Young Writers Society

I have come to face the reality that I will likely not be able to support myself on just writing books. This has made deciding on a collage major hard(I'm only 13, but I want to figure this out now).

On one hand, I could major in creative writing. I could become better and write better books, thus allowing me to make more money.

On the other hand, I likely will need a second job, and I'm not sure that major will open up a lot of opportunities in that department.

I could also major in another field, and take that on as a primary job. I could then write my book,s but maybe they wouldn't turn out as good.

Here are some careers I would consider;

Wrting tutor
Actor(Not movies, I mean moving to New York and doing Broadway plays or something)
Zoo keeper
Interior designer(Don't ask)

Hmm...

Well, college is spelled college, not collage. Unless you want to major in collages, and I don't suggest that.

Also, do not start thinking you have to decide your major now, or even five years from now. Most people go to college thinking they'll major in one thing, but end up majoring in quite another thing. The college I went to is known for its biology program, and so 50% of all incoming freshman declare their major as biology. However, only 5% of seniors graduate with a degree in biology.

Or at least, don't decide on a major until you spell college right

And when the time comes to decide, I highly advise against a degree in creative writing. I really, really, strongly do. People become writers not because they can write well, but because they have stories to tell. The stories you tell come from your experiences, and if you're a creative writing major, the only story you're going to tell is another hackneyed plot about how difficult it is to think of a good story.

yeah, like Nate said, you don't need to know it... I'm going to college in a little over a year and I'm still not entirely sure what I will do. And even if I go in choosing one major, there are so many people who go in without a major, and a lot of people who change their major halfway through college.


I would suggest just picking one major and taking classes from the other ones you are thinking about. You'll start to realize which ones you'll actually enjoy quickly. Don't worry about money, jobs will come to you. Do what makes you happy.

Ah. The ever-fun delemma: What the heck am I going to do now?

Well personally, I didn't, and still haven't yet jumped straight to college. I wanted a break from school, and so I've take five years off as a vacation. This has allowed me time to explore, and read up on areas that suit my interests. I have my whole life, as you do, and I can enter college any time I wish too.

Now, currently, I'm looking at schools that will support my interest. I'm already employed, so no issue there. I'd like to do a double major (if I have the strength!) for grins. I'm looking into possibly majoring in creative writing and American History. I've been writing Historic Fiction for some amount of time so with these two majors, I'd improve by leaps and bounds. Plus, since I took my vacation, I recently met up with a "living history" historian. He's a professional editor, so with my desires and interests I can hopefully work through him.

Mentioning all this, my best piece of advise is, don't stress yourself into a tizzy! You're young, and there's plenty of time in deciding. I suggest enjoy your teenage years now while they last, and THEN when you hit eighteen, worry like crazy. But really, patience is a virtue, and as you've seen from my experience, it took time, but finally I found a path a suits my needs.

I commend your ideals, and best of luck with the coming path!

You're 13? Jeesh. I wasn't even thinking about high school when I was 13. I was just kinda chillin'.

Er, come to think of it, I'm in college (just a lowly freshman, but still) now and I'm still kinda chillin'. I mean, I study hard (for real!) and I get good grades, but I haven't picked a major yet. I take classes that look interesting, and eventually I'll have taken enough classes to really figure out what I like and don't like and that'll help me decide what I want to major in. I went in thinking English & history, but then all of the required courses looked boring so I took a communications class an an East Asian studies class (among other things) and now I'm thinking maybe that's what I want to do - so I'm taking more COMM & EAS classes next semester. If I enjoy them, I know I'm on the right track. If I don't, then I know I need to try something else.

Long story short: don't worry about it. I mean, take courses that interest you in high school and if you can, see about taking classes at a local community college. (I took a class on dinosaurs. It was really exciting.) Do try to keep your grades up, obviously, but don't worry too much about what you want to major in - unless you're considering rocket science or bioengineering and want to go to MIT or something, but it doesn't sound like that sort of thing is what you're into.

Oh, and remember: you can always double major. You know, creative writing and zoology or whatever.

Think about it now by all means but there's no need to make any decisions for a long time yet. At your age, I still thought I wanted to be a teacher, an actress or just possibly a writer. I've changed my mind many times since then.

At the moment, I've applied for courses in law but there's still a chance I will take a few English modules as well.

I'll not tell you that one day you'll wake up and know what you want to do because you might not. I'm still uncertain.

But take your time deciding.

