Writing Without a License

Hi! And welcome to my blog.

Something you should know about me: I love writing! I've written poetry since I was around five years old and novels/short stories since my late twenties. Within the last year, a collection of fully conversational tweeted stories and a YA romance short story were published in two anthologies. I'm making it happen!

But...I never went to school specifically for writing.

I know imagination doesn't require formality. My brain frequently explodes with possibilities. But would a degree have helped? Maybe. Would I feel more secure in my writing path? Maybe. Would the niggling in the back of my mind finally go away? ...Maybe.

Although, who knows? Maybe not.

Success doesn't require a degree. Creativity flourishes in every aspect of life. And I can trial-and-error my way to where I need to go...right?

It's not like I never write, but it's different at my full-time job. I work in a field that requires structured writing. Reports sent to clients demand a lot of scrutiny. Screwups can cause major issues down the line. Mistakes matter.

Of course my writing matters, too, but I focus on fiction and fantasy. I can make things up and readers will most likely go with the flow. As long as my ideas don't fall too far outside the rules of my fantasy world, my readers probably won't question why my fictional world has dragons.

Maybe I'll never know if a degree would have bridged the gap between the two writing styles. And that's okay.

I took a different path.

Numerous drafts of novels and short stories on life support became my stepping stones. And I'm so grateful for that.

For me, writing experience replaced the formal degree. I'm writing without a license and maybe that's the way it's meant to be.

So what do you think? Should a writer have a degree or can they freefall and hope for the best?

I'd love to hear your thoughts so drop them in the comments below. :)

Thanks for reading! If you enjoy this sort of content, sign up for my blog. Hope to see you again soon.