: Re: Should the amount of work I write as a high school senior be a concern when choosing a career? I attend an arts school called ACES Educational Center for Arts, and this is my third year

@Si5022468

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Summary: The timing will never be better. Give it a try, and learn from your mistakes.

You are at the best time of your life to try writing professionally. As a new graduate with few responsibilities, you won't be trying to support a family on a minimal income. If you can stay rent free or low rent with parents or other relative, that's more money saved.

Most beginning writers work a full time job and write on the side until they've made a name for themselves. Many continue to do work other than writing because their writing doesn't bring in enough money. If you can't minimize your expenses you may run into trouble quickly. Creative writing is a very difficult way to make a living for someone starting out, especially if you will only now be beginning to sell your work. If you can avoid rent, you can write full time, and find a part-time job to cover the bills while you develop a name.

One thing that makes me hesitant about your prospects is that you don't have any experience selling your work. Most new writers don't, but most new writers end up not being commercially successful. Depending on how much of an introvert you are, it can be extremely difficult. It will involve a lot of rejection, a lot of people who don't like your writing, and a steep learning curve. If you have a thin skin and take all this failure personally, you'll give up. Assuming you write well, the more you learn about markets and marketing, the easier it will be to develop a name.

Being successful will mean learning from your mistakes. You have to be able to come right back to the same people who criticized your last work with a new, improved story or novel. It's not easy, especially if you are shy, self conscious, and heavily invested in your writing.

Go for it, but be aware that you'll face a lot of new challenges that have nothing to do with your writing itself. Good luck!

EDIT: I misread the question at first, and answered as though the writer was taking a year off between high school and college.

This is an answer to the actual question, about whether the amount of writing done should be a concern.

The amount of writing should not be a concern. Many writers will come in with less skill or experience, some with more. You say you haven't written much, but you describe multiple plays, as well as a number of prose works. A student who attended a traditional high school and wrote only in their spare time is likely to have even less work produced.

Rather than looking at the amount of writing you've done in and for school, I'd suggest taking the time between high school and college to write with no motivation other than that you want to. If you write nothing, you might want to rethink the creative writing major. If you find you keep writing even with no school pushing you, it's a point in favor of trying to make writing a career.

One point I would make is that Creative Writing is not a major likely to lead to an immediate large income after college. This does not need to be the determining factor, but you should certainly think about it. Will you be content barely scraping by when you see a friend who majored in engineering or accounting making three or four times your income in their first job? I did not mention this in my first version because if you spend a year trying to make a living through creative writing, you'll find out first hand whether it's worth the sacrifice to you.

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