Career Writers

[Lo_Shiavo_alla_Penna]

For those of you that write for a living, I'm about to be a junior in high school and I'd like to figure some stuff out.

1. What profession of writing are you in? (Journalism/Creative/Teaching. This pertains to literature teachers and such as well.)

2. Where did you go to college?

3. What courses did you take?

4. What courses did you take that didn't have to do with writing, but helped?

5. What is your job like? (a few details on every day life)

6. Anything else you want to tell me that you think would help.

THANKS!

[Jahoclave]

http://www.collegeboard.com/apps/careers/0,3477,4-090,00.html
There's some information for you.

http://www.colby.edu
and there's a link to a highly overpriced university for intellectual snobs that is named after cheese. But they do have creative writing as a defined category.

[Lycorian]

I'm not in the business quite yet, but I know of a site where I got all the advice I could get-

www.hollylisle.com

She has articles about everything, from college, to writing workshops, to books and stuff that she's read to get where she is now. She's been a bestseller author since before I was born. eek So, yeah, hope that helps. ^^

[Lady Brick]

Nefertiri

For those of you that write for a living, I'm about to be a junior in high school and I'd like to figure some stuff out.

1. What profession of writing are you in? (Journalism/Creative/Teaching. This pertains to literature teachers and such as well.)

2. Where did you go to college?

3. What courses did you take?

4. What courses did you take that didn't have to do with writing, but helped?

5. What is your job like? (a few details on every day life)

6. Anything else you want to tell me that you think would help.

THANKS!

I'm just short of being a working writer (just finishing up my Masters degree) but I can answer some of your questions...

1) I am hoping to be a working screenwriter. Teaching would be a fallback. Preferably university level.

2) I got my BA in English/Creative Writing at University of Miami (FL) and am working on my MFA at Emerson College in Boston. If you are interested in teaching at all, an MFA is the way to go, as it is a terminal degree (no PHD following) and qualifies you to teach at the college level.

3) Workshops workshops workshops. I have taken a total of 16 workshops in the college and grad school level (1 poetry/fiction, 5 fiction, 5 screenwriting, 2 playwriting, 2 non-fiction, 1 children's picture book) and I highly recommend taking across genres whenever possible, as working with different forms of writing will really strengthen your writing in your prefered genre. When looking at college/grad school programs, look for ones that don't restrict you to taking ALL fiction or ALL poetry workshops.

4) All lit classes have helped in one way or another. Theatre/acting classes were wonderful for looking at character. History, sciences, phsychology, and philosphy all sparked interesting writing ideas. Pretty much everything you larn is useful in writing, because you never know when you will need to reference it via character work or interests.

5) Right now, looking for a job while I do my thesis sweatdrop

6) A lot of people seem to make the mistake of focusing JUST on writing or JUST on a specific area of writing. Exploring and learning as much as you can about both writing and other subjects will only make you a better writer in the end, so avoid limiting yourself in any way biggrin

[hapahaole]

Wow, Lady Brick. Lots of good advice. I'm just going to add a bit. Oh, and best of luck getting into the screenwriting buisness. I hear it's extremely competitive and close circled. Like you have to know people to really get in. That's quite the ambission. Now for my advice.

First, try this site for info on jobs as a writer or editor. It tells you everything from what education you need, what the job environment would be like, the pay, and the demand for the job (how easy it will be to find one).

U.S. Department of Labor

The way I understand it, career wise you only need a MA or MFA if you're planning on teaching. But, if you can afford it, I would suggest getting the degree simply for the experience and to improve your craft.

Being an editor for a lit mag sounds fun, but the actual contact with writing and other people's work is a very small percentage of the work load. Most of it is budgeting and legal procedures and what not.

If you're into writing nonfiction there is a lot of opportunities out there for you. There's journalism, speach writing, and tech writing (although I heard that's painfully borring) amongst many others.

If you're into novel writing (my current aim), most published authors have other (usually nonrelated) full time jobs. Or, they are married and have an income that way. That's how people combat the starving writer senerio. It's very difficult to make a living off of published fiction alone.

Hope that helped.

[m00nstar]

You've got a long way to go until college! But yes, I'd like to help you out. I went to Purdue University and got a Professional Writing Bachelor's degree with a minor in Creative Writing and Communications. I graduated last year, and am currently working at USC as a technical writer. I'm mostly working with Webpage stuff, but I'm helping out with documents, too.

For high school, try to get into all the AP English classes that you can get into. Those are the only English classes that are worth it to take. Then in college, try to pick a major that you would want to focus your writing skills in; that will give you a better chance in getting into the classes that you want (sometimes it's hard to get a class you want). So if you see a class open up, try to take it, because they may not offer it again, or you may not be able to enroll into it.

my lunch break is almost up, so I need to get back to work. But, PM me if you have any more questions.

smile

[Lady Brick]

hapahaole

Wow, Lady Brick. Lots of good advice. I'm just going to add a bit. Oh, and best of luck getting into the screenwriting buisness. I hear it's extremely competitive and close circled. Like you have to know people to really get in.

Actually, that's another point about college and grad writing programs I forgot to mention. You will hopefully make a lot of connections that will be useful in the future, both among profs and fellow students. Keep in touch with everyone ^^

There are also sometimes great competition opportunities in the school itself or for students in specific programs... I won a playwriting fellowship through the school earlier this year that not only had a cash prize but included a production of the play in the Performing Arts department. That was an amazing experience and definetly one I would have missed out on if I hadn't gone to Emerson 3nodding

[Lo_Shiavo_alla_Penna]

Lady Brick

hapahaole

Wow, Lady Brick. Lots of good advice. I'm just going to add a bit. Oh, and best of luck getting into the screenwriting buisness. I hear it's extremely competitive and close circled. Like you have to know people to really get in.

