Creative Writing or Business?

Question

I am in LOVE with writing. Unfortunately, I am a business major. Should I give up a steady and well-paid job in the future on Wall Street for an insecure occupation as a writer, who teaches for a living? Is money worth it? I am one who hates math, and do not see myself forever in the business world. Yet, I am paying a large sum of money for school to do business. Is transfering to a creative writing major better for me? Or should I just stick it out in business, and hope that my dream job will take over some day?

Answer 1

Why not write on the side? There is no law that says you can't be a Wall Street broker AND a writer-- I mean, if you were teaching you would be holding down two jobs anyway. There's no rule that says you have to have only one passion or career in life.

Is there a way you could take on a creative writing minor with your business degree, or just take a class or two on the side?

If you haven't read them yet, check out these books for help in your writing:

1) "On Writing Well" by William Zinsser-- This is an excellent reference for any kind of writing. It will make your emails, essays, stories, and other writing clearer. I recommend this to everyone who wants to improve their writing skills.

2) "Bird By Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life" by Anne Lamott-- This is slightly more geared towards fiction writing, but can be helpful when you are attacking ANY large project in your life. Definitely a must for creative writers, students, or people who are looking for an entertaining book on writing.

3) "Writing Down the Bones" by Natalie Goldberg. This targets creative writing, and focuses on the practice of writing. I write a lot of poetry and am working on a novel, and this is incredibly motivational to me.

Answer 2

If you are truly a writer, sooner or later, you'll find out that you don't have a choice: You have something that needs saying and you won't rest until you've found the way to say it.
My advice to you is to keep going to business school and get a job in that field. Beginner writers don't make an actual living off their work. When the time comes and you know you must write, at least you'll have a real job to support you. Writing is never about the money. It's more of a calling.

Answer 3

Why couldn't you just double major? Why make it an either/or? Take your business classes, but don't neglect writing and literature.

What everyone says about writing is true -- it's very difficult to make a living doing it. In those early years you will need to find a job to support your art. "Starving Artist" is not a euphemism, as I long ago learned the hard way.

On the other hand, I've also worked on Wall Street, and the people who do well there usually love it, and spend about fifteen hours a day focused on their jobs. When you go in for your interview, you're going to be competing with these folks, and since you already sound ambivalent about your future in the corporate world, I wonder if you won't find yourself burnt out before too long.

I used a corporate salary to support my writing for years. I took a lot of amazing workshops, and enjoyed my double life until finally I burned out trying to balance the two careers. Now I've gone back to school for an MFA in Creative Writing, and I couldn't be happier. My worst-case-scenario outcome, having to teach English for the rest of my life, would suit me just fine.

Your dream job won't just come to you. You have to go looking for it. Do so cautiously, but keep trying to make it happen. Good luck.

Answer 4

I think you already know the answer to your own question. When it comes to your career, you need to follow your dream, your heart, your passion. One of the most important decisions you will make in your life is your career. You need to think of your career as you would your life partner; you wouldn't want to invest 5 or 10 years of your time in a man you know you don't see yourself with for the rest of your life. Look at the amount of money you will have spent on your classes and in the end, when it's all done, you may not even put your major to the good use that it was intended for. Most successful writers had to struggle for a period of time before they made it to where they are now. One thing is for sure, you need to get all of your resources in order now. If you have the means of getting by with teaching while you are writing I would definitely recommend doing that, at least until you are a well established writer.

Best of Luck to You.

I look forward reading more from you!

Answer 5

Use your business degree to fund your writing.
Very few writers can just go out and become a writer. I suggest going to writing workshops to network and learn more about your writing community while getting feedback on your writing.
Also, if you're not near graduation yet, there's no reason why you shouldn't double major in business and English/creative writing. You need a literature background to help your writing, and you are more likely to get a job you'd be interested in with a BA too.

Answer 6

You could do both. Your fulltime job can be business related and do some freelance writing on the side or work on a novel. A business degree can really come in handy in any field. You can probably go into publishing, work for a business magazine or go into marketing. Doing a double major or a minor in writing/english would probably be a good idea.

Answer 7

You don't have to give up your career. You can write at the same time, in your lunch hour and early in the morning before going to work. The ideal situation would be to work at home and do your writing when things are slow.
One of the hardest things for creative people is sharing their life with someone else. That takes up a lot of their free time, so they don't get much work done.

Answer 8

Stick with business for the money. Write in your spare time for pleasure. You won't make a good living by writing, unless you are one of the very very few who publish a block buster.

Answer 9

I have had my current full-time job for six years and would have had more than enough spare time to write a whole novel. I just didn't want to start. Yet.

So keep your job and write in your spare time. Get family and friends to test-read and get them to be honest with your work.

Rarhodes - LOL - I'm in QA, too. Must be something about needing creativity to break things and write stories.

Answer 10

Hello again,
I answered your previous question too.

Stick with your business degree. You have a better chance of finding a good job with that than with writing.

I'm planning on being in Quality Assurance in Industry, but that won't sacrifice my passion for writing.

Best of luck!