MYTH: You Need a Writing Degree
In writing this entry, I realized we’re currently living in a time where the title of this could’ve just been “Myth: You Need a Degree.” Like him or not, billionaire Mark Zuckerberg has changed the world and you know what he doesn’t have? A college degree. Same could be said of Bill Gates. Yes, he has an honorary doctorate from Harvard, but he never got his bachelor’s degree. Same could be said of the late Steve Jobs.
The old “truth” you have to have a college degree to be successful doesn’t hold much water anymore.
Yet I feel like this myth still plagues writers. There’s this sense you can never make money as a writer if you get a piece of paper to “prove” you know how to write.
Now, don’t get me wrong. You still need to learn the craft of writing. I’m constantly learning from other writers I admire. Heck, I hope to release my own course one day for others. So I’m not saying education is unimportant.
All I’m saying is you can be a professional writer and NOT have a degree in writing. Obviously, there are a lot of non-traditional certifications writers can pursue outside of a degree. But I get the sense a lot of people are reticent about even these certifications because they feel like they need “the real thing.”
But it’s simply not true.
For starters, I don’t have a degree in writing. I have one in English Literature, so yes, I did have to take some writing classes. But if we’re being uber-technical, it’s not a writing degree. I had the option to pursue a Creative Writing degree, but I didn’t. And that’s okay.
The only degree which really matters is the degree to which you put forth effort.
Becoming a professional writer is less about your credentials and more about application, that is, the effort you actually put forward. It’s writing which makes a writer.
Still, some may push back and say, “Yes, but not everyone writes well. You still need a degree to know good writing from bad.”
Yes, not everyone writes well. If they did, I wouldn’t have a job. But to say you need a degree to know good writing from bad is absurd. People who have never taken a writing class in their life outside of high school English can walk out of a movie and say, “Man, the writing really stunk.” My nine-year-old can recognize good storytelling from bad. Which is why he’s currently my guinea pig for a new book. Sorry, kid.
Recognizing good writing really boils down to the human reaction resulting from the words. What did the words make you feel? Did the feeling line up with what they were trying to make you feel?
Imagine you’re watching a movie with a romantic scene in it. If the writing is good, your heart swells along with the characters. Your reaction matches the intention of the writer. If it’s bad, you roll your eyes and call it “sappy.” The reaction is mismatched with the intention.
You can have a degree in writing and fail in this department. You can lack a degree in writing and succeed. The only degree which really matters is the degree to which you put forth effort.
On top of this, it’s more about finding which type of writing you’re best suited for. I like to think I’m pretty good at ghostwriting because I’ve made a career of it. But I’m pretty lousy at copywriting. Even though I had studied copywriting and follow some skilled copywriters, it’s just not my forte. So be it.
You don’t need a degree. What do you need?
Talent
Passion
Discipline
Opportunity
Talent is the only one of these in which you don’t really have much control. The others are all things you can develop.
