Unqualified

Dear Creators,

I talk to a lot of writers, podcasters, and other creators who lament to me that they do not, for one reason or another, have an advanced degree in their creative field — or any degree at all.

“I majored in business,” a man sheepishly admitted to me during a consulting call, “so I’m not really qualified to talk about writing.” 

But he was qualified — he was an extremely well-read and strong writer, and I told him so. 

And honestly, in any creative endeavor, there is no “qualified”. We don’t need to pass a test or get certified or qualify for anything to create something we love. 

A degree is not a permission slip to create, even though society often treats it like one. 

I was privileged enough to attend college and major in English, and in my creative writing classes, we didn’t learn the secret formula to creative writing (because it doesn’t exist). 

We read a lot of literary theory (boring and confusing) and learned why John Cheever is superior to Stephen King (it’s completely subjective) and received guidance on how to infuse our writing with deep layers of metaphor (which ultimately just made my writing more pretentious). 

I actually had to UN-learn a lot of what I learned in my college writing classes later on in life.

Now, we did read and critique each other’s writing in small groups, which was helpful — but it’s something you can do in person or over Zoom with a group of fellow writers.

Whether or not higher education is “worth it” for a creator isn’t up for debate here — I simply want to encourage you not to let this hold you back. If you want to create a story or a work of art or some combination of the two, you should do it. 

You have everything you need to get started right now. 

And later on, if you need additional layers of metaphor in there, your editor will (hopefully gently) tell you.

Words & warmth,

Sarah