So many great authors have not been university educated. Ideas on the significance of this?

Question

Many of those who have have studied subjects other than literature. I'm not making a popint either way, I'm just interested, as a writer, in the reasons/significance, and the pros and ocns of academia to the writing life.

Answer 1

The major is not important to a writer. A solid education is. You do not need an English degree to write a novel, but you DO need to know how to construct a sentence! Also, higher education teaches you how to think critically, not just recite memorized facts. Being able to think critically is a cornerstone of a good writer. because critical thinking allows you to develop solid storylines and plots, insure your characters' actions are realistic, and overall produce better work.

University work is much different from high school. University work involves research, developing the ability to draw conclusions off of that research, and being able to communicate those conclusions clearly. Whereas much of high school is multiple choice tests, memorizing dates, and regurgitating what your teacher said in class. So a higher education, regardless of major, is very important to writers.

In high school, they tell you which books are considered great literature. In college, you discuss WHY those books are great. This is a huge difference in thinking, and an important ability to a writer.

You can, of course, develop these abiities outside of a formal education, so long as you are a voracious reader. But few people voluntarily engage in that sort of self-study.

Answer 2

This is not a new argument. Many people who do not believe in the system of higher education use this very argument as the basis to debunk the need for universities. Genius comes to one in my opinion. Joyce, Yeats, Eliot, Shelley, Byron, Goethe and the countless others would produce no matter what. My argument to the debunking myth is simple. Few of us are in this league. Higher education fine tunes the mind for the intellectual path. This kind of education stimulates the mind to appreciate the masters.

Answer 3

The best writers are veracious readers. Academia does expose burgeoning writers to works that they may not, otherwise, become aware of without a more structured environment. And talent don't hurt either.

Answer 4

No severe scholars everywhere provide any credence to theories that somebody different than Shakespeare wrote his works. Marlowe is between the silliest applicants, as he died in the previous maximum of Shakespeare's paintings grew to become into written.