by Elizabeth S. Craig, @elizabethscraig
I used to feel like the sole, income-focused writer in any group I was in. I was the one on any panel hesitantly bringing up ways that writers could make money with their writing.
I’ve noticed now that there are more writers like me out there and I’m more relaxed about being a commercial fiction writer.
I’ve been asked by parents, college students, and high school students about what degree is needed for becoming a writer.
But that’s one of the wonderful things about being a writer. You don’t have to have a degree in anything. I was an English major, but that’s as far as I went with it. When asked for my advice, I ask what type of writing they’re wanting to do and what their end-goal/their child’s end-goal is. If the goal is “a career in writing,” then I’ll go as far as to suggest that they don’t go the MFA (Master in Fine Arts) route. They should instead read as much and as widely as they can and start writing.
One common complaint about MFA programs is that writers aren’t trained in the business of writing or on writing for a market (as explained by writer Yi Shun Lai in “We Need to Talk About Money: Practicality’s Place in a Writing Education“.)
Writers at the start of their careers should ask themselves: am I writing to please myself or am I writing to appeal to a broader market?Continue reading