<p>Props to anyone who got the Avenue Q reference...ahem.
I am either going to major in English or writing and linguistics (or just double major), but what kind of job opportunities are out there for people with these degrees? I've always wanted to be a novelist, but I've noticed that our generation treats literature as a sort of throwaway thing; we buy our paperbacks for five dollars in the checkout lane and pay nearly twenty dollars for a movie and popcorn and soda. I think that the more creative minds are headed towards screenplay and even TV rather than print, and of course you have more people than ever writing for the internet rather than for magazines and newspapers. I'm a bit old-fashioned in that I would rather have lived in the days when writers were well-respected and in the social conscious because they actually wrote work worth respecting (Arthur Miller comes to mind for me- who's our Arthur Miller today, though- Stephanie Meyer? E L James?). When I think about great writers that are living today, the first thing that comes to my mind is The Book of Mormon, of all things (the musical, not the actual book). I feel that people who have something worth saying are speaking through outlets besides the novel, and I'm afraid of the novel- the novel as Fitzgerald would have defined it, written for "the youth of his own generation, the critics of the next, and the schoolmasters of ever afterward"- is becoming obsolete.
I guess I've just become a bit disillusioned about pursuing writing and I want to know what else is out there for a bibliophile dropped down in the wrong decade.</p>
<p>please don’t major in english if you want to be a novelist.</p>
<p>literary analysis has nothing to do with creative writing. academic writing will alter your voice and critical theory will mess with everything else. not to mention, you don’t want your intertext to consist entirely of the texts that every other english major ever knows. by majoring in english, you are limiting your pool of ideas to one tradition as defined by a canon invented by harold bloom. good critics rarely make good writers.</p>
<p>that said, i wouldn’t be so quick to dismiss contemporary literature. the reason you want to go back to the paradise lost of the 20th century is because the canon of the 20th century has been selected for you: the brilliant minds have been weeded out by decades of hard work by literary scholars and installed in high school reading lists, and the chaff has been forgotten. i assure you, as soon as universal literacy became a thing, the plebes started reading duds like meyer and picoult, and the fitzgeralds and millers were known only by a minority of interested persons. the canon of the 21st century is being created as we speak, and it is partly in the hands of english scholars. i agree with you that many people who have something to say now say it over the internet; on the other hand, so does everybody else and their talking dog. in light of that, literary criticism faces the challenge of finding a new method of separating the wheat from the chaff, and ways of making that gradation relevant and accessible to the public. however, it has nothing to do with writing novels per se.</p>
<p>yes, screen writing is more lucrative than the other types of creative writing for potential volume of sales. if you want to pursue it, take a screenwriting course to learn the format and glean insight into the industry (bonus points if your instructor likes you and sets you up with some contacts). you can major in engineering, however, for all it’s worth.</p>
<p>linguistics is a completely different field from creative writing or literary criticism. people who like linguistics typically like math, philosophy, psych, occasionally literary criticism - the criticism more than the literary. there are few job in it even at the phd level, and you have to be very good.</p>
<p>what you major in depends on the school you go to. at a certain tier, a humanities major is not a liability. however, if you’re really worried about job security, i would go for something economics-y, because it’s widely applicable to a variety of jobs and graduate school specializations. if you’re going to a more professional-oriented school, try nursing or teaching. good writing skills are important in all professions, but to make good money with straight-up writing, you have to be incredibly good and incredibly well-connected.</p>
<p>The school that I’m attending (Georgia Southern) offers a writing and linguistics major that is set up so that you choose which part of the major you’d like to place more emphasis on, and for me that would be writing. I actually am really interested in literary analysis and I typically enjoy writing analytical essays, but I tend to gravitate more toward creative writing. I know you have to be extremely talented to break into the field, and even though my teachers all seem to think I’m some literary phenomenon, I realize that their compliments may not be enough since they are probably only comparing me to my classmates and their past students, anyways.
I understand what you mean about separating the wheat from the chaff- I was thinking about that myself and trying to guess what recent authors might be considered the literary elite of our time. David Foster Wallace and Yann Martel are two names that come to mind, but anyways…
I’m really ambivalent about majoring in English. On one hand, I do enjoy dissecting novels and trying to come up with unique perspectives that you can’t find on Spark Notes or the like, but the other side of that is that my tastes in classic literature are sort of narrow. I have a very low tolerance for anything written before the 19th century, Shakespeare being an exception, and even the 19th century sometimes bores me. I’m mostly just interested in 20th century lit, and I can’t stand to think that I’ll probably have to read The Canterbury Tales or Beowulf or Sir Gawain in their entirety. There are a lot of other subjects I’m interested in, though, particularly psychology (which I actually was dead-set on for a brief period last year), religious studies (which I’m almost definitely going to minor in), history, sociology, film studies (because there’s so much money to be made in that, of course…), theater, musical performance (piano), and pretty much any degree program that people like to call useless. I absolutely hate math and I although I don’t mind learning biology on the cellular level, I cannot bear- and by “I,” I mean my stomach- learning about the human body or any other bodies, for that matter. (Although I should probably mention, since I have an interest in psychology, that learning about the nervous system doesn’t gross me out.)
