Look, I know I sang the song of independence just a few posts ago, but I need some advice. No that’s a lie. I need someone to make a decision for me.
In one way or another I’ve always tinkled a bit with pen on paper. But in the last few years I’ve grown more serious about my writing habit. The problem is, there are two big problems: 1) I don’t have writing talent oozing out of my eyeballs. And 2) English is not my native tongue, so at school and at home I was never exposed to the literary greats of Les Anglais. (And clearly I have no future in French…)
Over the last few years I’ve taken a short course or two to develop some skills or just to engage in the practice of writing. But 2020 brought with it residential incarceration which led to severe over-thinking which led to the idea of doing a proper degree in creative writing and English literature.
I applied to a local university.
Ah grand! Just do the thang! you say? Well, the severe over-thinking led to terminal-levels of over-thinking. So here are the cons keeping me from registering…
- I work long hours already. Do I have time?
- I’ve been trained enough. What I SHOULD be doing is putting caboose to chair and just write. Stop dilly-dallying.
- Studying man…it’s as much fun as drowning.
Then don’t register, you say? Here be my replies…
- I work long hours already. I HATE that my life has become my day-job. One of my greatest fears is that one day I’ll die having done only my day job. I wanna be more than just so-and-so, lecturer in law.
- I’ve been trained enough. What I SHOULD be doing is putting caboose to chair and just write. Uh…valid argument. But I want to type something in italics here…
- Studying man…it’s as much fun as drowning. Ah come on! Not to quote Natalie Portman, but while studying is shitty, learning is breath-taking.
In the final analysis, this is it: learn about writing vs writing.
Will studying make my writing better?