Thanks, guys. I'm leaning to acting now, but I'll see. Thanks for the advice.

What about a degree in English? That could open up jobs like English teacher, book editor...

Choose a degree, and an entire field of jobs open up. It's just a matter of looking into that field, studying it to see what kind of jobs are there *tad unsure*

I'm only a junior in high school and I haven't even thought about my driver's license, let alone what career I want. It's highly unfortunate for us, as teenagers (more or less) to be pushed so hard through our years. We worry about so much: school, activities, licenses, college, etc.

But, really, you'll keep changing your decision over the years. Your interests keep changing. Just a few years ago, I wanted to design games. I wasn't writing worth poo at the time. I was a gamer, and that's what I wanted to be when I grew up. A year or so later, I came across this field of writing. Maybe I want to write now? In a couple years, I'll probably come across something else.. Go ahead and start thinking now, but be prepared to change your plans a number of times.

Well, you are only 13, so you still have a few years to think about it. By the time you're 17, the "What do you want to do?" question gets so annoying, especially when you don't know. As for your major, I'd suggest majoring in whatever you want that you think could get you a good job and minoring in some sort of writing. Also, choose a large college that has lots of good programs so you don't have to transfer if you change your mind.

Hey ,when you are 13 it kinda of a good idea to think of a major because you have to strive for AP classes to get into a good college, then there is all the activites to put on the resume. I agree with Nate on the creative writing degree. It's like having a teaching degree you just become robots and midless slaves to the public school system.

Okay, first of all, I think it's awesome that you're thinking about this now! One thing that really got me in trouble in high school was not thinking about college until my junior year, and by then I realized that the classes I took (and didn't take) were going to hurt me when I went to apply to my dream school. So while you don't have to *worry* about it, thinking about it is great!

I'm basically gonna just agree with everyone else here -- even if you pick a major now, you'll probably end up changing it. My first semester of college I was a die-hard physics major. Physics is what I wanted to do, without a doubt. Brilliant, fun stuff, and I could relate it to airplanes.

Well, I'm in my second semester now, and I've given that up. Too much math, and I realized that while it was fun in high school, it wasn't what I really wanted to do. So I'm back to the major I looked at in high school: psychology. And it may change, and it may not. The important thing is to keep an open mind about it -- you don't have to worry about this yet, but when you choose college classes, go for the general ed stuff first. If some of the GE courses overlap into requirements for your major, great! That way, if you change your major, at least it's not a waste of a class.

Do what you love. Just having a degree is good enough for a lot of places, no matter what the field.

I'm going to echo lots of other people and say, "Don't try to decide on this when you're thirteen."

Really, don't. No matter how many teachers and counselors try to make you pick something for your future, it's your future. And to be honest, who cares right now? When I was thirteen I thought I was going to be a graphic designer. Now I want to go into publishing, or maybe education, or maybe...*endless list*. The point is, you're only going to limit yourself by picking something so early. I have friends who want to be doctors...a noble ambition, but they've taken it to the point where they only take science electives at school even if they really like art or something. You shouldn't think "How will this help me in my future?" but "Is it fun? Will I enjoy it?" because that's the one that'll make you happy, no matter what you end up doing.

You're 13? Jeesh. I wasn't even thinking about high school when I was 13. I was just kinda chillin'.

I suggest enjoy your teenage years now while they last, and THEN when you hit eighteen, worry like crazy.

The five year break/College has obviously made you forget what teenage years are like. I barely have time to write with all this homework! School difficulty is a lot like plot structure. Think of the high points as hard. Now, consider juinor year the climax.

Heh. Well, I'm still thinking acting, but I'm still not completely sure. I my go back to zoology later, or an entirely new field. Thanks for the advice!

I don't know what I'm gonna major in still, and I'm in junior year.

Hey ,when you are 13 it kinda of a good idea to think of a major because you have to strive for AP classes to get into a good college, then there is all the activites to put on the resume.

I don't know what major and I've been in honors classes these past three years, and I'll have AP classes next year. This is Because I want to get into a good college no matter what. You don't have to decide what major you want to get into AP English or AP US History.

In high school, I only take the core classes, a foreign language, band, and an elective of my choice. I stayed away from taking two science classes at once (that kind of thing). It would be too much, and the elective I choose is just for fun. It would be an easy, blow-off class for me rather than something I have to worry my heart over. Don't try to overload yourself in high school, but with those few big classes you take (like AP English), get good grades. (that's my opinion, anyway. Plenty of others think otherwise).