I really can’t see myself as a teacher- or maybe I can, but at this point in my angsty teenage life, I just can’t imagine having to get up and go to school forever. I might make a good English teacher, but I’m afraid I would be way too demanding and harsh on the kids who don’t enjoy writing or aren’t very good at it. I do love it, though, when my classmates come to me with their papers and ask me to edit them, but maybe that would get tiring after awhile, always grading people’s papers and never having the time to write my own.
But if writing doesn’t work out, I think I could see myself with a job in the psychology field. I have a sort of knack for being able to figure people out, so to speak, or for reading people’s emotions and the like, and I’m really interested in learning about what makes people do what they do, to put it in simple terms. I guess that carries over into literature for me, because that plays into character motivation and whatnot, and I think that maybe if I majored in psychology it might actually aid my writing ambitions better than a major in English would. I could always minor in English or creative writing, anyways, right? Although I REALLY want to do religious studies…and I’m also leaning towards theater…
Anyways, what about psychology? I could really see myself as a therapist for children or teenagers, but especially children because I’m really good with kids. But at the same time, I am kind of crazy about literature, and suppose I major in psychology only to realize that I really don’t want a job in that field and I’d like to try to write for a magazine or some sort of thing…
I’m sorry this reply is so long and that I’m so absolutely crazy- this is just very difficult for me to figure out!</p>
<p>i would be wary of getting a humanities degree at georgia southern. but then i do have ridiculously lofty ambitions.</p>
<p>you clearly have no idea what you want to do. which is totally normal. take your time - take time off school if you need to - to figure out what you want to do, at least for the time being. try writing for a magazine right now - it’s not like you need a degree to string together coherent sentences. volunteer at a school or something. try to figure out what kind of lifestyle you’d like - that will guide your choice of major if your interest doesn’t.</p>
<p>i mean, presumably, you don’t need to choose a major any time soon. take care of your gen eds and your “teenage angst”. the latter really is more important.</p>
<p>also, please don’t tell me you think that an english major is required to write for a magazine or edit or teach or whatever. an english major isn’t even required for english grad school.</p>
<p>I am actually going into the honors program, if that helps. When it came to choosing a college, it ultimately boiled down to what we could afford. I have actually written for a magazine before- Teen Ink- and been published, so I guess that’s a start, right?</p>
<p>I agree with vienneselights. I graduated with a BA in psychology, but I love writing (fiction, nonfiction, reports, it doesn’t matter). During my senior year of college I took an advanced English course in Composition & Rhetoric. I was the ONLY non-English major in the class. Most of the English students had chosen the writing-intensive track, and were dead-set on being authors of some sort. And let me tell you, most could not write. Period. In the beginning of the class the professor seemed worried about my ability to keep up with the English majors, but after our first writing assignment was due he seemed impressed and really liked me. </p>
<p>My point is that being an English/Writing major won’t necessarily make you a better writer, or even a more successful one. I did A LOT of writing as a psychology major (many 15-20 page papers, plus an honors thesis). This taught me a lot about grammar and punctuation, style, etc. which improved my overall writing ability - without bogging my mind down in literary analysis, as vienneselights pointed out.</p>
<p>Now, if you love literature analysis then a few courses won’t hurt, and maybe you’ll decide to major in it anyway. But know that if you are a good writer, you will continue to hone those skills regardless of your major. Smaller colleges tend to require more writing, and lengthier writing, because there are fewer students per class which allows professors and/or TAs the ability to actually read and grade them all. Large schools/auditorium-style courses will often call for less writing, at least until your junior or senior year.</p>
<p>You do not need to know exactly what you’ll major in right now. You can declare yourself an English major and change that later on. Or you can enroll as an undeclared major. You have plenty of time to decide. And if you decide after graduation that you want to change lanes, it is not uncommon to work in fields unrelated to your major. That’s why a well-rounded undergraduate education is so important.</p>
<p>I do suggest starting your own blog, if you don’t have one already. Write as often as you can, and seek criticism when you’re able. That feedback will help you to see things in your writing that you’ve become blind to. </p>
<p>Also - in terms of finding a writing-related job - an English degree is not always necessary. They will be able to tell from your cover letter and writing portfolio/samples whether you have what it takes to succeed in the position you are applying for. Some companies may say they would like you to have an English degree, but in today’s market many companies want well-rounded students with business acumen and a wider understanding of the world. Just simply knowing how to write isn’t good enough for top jobs in the industry.</p>
<p>I’ve heard before that a writing or English degree won’t make you a better writer, but since I’ll be in a smaller classroom setting since I’ll be taking honors classes, I mainly just want the major so I can get feedback and have some direction. I guess what I mean is that I won’t have to squeeze creative writing into my busy schedule- I’ll actually have to make room for it since it’s for a grade, which is a good thing. Right now I’m almost set on double majoring in psychology and writing and minoring in religious studies, which might sound crazy, but in my mind it makes sense. I want to pursue writing first, and if that absolutely doesn’t work out, then instead of doing technical writing or teaching English, two things that at least right now I can’t see myself doing, I would rather work in the psychology field and maybe continue writing in my free time and see where that goes. As for religious studies, well, that’s just something that I’ve been really wanting to study for a while, and I feel like I finally have an opportunity!</p>
