Studying a literature degree - thoughts or advice?

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  o53djz7qTPY4der on 24/08/2019 - 10:02

  +5

  vocabulary isn't nearly deep enough

  Buy a thesaurus, it'll be cheaper and more useful.

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  EightImmortals on 24/08/2019 - 10:15

  +4

  Nothing wrong with being self taught. If you are doing what you love then just keep doing it, the skills (and the money) will increase as you go along. A degree will a) cost you a lot of money and b) might 'educate' out all the creativity and enjoyment you currently get from writing.

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  vikvance on 24/08/2019 - 10:26

  +1

  An alternative could be to to look into some creative writing short courses.

  These will be quicker & cheaper to do, and might benefit a lot more, in terms of your blog and commercial writing.

  • 

    tighttighttight1 on 24/08/2019 - 10:32

    Reading more would also help.

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  mskeggs on 24/08/2019 - 10:31

  +3

  Tertiary English is about analysing writer’s work. It prepares you to be an academic literature analyst and teach and research at a uni.
  Coincidentally, it is often helpful to writers as it makes them more thoughtful about their own writing.
  It doesn’t do much to teach the nuts and bolts of writing well.

  I know a few University academics in English departments who are also moderately successful novelists. They love reading and writing, and their uni job is a way to get paid a regular salary to do that. My day job involves a fair chunk of writing and editing, and I did a cert iv to learn more about it. It wasn’t very helpful, but I suppose adds a line to my resume. I did it online, and think the material would have been much better in a classroom discussion environment.

  If I wanted to be a good writer, I think I would recommend doing more targeted stuff like this:
  https://thewritepractice.com/neil-gaiman-masterclass-review/
  Rather than academic studies.

  To make an analogy, studying English at uni is a bit like studying programming to learn to use a computer. Yes, you will pick up computer use skills, but you will spend a lot of time and money learning stuff only distantly related to actually writing.

  • 

    SlavOz on 24/08/2019 - 10:43

    Thanks for the insight! I've heard other people say the exact same thing as you. To clarify, I'm not looking for a course that will teach me to become a better writer (I don't think Uni courses teach anyone to become better at anything, but rather how to appreciate and deeply understand certain topics).

    I'm more interested in growing my overall critical thinking skills, analysis skills, general insight, and historical appreciation of classic works. This won't make me a better writer in itself, but I believe that combined with a self-propelled passion and determination it can benefit my writing indirectly. If nothing else I feel like I'd really enjoy it.

    That being said I may look into other more practical, self-paced courses first as signing up for a degree is expensive and demanding.

    • 

      mskeggs on 24/08/2019 - 12:50

      It sounds like you would enjoy studying English. I would urge you to try and do it in person. A lot of courses are available in the evenings, or taking half a day off work once a week.

    • 

      Icecold5000 on 28/08/2019 - 12:59

      This whole degree would be a colossal waste of time and money. Unless you’re independently wealthy there are far more productive uses of your life.

    • 

      diamondd on 06/09/2019 - 00:54

      "I'm more interested in growing my overall critical thinking skills, analysis skills, general insight, …"

      that's good, but uni's hardly the place for that I'm afraid.

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  bobbified on 24/08/2019 - 11:39

  While following your interests isn't always a bad thing, you do have to look at things practically too.

  A degree with cost you a few years of time and tens of thousands of dollars.

  Is finishing this degree going to open enough doors for you into the job world to sustain your future living expectations?

  • 

    SlavOz on 24/08/2019 - 19:17

    Long term I think it could definitely contribute to my earning potential, but regardless I don't write for money nor do I want to study it for the prospect of such. It's a passion. A past time. A way of directing my thoughts to candid pages rather than tangible actions. :)

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  fantombloo on 24/08/2019 - 12:13

  Care to share your blog details?

  • 

    SlavOz on 24/08/2019 - 19:14

    Sorry, would rather not as its tied to my name and profession. It's nothing special though lol

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  epkh on 24/08/2019 - 22:48

  I agree with what the others are saying on how degrees won't make your write any better.

  If you really want to study, why don't you study something you like to write about like politics, history, journalism or whatever and you do your degree on that?

  Your writing skill will improve obviously during the course and you'll enjoy writing about something you're interested in.

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  jdee87 on 24/08/2019 - 23:52

  Most of the writers I like don't necessarily hold literature degrees, so I think it is not necessary. There might be an edge for lit graduates I don't realise, but then again you can go the path of taking creative writing courses and reading publications that are considered classics or are highly acclaimed.

  • 

    SlavOz on 25/08/2019 - 09:38

    I should clarify, I don't do creative writing (as in stories/plots) nor am I interested really interested in it at this time (just don't feel like I'm good at it).

    • 

      jdee87 on 11/09/2019 - 14:01

      I see. It's up to you to take a literature degree to further your knowledge on writing and deepen your vocabulary if you have the time and resources. I personally would do it, if only to enrich one part of my life, a passion.

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  brad1-8tsi on 26/08/2019 - 11:14

  I know several people with English lit degrees.
  Person 1 - homemaker for 15 years and now works in childcare.
  Person 2 - journalist on suburban newspaper, then homemaker 18 years, now receptionist at a book publishers.
  Person 3 - public servant. Writes complicated policy documents.

  I think it would be what you make of the degree rather than the degree making you. You might be better off doing short courses rather than a degree unless the field you wish to enter really asks for a degree (eg: governement wants a degree for almost everything).

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  Proudydude on 13/09/2019 - 21:26

  As a person who knows some people with the literature degree I can assure you what you need is not a degree or specific studies but curiousity and experimentation. As long as it's not affecting quality of your work, you should be fine with continuous learning on your own.

  Studies of literature often are more focused on learning about authors, works of literature, literary movements, etc. It helps with deepening of vocabulary but it's more of a side effect rather than focal point of the studies. Also, literature degree itself does not guarantee you'll be a better writer,

  If you feel like you still lack specific education, I'd suggest looking for creative writing studies/courses. There's a bunch of them on the internet and for a good price. You can also join relevant groups on Linkedin, it can be very useful

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  [Deactivated] on 17/12/2019 - 19:49

  As a 'professional' writer, why do you write in American English?