children's book I've been working on and school and work. I'm also doing all the housework, taking care of my daughter (she's a toddler who gets into everything), and looking for freelance writing work. I am completely exhausted. I'm about to give up on writing. Maybe I should just get my Bachelor's degree in English and go for an Editorial position or something.

Oh, yes. Toddlers. Gotta love them -- when they're sleeping.

Seriously. I agree with the whole degree issue. Sometimes you don't need it. I don't have a degree but I still managed to get jobs here and there. All the same, I'm definitely for continuing your education, so if you're in a position to pursue the degree, I echo the suggestion to "go for it."

I am also reading your post and thinking you really DO need a break. Sheesh, that's a lot on your plate! I don't work or go to school but I can understand the demands of parenting a toddler.

The truth is, when your children are young, they have to come first.

But that doesn't mean you need to give up writing. It just means your schedule changes. Period. It's a matter of improvising. I went without a lot of sleep, a lot of socializing and hardly watched TV/went to the gym/hung out at the mall, etc., because every free moment I had went to writing. I wrote when my daughter played with her toys on my lap or on the floor next to me. I used to have this looong desk and she'd be propped up on one end playing/coloring/eating, etc., while I got some writing done. I wrote when she was in the tub, as I rocked her to sleep and even while eating at the dinner table. But of course there were times I hardly got ANY writing done. I know the exhaustion in parenting a toddler.

But, they DO grow up fast. Sometimes I think TOO fast. My little one will be 5 this October and heading off to kindergarten.

I really think the issue here is burnout. I went through this, too. You have to ride it out. It's just a signal that you need to turn inward and focus on YOUR needs and YOUR priorities right now. I would suggest hiring a sitter or asking a friend or relative to babysit for an hour or two so you can get a break. and, remember, the house doesn't HAVE to be spotless! ;)

Even if you quit writing, it doesn't mean you have to "permanently" quit. Trust me, that muse will be knocking on your door every once in a while. ;) Keep that door unlocked and just scribble things down in your free time or when your little one takes naps. (Thank goodness for naps!!) But don't pile on the pressure to WRITE EVERY DAY or to get X amount of writing done. Go easy on yourself.

Follow your heart. Follow your dreams. No matter how mired or turbulent that road to publication gets, there's a light at the end of the tunnel with your name on it.
 
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