The Ups and Downs of a Creative Writing Degree

For the last four years, I've studied English Literature and Creative Writing at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. As of June 11, I officially graduated with my Bachelor of Arts degree! Which also means that I've started formally looking for post-graduate work.

While studying at Brock University, I met many different people in my classes. Some of them majored in English alone, or studied English to become teachers, or majored in Creative Writing to eventually work in the publishing field (that's me!). Everyone I met absolutely loved studying creative writing.

This post is intended for three kinds of people: 1) those studying at Brock who may be switching to a Creative Writing degree. 2) Those applying to universities for a Creative Writing degree. 3) Anyone looking for more information on what this program entails. Of course, every university is unique, and my experience at Brock does not mean that every Creative Writing program is the same.

Here are answers to some of the questions that I get asked the most:

Is it a 'real' degree?

Well, the obvious answer is YES, but usually this question implies another question entirely, which is something more like: do you actually study anything worthwhile? Again, the answer is YES. While English literature may not be as difficult to study as a MEDICAL DEGREE, it still requires hours of reading, writing, memorizing, and creativity. A Creative Writing degree shares many requirements with a typical English or even Journalism degree, and most universities will allow you to take a variety of electives from any school faculty to round out your expertise.

A photo from my very last class at Brock. The course required us to write research papers analyzing a specific aspect of Arthurian literature (mine was about female rage).

What do you actually learn?

In Brock's program, the first year of my studies was in general English, where I took a variety of credits from different departments. It wasn't until my second year that I took specific Creative Writing courses. The workshops begin in the third year of the program (unless you choose to take them in your second year).* These workshops focus on specific genres of writing and allow you to develop your own stories while sharing them with a group. The workshops vary slightly, but generally, you write a specific story for the class, which everyone will read. Your peers and professor provide feedback and advice, which you then use to rewrite, and submit a final work to your professor for a grade. You'll also be graded on the quality of feedback you give to your peers. I did workshops in short story writing, advanced short story writing, creative non-fiction writing, and advanced poetry, among a couple of other courses about publishing and journalism. Other than those workshops each year, the Creative Writing degree looks very similar to an English one. You take many courses where you study literature from a variety of different authors, genres, and time periods. In fact, I took more English courses than Creative Writing ones.

*I think it's also worth noting that students in the Creative Writing program are eligible to go on exchange, even if the university they want to attend abroad does NOT have Creative Writing classes. This just means that when you return to Brock for your final year, you'll take those workshops you missed.

What jobs can you get?

Excellent question. As I have yet to find a job, I'll let you know when I do...

Just kidding.

There are plenty of career opportunities for someone with a Creative Writing degree, if you know where to look. The most obvious job is: AUTHOR. Please remember, small press is your friend. A small press is an independent publisher that publishes limited amounts of work. Being published locally by a small press immediately boosts your credibility as a writer, and having a degree in such a topic already puts you closer to being noticed. You should try to be published even while you're in your studies to boost your resume and get your name circulating. Other jobs that revolve around writing include: freelance writer, copy editor, or technical writer.

Other less obvious jobs can include: journalist (put those writing and storytelling skills to use!), social media manager (involves creativity, and again, storytelling), content strategist, or teacher/tutor (you're especially qualified to teach a writing course, even more so if you're published).

Other positions you might qualify for with additional education include: law/policy (a promising career path if you're a persuasive writer) or human resources. When it comes to a Creative Writing degree, it's really up to you to gain the knowledge and experience in fields you'd like to pursue. As someone important probably once said, YOU OPEN YOUR OWN DOORS!

This picture was taken on the Brock university campus after my graduation ceremony

Now, I want to talk briefly about... The pros and cons ! ! !

If you're passionate about writing and want to pursue a career in publishing or teaching, I encourage you to get this degree! However, if you're currently failing your English program and hoping that Creative Writing will be easier, I'm afraid to tell you that you probably won't find this degree very helpful. In my (limited) experience so far, the kind of employers looking to hire people with Creative Writing degrees expect you to have a strong passion for writing, a deep knowledge of literature, a portfolio of previously published work, and the kind of self-made drive you'd see in an entrepreneur. While there are certainly many job possibilities for a Creative Writing degree, a stable career may be difficult to find. So, essentially...

PROS: You get to pursue something you love.

CONS: Less job stability / low paying jobs.

With all that said, I really enjoyed my time at Brock, and I'll let you know how the job hunt goes *cries softly.*

If you have any questions about Creative Writing degrees or my time at Brock, please reach out or check out some of my other posts!