Writers and Editors
Writers and editors are those who, as we all know, write and edit the various publications that we all consume, from newspapers to books through to theater and TV and films. One of the very odd things about the profession is that to write a great novel, or play perhaps, absolutely no formal training is required. All that is necessary is that you are a great artist. However, to play upon the lower slopes of the mountain that is literature a college degree will almost always be required. To join a publishing house, magazine or newspaper, well, if you don’t have a college degree they simply won’t even bother to read your application.
For many such jobs the college degree can be in the liberal arts but if it is it’s becoming more usual to ask for a further degree, perhaps a Master’s, in journalism say. If you major in communications (perhaps) for that first college degree then you’ll have a better chance. There are many other types of writer of course (a technical writer might be expected to have a college degree in the technology she’s going to write about, for example) but that degree has become the starting admission ticket to the game.
What is also true is that there will also need to be a large amount of unpaid work done, on the job training if you like. It might start with the High School or College newspaper, or it might be internships at a magazine or PR company, but it’s very rare for someone to get a paying job straight out of training. The incomes of writers and editors (except at the very top, where superstar economics comes into play) are also rather lower than you might expect, given the training and internships required. About $45,000 on average across the whole profession. The reason is that there are a large number of people who would like to, and can do, the job. Lots of people enjoying what they do is a recipe for them to be paid not very much.
As to our EQSQ personality tests there’s room in the craft for people of every type, from the extreme systemizers to the extreme empathizers. The sorting goes on after entry. The male brain types tend to end up with the technical writing (manuals, the business pages) and the empathizing with more emotive subjects (novels, relationship pages). As readers have every possible EQSQ type, there are jobs for every type as well.
May 15th, 2007 at 12:03 am
Tim, It’s true that a writer doesn’t technically need a degree to write a novel. And historically, many writers haven’t had them. And many editors will tell the aspiring writer to head off for work in the coalmines, to get some gritty lived experience. But the truth of the situation is that more and more, published writers are those who have gotten MFAs–Master’s of Fine Arts–in creative writing.
In a MFA program, students write and workshop their writing for 2-3 years. At the end of that time, they should have a thesis–and for some this means having a manuscript to send out for publication consideration. During their MFA study, students also hobknob with their fellow students, their professors, and with visiting writers. Having a community of writers can bolster and inspire, which may be the most appealing aspect of a MFA.
Interested folks should check out the Associated Writing Programs’s website. You can find information about MFA programs, as well as writing contests and the like.
May 19th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
Millie, I agree that writers don’t leap fully formed out of the cradle. I’m also aware of the increasing influence of the various creative writing programs. I’m not sure how much of their success comes from the teaching of writing and how much from the intelligence you get abou how the business works, who the publishers and agents are etc. That intelligence is extremely valuable as it’s actually rather easier to write a book than it is to get it published.
There’s a definite trend in the UK for publishers to be looking at blogs as a source of writers. I know at least 20 (including myself :-)) who have been offered contracts in just the last year.
But I think you’re right that MFAs and similar are very valuable programs, even if I tend to think that it’s the network that provides at least some of that value.
May 21st, 2007 at 6:44 pm
Tim, No doubt the network provides a good bit of the value. I mentioned FENCE literary magazine some time ago, and it’s a case in point here. After its inception, the associated press published graduates from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop almost exclusively for several years–that’s the same Iowa Writer’s Workshop from which the FENCE editor and publisher graduated. I mean no dis to Rebecca Wolff–it’s a common trend in literary publishing to support the work of friends. Getting a MFA helps create such a circle of support.
May 21st, 2007 at 6:49 pm
p.s. congrats on your contract offer–are you going to take it?
June 5th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
Millie, that’s the intelligence I’ve got back from those who are taking writing much more seriously than I am. It’s the network that counts, much more than skill or talent (although those are both useful as well of course:-)).
I’m writing non-fiction, non-creative stuff. OpEds sometimes, a lot of bits and pieces about economics, the environment and so on. I’ve got a light enough style and I know my subjects, so it’s quite easy for me to hammer out 800 words, or 1,500 for an editor.
But the one piece of intelligence which I am so grateful for from the first editor I found who would actually read my stuff is: make friends with editors. Create a network of people who will answer your emails, pick up the phone when you call. Sometimes you’ll be asked to do pieces you don’t want to, at low rates or none, but you’ll do them because that’s what you have to to stay in the network.
MFAs most definitely have that value over and above the formal part of the program.
Yes, I am taking the offer, who wouldn’t?
June 11th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Some employers may demand college degrees, but when I was hired as an editor by a US-based publisher, my paper qualifications were not an issue. Sure, I have a degree, and it says so in my resume - but the decision to hire me was based mainly on my writing skills and professional track record, supplemented by several lengthy interviews. So no one should be put off pursuing such a career by lack of a degree - relevant experience is more important, and business acumen perhaps most of all.