: Re: 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.

@Annie587

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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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