ISBW #71 - Skool Days
We discuss my writing and why there isn’t any, how you should deal with education choices, and a little bit of feedback.
June 29, 2007 | Mur Lafferty | Comments 4
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I Should Be Writing 2.0
The podcast for wanna-be fiction writers by a writer who’s still learning. Writer Mur Lafferty discusses rejection, cover letters and getting the oomph to keep going.
Kiki | Jul 5, 2007 | Reply
I know it’s something people love to say. “Oh, you don’t need an English degree to be a writer.”
While that is technically correct (in the same way a chef doesn’t *have* to go to culinary school), it’s not a complete potshot either.
A BA in English (is anyone else hearing Avenue Q?) teaches you meta skills that I find a lot of non-Arts people lack.
Critical analysis. The ability and willingness to read something not just for enjoyment but to learn.
being able to learn from prose in the first place.
An appreciation for natural grammar and word flow.
Yes, studying English is no guarantee for any of these things any more than not studying English means you won’t get those meta skills.
But while too much English Lit often leads to pompousness, at least there is knowledge that’s useful to the field.
It also teaches you that no matter who you are, people will *hate* you and your writing. Doesn’t even matter if you’re good.
Oh, and in my particular case, I also learned that romance novels are stupid and therefor not worth reading in an academic environment. Which lead me to writing romance.
So yes, other degrees are nice. English is no less useful though. Think of all the lawyer wannabe writers that didn’t turn Grisham. *shudder* Not a pretty sight.
Emily | Jul 19, 2007 | Reply
I wrote an email previously in favor of the English major, with most of the reasons above. But it just occurred to me that there was a way that majoring in English almost intimidated me from writing. For me, at least, I spent all this time analyzing Big Important Themes and Big Important Symbols and “unpacking metaphors” and thinking critically about the role of X in Y. Then I’d take a creative writing class and feel like I couldn’t write anything because I had nothing to say. This was partially because I was 19, of course. And I’d try to write something anyway, and I could see that it wasn’t good, because I knew what good looked like, and that wasn’t what I was writing.
So honestly, it took me a couple of years out of the academic environment to say, F*ck it, I’ll just write something, who cares?
One final note on the English major and then I’ll shut up: If you major in English, be prepared for four years of people asking if you want to be a teacher.
Samuel Tinianow | Sep 24, 2007 | Reply
Couldn’t have put it better myself, Mur. Consider this episode linked as soon as I get the chance to post it.