Writing • Page 11

my album's completely finished except for one song and i am trying to get myself to record it but laziness

 

Novel.

 

Just a few short stories, trying to maintain a daily writing schedule.

 

Anyone of you guys major in English? I'm considering switching into it, but really don't know much about what the program entails or what my goals should be going into, and it's that sort of prior ignorance that brought me to being discontent with my current major

 

Just printed the first draft of my MFA manuscript!

 

I got a BA in English with writing and creative writing minors. What sort of questions do you have? Do you have a degree catalog for your school with required classes I could look at and give you a better idea from?

 

Here's a page with program requirements for the different areas of study: Program Requirements - Department of English Language and Literature

I think, like you, I'd be most interested in a creative writing concentration. I'm in journalism right now, and though I'm getting good marks, the school really seems to be emphasizing the social responsility and the importance of journalism as a cultural tool. I feel like the passion for informing people should at least be equal to the passion for writing, and I don't think that's the case with me. Almost all the feedback I get from my professors is, "This is really good, but it's too clever. Don't sacrifice clarity and precision for witty writing," and I understand that, but I've found when writing these stories, it's when I'm getting away from the rigidity of clinical information and indulging myself in silly metaphors that I have the most fun, and I think it at least results in stories that don't look as if they've written by a robot.

It's not something everyone hasn't heard before, but I really don't know what I want to do after school and with my life. I went into journalism because it seemed like an obvious practical application for interest in writing, and it gave the impression that I had direction beyond the broad major of "English," you know? But I'm miserable doing these assignments. My anxiety goes nuts having to talk to all these people and having to work so quickly and efficiently. It's noble work, and I try to tackle big ideas and not just do fluff pieces, but then I worry I'm not capable of giving these issues the care that they deserve. And then I think that, because I don't even have an idea of what I'm working toward, it's all for naught anyways. I think if I were to fall in love with journalism, it would have happened by now. I'm at the end of my second year.

As for my questions, I guess I'm wondering why someone takes English, and what can be done with the degree? I hate to focus on the practicality of a degree - I know someone should study something in school because it interests them first and foremost, but because I don't know why I'm getting either degree at this point, I don't want to feel like I'm just killing time until I graduate, and then be lost. I think that's my greatest fear. Like, if someone is in English and doesn't want to be a teacher or a novelist, what else can it offer? I love the art of writing - music, TV, film, all of it, but I'm ashamed to admit I don't even do it often enough to justify studying it at this point. I'm so hard on myself and I can never allow myself to get anywhere when I try.

So in the choose your own adventure that is my life, it looks like the three routes that will not lead to my immediate death are to stay in journalism, switch into English, or drop out entirely. I'm pretty directionless, so I think it's less important which route I choose and more important that I'm confident in my choice.

I wonder if I can put this post in my application portfolio.

 

Oh wow, your school marks credit hours way different than mine. I think this program covers a ton of really interesting concepts. I looked at the Creative Writing one. I think it'll give you a good spread, but in some of the ones they eliminate by saying "one in this category" they seem to be setting your up to not have the "formal" English Lit major. That being said, I don't think this is an issue.

I agree with the balance of passions, and it's smart to recognize that. And yeah, having fun with writing is so fun. If you're not having fun with something like writing, it loses any power you can imbue in it. I also think journalism could stand to be a little more verve at times.

If you want to tackle big ideas, how would you transition your creative writing to match that? Are you wanting to focus on how to become a better creative nonfiction writer? (Creative Nonfiction was my favorite class in all of college.) Are you wanting to transition to a more fiction writing? Both are valid and both do it, but it kinda changes which path I suggest you take.

Why I took English: I didn't have any idea what I wanted to do with my life, but I love the written word and I'm decently talented at it. I want to be a novelist, but I'm also certain I would've arrived there not taking my English courses and novelists don't make money, really, anyway. I don't really want to be a teacher, but I'm told I'd be a good one.

When it comes to loving writing and story, GOOD. When it comes to writing enough--it takes time. I have a finished novel and I still don't creative write every day. I didn't creatively write for months at a time. But I also made sure to write something, whether a blog post at some point or a journal entry at others. If you want to love it, let yourself. Experiment. Have fun with words. The Inner Editor is your enemy for a long time, and then your best friend. Find what it takes to shut it up for the first draft--the hardest part--and then eventually it'll get to roar and tackle the editing phase.

As for what you can do with an English degree, full disclosure, I have applied for over 600 jobs since graduating and have yet to find a career. I worked retail. I worked an internship at a study abroad program in Italy. I worked in a law firm writing law suits and other related documents.

I've tried to get into technical writing or technical editing, but they're highly competitive field and employers seem to focus on the STEM degrees as opposed to the writing ones for those. I don't get it, but there it is.