<p>It doesn’t sound strange at all - comparative religion was an interest of mine as well, especially the interplay of religion and psychology, or religion and politics (from a psychological perspective). </p>
<p>Take a close look at the English curriculum of the schools that interest you and see if they do allow for various writing courses - some may only require one or two writing courses, with the rest focused on literary periods, rhetoric, etc. In literature courses you will primarily receive feedback about your analysis, not necessarily your writing. Seek out programs that having a writing “track” or minor (some English programs let you choose an emphasis, such as creative writing, literature, or something else), but not all programs have this. Larger universities may offer more writing courses than smaller ones. Take all of this into consideration when choosing a program to fit your needs.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that most work in psychology requires an advanced degree, so if you graduate and try working in the field of English (editor, freelance, etc.) and find it doesn’t work, it would be difficult to switch over to a psych position unless you had solid internships or other relevant work experience. I am currently a human resources manager because I chose to do more research and writing in college than internships, which made it difficult to find suitable work in the field. HR also pays considerable more with just a bachelor’s degree.</p>
<p>One of my psychology professors really enjoys writing, so you may find that pursuing psychology works for you - if you pursue a research field, you’ll be doing a lot of manuscript writing and hopefully publishing, which you may find fulfilling. Psychology allows for some creative style more so than the hard science fields.</p>
<p>I’ve looked at both the writing and English curriculums at my school closely, and the writin one offers a better variety of classes that appeal to me much more than the English classes. I suppose if writing doesn’t work out, I can always go back to school if I really need to in order to get a job…</p>
<p>oh my god woman YOU DON’T NEED TO TAKE WRITING CLASSES TO WRITE.</p>
<p>I’m aware…but did you ever think that maybe I want to? My favorite class I took in high school was advanced comp because all we did was write papers. I went to a theater conference a few weeks ago, took two playwrighting workshops, and really liked them both. Obviously i get something out of these classes, even if it’s only the satisfaction of thinking, “hey, I write better than all these people!” did you ever stop and think that maybe I also want this major for the perks involved? I can work on the staff of the literary publication, get a job in the writing center, hopefully take advantage of the study abroad opportunities they offer specifically to writing majors…and so on. I happen to know what I’m doing, thank you.</p>
<p>I think all of that is great - depending on what you are investing into it. If you are relying largely on student loans, you will want to make sure you are focused on something that will land you a secure job. If you will have few or no loans, then make the most of it and enjoy your writing classes. </p>
<p>Honestly though, most of the perks you mentioned can be taken advantage of with other majors as well - study abroad, staff of literary publication (most literary clubs and the sort do not require you to be an English/Writing major to be involved, especially if you’ve proven yourself to be a competent writer). My school also allowed non-English/Writing majors to work in the writing center if they had proven their skills.</p>
<p>You say that you know what you’re doing, yet you’re here asking for advice. I am not trying to turn you away from writing - if college is affordable for you and you have the drive to succeed, then go for it! But I am speaking as a mid-twenty-something graduate with a BA in a somewhat “unemployable” field (psychology), and have a few student loans. You will have far more flexibility to do what you want and pursue your passions after college if you take care of yourself now by creating a solid plan, and a solid back-up plan. Graduate school is not something you do just because you can’t find a job in your #1 field, and can be extremely expensive and competitive to get in. Take a peek at the Graduate School forum on this site if you haven’t already to see some of the feedback on what it takes to get in. </p>
<p>Your original post asked what kinds of jobs you can get with a BA in English/Writing, etc. I will tell you that I have many English majors on my LinkedIn account, and most are currently listed as “Freelance such-and-such.” None of the ones I am connected to have full-time jobs in a related field. They seem relatively happy, but struggling to find work and pay bills. Most still live at home with parents or rely heavily on significant others. </p>
<p>Good News: One English major I know elsewhere did land a job as a Publishing Assistant, and gets to travel and seems to love it. I’m not sure of her salary, but she doesn’t seem to be struggling too much. But she was also the best of the best. </p>
<p>Sometimes the “best” in high school is not the “best” in college, and you don’t know how you’ll rank when you end up in a class with other like-minded, passionate writing folk. So you need to determine whether the risks are worth it in the end. If you think they are, then you will have a fulfilling experience. But always have a solid back-up plan, and always keep an open mind to the suggestions of others. You don’t have to take all the advice that is given to you, but take the time to listen and decide what is best for your personal goals, the type of lifestyle you want to live after college, etc.</p>
<p>Thanks for your post! A lot of times when I ask for advice, what I’m sort of unconsciously doing is asking for someone to validate my ideas, which probably sounds ridiculous…but I don’t have to pay tuition or room thanks to a scholarship, so I’m taking advantage of this and taking what I want. I figure- somewhat naively- that everything will work itself out when it’s time for me to go job hunting. That’s a long way away…</p>
<p>It’s not as far away as you think - those 4 years will go by fast! That’s awesome that you have a scholarship to cover everything. Take advantage of that and enjoy your experiences.</p>