Do You Have to Go to School to Become an Artist or Writer?

Q: Do you have to go to school (college, university, etc) to become an artist or a writer?

A: I’ve spent far too much of my life grappling with whether or not a higher education would help me be a better writer and guarantee success in the publishing world. Straight out of high school, I entered the University of Toronto and chose the most obvious subject to major in for a writer–English Literature. For most, entering into secondary education to study the medium of their choice is a very logical and rewarding experience, and it can lead to opportunities. For me, it was a long hard lesson in learning about myself.

In one of my first year English classes, we were to write an essay on Charles Dicken’s Great Expectations. The professor asked me to meet with him after class one day. In his tiny office, he expressed a concern about my writing ability and wondered if I had found a way to slip through their screening process when they accepted applications for entrance to the university. I wondered too when I looked at the failing grade on my essay – a first ever on a writing assignment.

He had to be sure, he explained, so he took my essay to a writing lab and conferred with a TA to determine if I had the basic writing skills necessary for a university level education. Now according to the professor, the TA read it, laughed and then assured him, “She knows how to write; she just has absolutely nothing to say.”

Truthfully, I didn’t have anything to say because I had studied the damned book five years in a row in high school and there was simply nothing left to say. Still, I had to write the essay. Thanks to a patient professor, he let me develop my own thesis. In the end, he commented favourably on some of my “sensitive” insights and I received a decent grade on the paper.

I pressed on even though English Literature wasn’t working for me. I found the subject dull, uninspiring and studying it a bit pointless. I could spend a lifetime studying everything that has ever been written about other people’s lives, thoughts and emotional reactions to the world and the human condition, only to look up from the books and realize my own life had long passed by.

Finally, the stress of doing something I really didn’t want to do took a toll on my health and grades. I lost half a semester second year being ill with mono. The end result, after the second year I was facing an academic debarrment so I did everyone a favour—my parents, the university and myself—and dropped out.

It would take a second attempt at University later in life, studying in areas of interest (Humanities, Linguistics, History) and getting grades good enough to win a scholarship and a bursary, to figure out that university in itself wasn’t where I needed to be. (For the record, my second tour of university was incredible, but I wanted to be there and it showed.)

What’s interesting to note is that when I received my first publishing credits in Ryerson University’s The White Wall Review, I had been working for a book distribution company as a Receiver in the warehouse. So, it is possible to be published without a secondary education, emphasis on the word secondary.

You see, the primary educational institution from which all writing comes from is life.

Recently I chatted with a friend who claimed she couldn’t write. I told her that everyone can write because everyone has something to say. Punctuation, grammar, syntax and semantics are basic guidelines which anyone can learn, either on their own or in college or university if they choose, but they aren’t the essence of writing; they’re just some rules of understanding that help us get our thoughts across to others clearly and efficiently.

When you write that first draft, it comes from a place inside of us that has something to say because we’ve observed an event or stumbled across a new idea that has affected, changed us in some way, and what we have to say is an expression of that change.

My friend changed her mind and offered these words of wisdom. “I believe that–everyone has at least one story inside themselves.”

At least one story, if you ask me, your life story.

I don’t want to put down secondary education, that’s not the purpose of this post. University and college can certainly help you on your way to becoming a writer—whichever type of writer you would like to become. It’s just that secondary education is not the only way.

Educating yourself  is available in less traditional ways, such as writing courses taught by professional writers, community college night courses and even workshops offered by local libraries and community centres. Then there’s the World Wide Web, with thousands of articles, resources and communities—most of them free—to learn from at your own pace and own level of skill.

And probably the most passive and pleasurable way to acquire an education in writing is to read, read, and read some more. You’d be surprised at how much your brain will subconsciously absorb about writing while reading your favourite writers.

In summary: No, you don’t have to attain secondary education to become a writer or artist, not if you don’t want to.

One final note to younger people who absolutely know they are creative and want careers as artists or writers, who are on the verge of graduating high school and who are being told by their parents they absolutely must go to university—no art school, no colleges, only university—and the thought of studying your medium sounds a bit dull, here’s something to think about.

Unless you are entering a specific career in let’s say finance, computers, or medicine, most companies don’t care what you major in at university. They just want to know what level of education you’ve acquired. In more specialized fields, people have gone onto get masters, doctorates and other accreditations to keep their knowledge current and that’s where your area of study does matter.

So, if you want to be a writer or an artist and have to go to university, choose an area of study that interests you or brings you into contact with interesting people. Just consider that for the next three to four years, you’ll be acquiring knowledge and experience, so ask yourself:

How can I use my time at university to enrich my life experience, so that I have stories to tell?

If you have any burning questions about the topics of writing, art, imagination and creation, I would love to answer and include them in a Q&A series of posts. Please email your questions here.