I've done book editing, freelance blog writing, freelance writing for travel websites. I'm still searching for the right fit. I regret my major a lot, to be honest, but then I also know it's what made me happy and taught me more about what I love, so I never stay mad at younger me very often.

I feel you, I really do. I think if English will make you happy and allow you to find some new stuff out about yourself, it's worth it. English Majors still have a chance at journalism if you find yourself needing to pin down a job in that field. I was the senior copy editor of my school newspaper and have had job offers based on that alone.

I hope I've helped.

 

this book has been helpful for me in both writing + editing: Everybody Writes

 

Currently drawing cartoons to give away with sales at the merch table of my next show.

 

So cool!! I'll have to get a copy!

 

I work as a college admission counselor, and I can tell you that it depends on the staff at your school. if you are interested in writing, see/read some things that your professors have published. See if you could find a curriculum chart to see what courses they offer. I know a few of my friends who were English majors did not enjoy taking those linguistics courses.

 

It sounds like creative nonfiction/narrative nonfiction would be a good route for you to explore. If you haven't read it yet, highly recommend checking out Pulphead to see how you can take journalistic techniques and make them more... fun, I guess?

As for what you can do with an English degree, it depends on what you're interested in. Most people I know don't have writing-related jobs, but write on the side for fun. Some people who graduated from my program went to law school. Others found work in marketing, PR, and publishing. As for me, along with my English major, I minored in a couple science subjects and started out in scientific publishing, then moved to copywriting for a healthcare ad agency (it's a tough field to get your foot in the door, but these agencies are always looking for writers and it's fairly easy to move up once you're in. Kind of tedious work, though).

Best advice would be to major in something you really enjoy, and if you're worried about job prospects, develop some other skills on the side to help you stand out in whatever field you can see yourself working in. If you have the time/means, internships are also a good way of figuring out which career paths are or aren't for you.

 

Feel free to slam it up my friend, it's sloppy, but that's how this thread has always gone before! No need to worry.

 

Haha I just feel that sometimes, some of my longer ones with all the breaks would have people be like "Jebus H. Chrysler wtf?"

New piece I did, venting frustrations and in ways a self assertion on my own stances on shit.... in my own "intense" (as my coworker put it lmao) way.

Comfort

 

I just feel like if I'm taking a 4000 level writing workshop course I shouldn't be told what to do. Tell me what I'm doing wrong or how to improve something. Don't say something is excellent and give me a fucking D because it didn't fit what you wanted.

 

I'm releasing a new poetry/art book called DOPE GRAVE in a couple weeks, here's a poem from it. I have more poems and weird drawings on my Tumblr if anyone is interested.

 

I took some notes on three different writer's panels I went to at WonderCon this weekend. I'll probably be typing out the slides I took pictures of within the week to have the notes in nicer formats. If anyone wants the notes, shoot me a message.

The panels were more comics and TV based. The first was just a writing 101 with Marv Wolfman, the second was a full panel with him, Craig Miller, Ernie Altbacker, and Holly Huckins on writing great dialogue, and the third was with Brandon Easton, Geoffrey Thorne, Tony Puryear, Erika Alexander, and Eric Dean Seaton on breaking into Hollywood.

 

My new poetry collection/artbook is out now on Amazon (link). I also have a bunch of poems/artwork up on my Tumblr. Worked pretty hard on the book and I'm happy with it. It's a weird one.

And here's a poem from the book I haven't posted anywhere else yet

 

Dope Grave has a Dope Cover

 

Thanks! Easiest part of the whole book haha

 

To write a haiku
There's only one thing to do
Just follow the rules

Happy National Haiku day!

 

Here's another from my new book DOPE GRAVE that came out earlier this month. If you're curious about the art portion of the book, a bunch of samples are up on my INSTAGRAM and TUMBLR (not everything posted is in the book, though.)

 

TL;DR: Any recommendations for small literary journals that accept emerging fiction writers?

Today I turned in my final manuscript for my MFA. Needless to say, I'm pretty stoked and ready to start getting my work out there. My program's unspoken rule is that students should not pursue publication during their time in the program, which has actually been really great because it has allowed me to focus all my energy on improving my craft without any added pressure. I'm in a low-residency program, and I'll be going back to school in July/August to graduate, take some classes, and finally get some direction on how I should go about publishing my work. However, that's almost two months from now, and I have a lot of stuff that's ready to find a home. I've submitted to a few places already this week, but it's mostly just a trial-and-error process at this point. Does anyone have any advice for getting this process underway?

 

Hey y'all. Starting an MFA in non-fiction at Sarah Lawrence in the fall, but I wrote some poems this year and released them in a little collection a few weeks ago. I intended for them to be read in one sitting, sort of like a personal essay. Read / download here:
Dropbox - Garbage.pdf