McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Maybe an English degree is a must?

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arianne:
i've just been randomly googling some of my favorite and some other popular authors, and all (and I do mean ALL) of them have either an English degree or some sort of English related degree.

JRR Tolkien (well, duh)
Jk Rowling-BA in French and Classics
Cassandra Clare
Susan Cooper (The Dark is Rising)
Jim Butcher
Stephenie Meyer
Melissa Marr
Stephen King
Simon R Green

And that's just for starters. Am I missing something here? Is an English degree a "must" for an author? Or is it more that people who love to read/write often go on to study English?

Shecky:
More the latter. I've known a lot of English majors (and English grad students, for that matter) whom I wouldn't trust to write the number 1 on a piece of paper. Education isn't limited to matriculation, y'know.

slrogers:

I think it's more of a love of literature than any direct training with it. I think it's the love of literature is reflected in their dicisions to get degrees in English. But I don't think you even need to start out with that love. I think as you start writing you'll see how increadibly amazing it all is.

http://wordmindjourney.blogspot.com/2013/04/falling-in-love-with-literature.html

But I think you are going to need to have that love, or passion, for writing eventually to help pull you through all of the challenges of writing. Like Jim said about how 99% of the failures in writing are self-imposed; it get's tough enough to make most people want to quit. But once you find that passion, regardless of how many books you sell, it's all worth it.

LizW65:
I wouldn't say a degree in English (or anything, for that matter) is a must--some of the most stilted, unreadable writing, after all, is in doctoral theses--but a love of literature, language, and research into a variety of topics is most likely a given. Two of my favorites, PN Elrod and Elizabeth Peters, have degrees in theatre and archaeology, respectively. And as far as we know, Shakespeare never even went to university, but managed to do pretty well in his chosen field.

Shecky:

--- Quote from: LizW65 on April 10, 2013, 10:33:30 PM ---I wouldn't say a degree in English (or anything, for that matter) is a must--some of the most stilted, unreadable writing, after all, is in doctoral theses--but a love of literature, language, and research into a variety of topics is most likely a given. Two of my favorites, PN Elrod and Elizabeth Peters, have degrees in theatre and archaeology, respectively. And as far as we know, Shakespeare never even went to university, but managed to do pretty well in his chosen field.

--- End quote ---

Oh lawd, let's not start talking about academic language. I speak it fluently but it gives me heartburn and particularly effective gas.

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