Actually, that's another point about college and grad writing programs I forgot to mention. You will hopefully make a lot of connections that will be useful in the future, both among profs and fellow students. Keep in touch with everyone ^^

There are also sometimes great competition opportunities in the school itself or for students in specific programs... I won a playwriting fellowship through the school earlier this year that not only had a cash prize but included a production of the play in the Performing Arts department. That was an amazing experience and definetly one I would have missed out on if I hadn't gone to Emerson 3nodding

Yeah, they had a few scholarship essays last year, but usually one could only apply for them once during their high school career, and I felt more comfortable waiting a year or two so my writing could get a little more advanced. I was a finalist for one essay contest (which I didn't know was a contest until I was told I was a finalist :sweat) but my teacher said that the only reason I didn't win was because of political reasons. *slight bitterness* But I might go up for a few next year. I figure even if I don't win anything, the fact that I entered will look good on a transcript.

[Lady Brick]

Nefertiri

Yeah, they had a few scholarship essays last year, but usually one could only apply for them once during their high school career, and I felt more comfortable waiting a year or two so my writing could get a little more advanced. I was a finalist for one essay contest (which I didn't know was a contest until I was told I was a finalist :sweat) but my teacher said that the only reason I didn't win was because of political reasons. *slight bitterness* But I might go up for a few next year. I figure even if I don't win anything, the fact that I entered will look good on a transcript.

You can usually put awards and such on college applications so you can include you were a finalist there.

Entering contests and submitting writing are very excellent things to do. Just watch out for places with "reader fees"... acceptable for contests, not for publication consideration.

[Lo_Shiavo_alla_Penna]

Lady Brick

Nefertiri

Yeah, they had a few scholarship essays last year, but usually one could only apply for them once during their high school career, and I felt more comfortable waiting a year or two so my writing could get a little more advanced. I was a finalist for one essay contest (which I didn't know was a contest until I was told I was a finalist :sweat) but my teacher said that the only reason I didn't win was because of political reasons. *slight bitterness* But I might go up for a few next year. I figure even if I don't win anything, the fact that I entered will look good on a transcript.

You can usually put awards and such on college applications so you can include you were a finalist there.

Entering contests and submitting writing are very excellent things to do. Just watch out for places with "reader fees"... acceptable for contests, not for publication consideration.

Now, did you get your bachelors, and go right to your masters, or did you get a job in between? I'd like to get straight to my masters after getting a bachelors, but my parents say it's a better idea to work after your bachelors because you'll need experience AND a degree to get a job. But as far as I can see there's a fairly large demand for writers, and not enough writers to fill them up. Especially with teaching. I'd like to be a lit. professor. But, I don't know. I'm just looking around a bit.

[Lady Brick]

Nefertiri

Now, did you get your bachelors, and go right to your masters, or did you get a job in between? I'd like to get straight to my masters after getting a bachelors, but my parents say it's a better idea to work after your bachelors because you'll need experience AND a degree to get a job. But as far as I can see there's a fairly large demand for writers, and not enough writers to fill them up. Especially with teaching. I'd like to be a lit. professor. But, I don't know. I'm just looking around a bit.

I went straight to my Masters. MFA programs are hard to get into (many are only 10-15 students a year, Emerson is 60-100, so had a much better chance of getting in) so I jumped at the chance when I was accepted. Plus, I really didn't know what I wanted to do, and I had only spent 1 year studying screenwriting, but felt that was the path I might want to go down.

Err, where do you see a high demand for writers? If you are looking at perhaps grade schools in critical shortage areas, then maybe. Specialized technical writers, certainly. Getting a teaching job at a university is much harder... not sure about lit, but to teach writing, you pretty much need to be published.

It's true, I don't really have much work experience and am finding it hard to find a job right now. I can't really commit to any huge writing thing until I finish my thesis in Dec, so not sending out spec scripts or anything yet.

[Lady Brick]

Ah, forgot to add one of the biggest factors is if you think you'd be able to go back to school in a few years. Some people can with no problems, but others, once the momentm of college wears off, never make it back despite their plans to. So knowing where you fall helps a great deal in your decision making. Also, if you can actually get a good job nailed down for a few years, that will lend more weight to the waiting option.

[Zamzummin]

Here are my answers, if you're interested.


1. What profession of writing are you in? (Journalism/Creative/Teaching. This pertains to literature teachers and such as well.)

Answer: Novel writing and story telling/Teaching/Creative

2. Where did you go to college?

Answer: I still am in college, going into my 3rd year at Armstrong Atlantic State University.

3. What courses did you take?

Answer: Required Courses for Major in Art.

4. What courses did you take that didn't have to do with writing, but helped?

Answer: Astronomy of the solar system, Astronomy of the Universe, computer art, 2d and 3d design.

5. What is your job like? (a few details on every day life)

Answer: I am the mate (aka skipper) on a boat that takes people out to see dolphins, and I teach about them.

6. Anything else you want to tell me that you think would help.

Answer: I spend alot of my time reading about science, mythologies, and history as well as studying animals. I do it purely out of my own pleasure and most often people think I'm a major in either Political Science, Marine Biology, Zoology, History, etc. But the truth is I'm a Major in Art, like I stated above. Recently I've decided to take on the aspects of Astronomy. *See note below:

Astronomy--most people think this only has to do with the stars and planets, etc. But actually, Astronomy is the study of "All Space, All Time, All Matter, and All Energy." This means, with Astronomy, you are also studying Politics, history, languages, mythologies, art, biology and all that good stuff.