College or university (depends on where you’re from) is a pretty daunting period of time for any student. I would know, I just graduated the other day. Of course, trying to pick a major is one of the hardest decisions anyone can make and it feels like it’s impossible because most universities and colleges have massive lists of tons of degrees. I know some people pick degrees based off of their passions or based off of the job prospects, and others pick degrees for their personal job searches, but it’s still not an easy choice. I would know, I switched my major maybe four times. Now, chances are, you clicked on this because you want to know what college major you should pick if you want to become a writer. Well, that’s exactly what I’m going to answer in today’s post. So strap in, we’ve got a lot to talk about.
Do Writers Need a College Degree?
A lot of people nowadays are against getting a degree from college and university. To them, it’s a waste of time, energy, and money. Now, others are not against getting a degree and think it’s valuable for their futures. Others just want a degree for the sake of having a degree. But if you want to become a writer, do you really even need a degree?
Technically… no. You don’t need one. Does it help to have one? Yes. That’s what I want to really get at in this post. Having a degree is helpful because it boosts your credibility, gives you some hands-on experience, and gets you in an environment where you need to work with others, learn and follow instructions, and explore many different topics.
I personally studied finance in university, which isn’t really related to writing at all, but I took electives around my degree that helped boost my writing skills. I took classes on philosophy, ethics, even video games as literature, and more. These courses, I felt, were a MASSIVE boost to my overall skill set, not just as a writer, but even as a business major.
Do Writers Need a Degree in Writing?
For this, I’ll give you a brief answer: No. You don’t actually need a degree related to writing if you want to be a writer. Now, if you want to work in a publishing company, as a literary agent, as a blog writer, etc… does it help you to have a degree in something related to writing? Yes. If you have experience though, you could have a degree in mixed media for all anyone cares, the experience should show your skills off enough.
Having a degree in something related to writing is helpful though, I will say that.
Are Degrees for Writing “Useless?”
This is the age-old question when it comes to picking majors: Is the major useful or useless? I honestly hate this question and I really hate when people pick on majors and call them “useless.” No major is useless if you take advantage of it properly and all majors are useless if you don’t take advantage of them properly. Yes, even engineering degrees are useless if you don’t know how to use it. Just having a degree in STEM doesn’t guarantee you anything in life.
What I want you to do is to find your passion and pick your major based on that passion of yours. That is how you maximize your college experience the right way. I enjoy writing, but I also enjoy stock trading and managing money, so picking finance was an option for me, but I tailored my extra courses around my passion in writing and media.
The Best Majors for Aspiring Writers
1. English/English Literature
Overview: Majoring in English tends to be the first choice for anyone who wants to be a writer. English and English Lit majors study literature, theory, language, linguistics, writing styles, and writing mediums. Your courses will engage a lot with books and written works of various genres from across many time periods. You’ll need to analyze a lot of readings and use critical thinking. There’s a lot of essays as well.
Why English/ English Lit?:
- Exposure to Literature: As an English major, you’re going to be reading a lot, which helps you gain needed exposure to a wide range of writing styles, genres, and historical time periods.
- Critical Thinking: Critical thinking is a big deal in English and through analyzing different works, you’ll be able to build this skill up quite a lot.
- Writing Practice: Regular writing assignments and essays helps you become a faster writer who can think of an answer right away. Many times, your exams will include timed essays and so you have to get comfortable writing and writing a lot
2. Journalism
Overview: Journalism allows for you to focus on news reporting, investigations, and telling stories. When you open the TV to watch the news, those people reporting to you are called journalists. Journalism programs tend to cover things like media ethics, investigative reporting, multimedia journalism, and the impact of bias on news.
Why Journalism?:
- Real-World Experience: Many journalism programs include internships and opportunities to work with newspapers, giving you hands-on experience.
- Technical Skills: You’ll have to work with technology a lot, which helps build your experience as a writer because technology and writing goes hand-in-hand these days.
- Writing of Different Forms: Journalists tend to write in different styles and their writing often includes creating a compelling story to entice people to keep reading. Learning how to write a story from real-life will ultimately help you craft a compelling narrative of your own when you go to write.
