<p>Hi! I'm interested in pursuing a major in creative writing, but I'm worried about what comes after college. What are some jobs, besides writing? I know that there's journalist, but I don't think I would be that comfortable with interviewing people and pushing for information. </p>
<p>I'm nervous that as much as I love to write, I won't be able to make a living off of it. Any suggestions?</p>
Copywriting. Technical writing. Teaching (grade school, unless you professionally publish a book, and even that’s no guarantee of an academic job). Working at college admissions counseling companies tutoring high school students in English, SAT essays, and college application essays. Copyediting (like journalism without interviewing people!).
There’s a saying. 5% of authors keep 95% of the profit. Just keep this in mind.
I once considered majoring in English as well, but I just don’t want to take the risk. I’m looking at film production/screenwriting instead, where I can tell stories and still get paid decently for it. I’ll write books on the side, I suppose.
Most schools encourage English majors to double major. So you could major in creative writing and then pick another major that you are interested in as a backup plan.
As stated above, there are lots of jobs that require writing as a primary function of the job (like technical writing, publishing, and copywriting) but there are many, many more jobs that would value a person who can write well and has excellent communication skills, as a creative writing (or English) major will teach you. For one example, I interned at a marketing research company one summer. One of the tasks I took on was writing a special monthly newsletter for clients that highlighted some aspect of the industry I was doing market research in, and I wrote it so well and impressed my managers so much that they made me the regular person to write the newsletter for the duration of my internship, and put me on other tasks that involved writing. Good writers are valued in a variety of fields.
What you do after college depends a lot more on what kinds of things you do during college. You could very well major in creative writing and then intern at a corporate business for two summers, and then go to work there for them afterwards - doing a job that requires some writing, but where that’s not the bulk of your job. And if you love to write fiction, you can always do that as a hobby in your evenings and weekends (at least until you write the next big series and can do that full-time for a living ;-)).