: Do I need to have a degree to become a writer? I've always loved to write. Granted I haven't been writing very much these days because of university but I want to publish a book one day.

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Of course not. Who suggested that you might?

To be a writer you need, basically, first imagination and then talent.

All other things being equal - which almost never happens - anyone with the same basic attributes might see them polished by a degree but I hope that's not what you meant…

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I studied creative writing at university and then had to leave after the second year when my husband's job took us to a different country.

I can tell you with all honesty that I learned more from writing and submitting my first novel than I learned in those entire two years in a classroom. I couldn't even get an agent for that first novel let alone a publisher. It was a 130,000 word magnum opus of a failure but DAMN it taught me a lot.

Nothing can teach you to write like writing can.

Listen to Anne Lamott's Word by Word (or read her book, Bird by Bird). She'll tell you to give yourself the freedom to write shitty first drafts. From it you'll write a slightly less shitty second draft and maybe a passable third.

And I promise you that every writer on this stack has the same fears, doubts and dented self-confidence as you do. Put them all to bed and write. Write every day, write on the bus, write on the train, write furiously, write quietly, just write.

Fear and doubt are an inevitable part of every writer's journey, you cannot avoid them, you just have to write around them.

As @Amadeus says, read Stephen King's On Writing. His journey will inspire you.

And professional writers offering critiques are expensive. Join a writers' group and if you can't find one locally, start one. Put an ad in the paper or online for other serious writers just starting out. Be picky about who you allow in your group. You need avid readers who know how to articulate what works or doesn't and why. You want peers who can be brutally honest about your work, but who genuinely want you to succeed, writers who know how to tear your work to pieces while keeping you together.

Good luck!

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You do not need a degree to become a writer; you have the Internet. You can teach yourself what you need to know to become a writer; including some experiences you may not yet have (or may never have), and thus may not "connect" to entirely. Keep in mind that writers often have characters doing things they themselves have never done; murder being one extreme, or engaging in homosexual sex, or being in a sword fight for their life, or kidnapping a child, or a woman killing her rapist or abusive husband, or being involved in an elaborate con, or being a spy.

They did not learn how to make these sound authentic in college, they did research outside of it. Some things (being an authentic doctor or lawyer) may demand a lot of research, but even there: You don't have to actually practice medicine or law to get to something plausible. Just like the actors on TV don't have to be doctors, physicists or lawyers or psychologists in order to make a plausible acting experience.

You can also read what others have written, and emulate that (not copy it).

Further, you can read what published fiction authors have written about writing and how to go about it, like Stephen King ("On Writing") or Orson Scott Card or hundreds of others. Read ten books by different people and get a feel for what a story is.

(Books on writing are heavily biased toward plotting and planning a story. Many of us do not write like that, Stephen King is a "discovery writer", letting his story and characters develop as he goes. I suggest his book as a balance to most of what you will find out there.)

As for being discouraged: Most published authors write a few books before they get one published; or they revise endlessly until their first book gets published (JK Rowling revised and submitted the first Harry Potter for five years, rewriting it several times). This business takes persistence, and the average pay for a first book is around 00 or 00. Of course more if it is a blockbuster (like Harry Potter) but don't think you get rich on one book.

Discouragement is part of the journey. If you are writing for the fame and money alone, I don't recommend continuing. If you are writing because you love to write and find the writing and research entertaining, and hope to get published, keep on. Few people regret the time and money spent on hobbies they enjoy, even though their hobbies generate no income. Think of writing this way, with a possibility of paying but not the only reason you do it.

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