3. Creative Writing
Overview: A creative writing major focuses specifically on the art and craft of writing fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. A lot of coursework in creative writing will revolve around workshopping, but you’ll also learn things about editing, proofreading, planning, and more. This is probably the most relevant major if you want to be a novelist.
Why Creative Writing?:
- Focused Curriculum: Courses are very specific for writing, which is relevant to your goals.
- Workshop Experience: Regular workshops let you get necessary feedback from peers and educators alike, which is a vital aspect of the writing process.
- Portfolio Development: By the time you’re done with your degree, you should have a solid portfolio of works that’ll help you get a foot in the door when you’re done.
4. Communications
Overview: A communications degree is a great one for people who enjoy exploring written and spoken communication across different mediums. This major covers topics such as media studies, public relations, and organizational communication.
Why Communications?:
- Writing Skills: Communications relies a lot on writing and conveying that writing in different forms.
- Media Skills: Media and writing are two sectors that intersect the most, and communications majors focus a lot on media, including news media, social media, and more.
- Public Speaking: Although this may sound daunting, public speaking is a pretty good skill to have as a writer because you will probably have to give presentations and workshops in the future and if you become a novelist, you may be invited to speak with people.
5. History
Overview: Studying history as your degree involves studying the past, how cultures intersected, wars, the development of society and more. Throughout your studies, you’ll have to analyze historical documents, books, analyze and critically think about things and more.
Why History?:
- Research Skills: Historians have to know how to research, and I’ve talked about researching history and mythology to help you write, so this is a really important skill to learn and develop.
- Critical Thinking: Critical thinking is something that is big in history studies, as you need to be able to come up with answers, understand how things connect, and build a bigger picture with the given information.
- Interpreting Information: Another big part of studying history is interpreting given information and building a narrative around it, as well as looking beyond the face value information.
6. Psychology
Overview: A big part of writing is understanding the human psyche, and psychology is great at that. Psychology majors study things like how humans think, behave, as well as the theories behind psychology and also how mental health works.
Why Psychology?:
- Character Development: Understanding psychological principles can help writers create complex, believable characters. I’ve talked about this before when I wrote about writing about a psychopath and even a narcissistic character.
- Research Skills: A lot of research is involved in psychology, which helps you a lot as a writer.
- Critical Thinking: Developing critical thinking skills is a big part of being a successful writer, which is something that psychology is good at building in students.
7. Education
Overview: As an education major, you’ll get to learn about teaching methods, educational psychology, curriculum development, and of course, writing. This major prepares students to become educators but also provides valuable skills for writers.
Why Education?:
- Teaching Skills: Teaching is an important skill you learn as an education major, and as a writer, a lot of your work is going to be in teaching, especially if you’re a blogger.
- Audience Awareness: Understanding your audience helps you tailor your writing to that specific group, which is important as a writer.
- Research and Interpretation: Learning how to research and interpret that research is vital as a teacher, and is also vital as a writer.
8. Marketing
Overview: Marketing may seem like a wild card in the middle here, but it’s actually one of the most writing-focused business majors out there. Marketing involves learning about things like consumer behavior, which focuses on psychology, and you learn how to write strategically, which is important too.
Why Marketing?:
- Persuasive Writing: Persuasion is a great way in getting people interested in your writing and is a writing skill that I would say is extremely important.
- Audience Analysis: Writing to your target audience is important, and marketing helps you understand who your audience is and how you can reach out to them.
- Digital Marketing: Marketing is a big part of getting readers, and social media is a big part of that these days. You need social media marketing if you want to reach the widest audience possible.
Double Majoring
If you find that there is more than one of the majors I listed above that speaks to you or fits your passions, then see if your university will allow you to double major and even add on a minor to your degree. Having a double major will be helpful if you enjoy things like English and psychology but don’t want to pick between the two. It will be a bit more challenging to cover all the core courses from each major, but having a skillset in both makes you a more rounded person.
Before you head on out and pick your major, check out my series, The Fallen Age Saga. And also, sign up for my newsletter so you can get updates and news on all my latest posts, future books, and more!