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which is arguably worse than an english major because it's like a niche of a niche that attempts to preserve fascinating theater, literature, and cultural history while being scoffed at as a bunch of yellow fever faggots.
to be fair i am likely just an outlier, as i swear to god 3/4 of the fucks who graduated with me were yellow fever faggots.
It always struck me as a wildly unnecessary major - if you want to write, write. If you want to read and analyze literature, read and analyze literature. There is absolutely nothing an instructor can provide you with that you can not find elsewhere. And without paying ten grand a year, even.
I'll have to disagree, but only partially. The benefit of majoring in English, particularly for a writer, is that you get exposed to a great deal of literature, people who understand and can talk intelligently about said literature, and other writers who are in the same general class as you. Yes, you can manage all of that outside of a college curriculum, and many, many writers do, but it's not a bad way to go. Most writers need feedback, inspiration, criticism, and support. Writing and literature courses are a good way to get that.
Plus, on the far side of it you come out with a bachelor's degree, so you can get a fallback job that isn't flipping burgers.
Yeah, it's basically more about the piece of paper at the end than anything else.
Also, most English majors end up doing an English Education curriculum, which makes them English teachers. And when you go to Grad School, you are generally are working on becoming a professor, so that you can teach other like-minded people. Also, you don't generally read some of the things that you are exposed to as an English major on your own. How many of you would read something like The Octopus by Frank Norris or An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser on your own?
Also, you can't just teach yourself to properly criticize literature. It's not just "I like this, I don't like this," it's about form, substance, content and about a thousand other things. Granted, most schools of criticism are complete crap, but you need to know and understand those schools in order to realize that they are indeed crap. It's not just about reading a fucking book and saying that you think it sucks, it's about studying the author's life and the world around them in that time period. It's also about reading the other criticisms by other people and deciding if there is any validity to what they have said or not. It's also about preserving literature over the ages. You're not going to end up passing on Chaucer's A Parlaiment of Birds if you've only spent your time reading The Canterbury Tales. No one would have heard of things like Beowulf or King Harald's Saga without English majors.
Useless, indeed.
Now let me reduce what you majored in down to so much toilet paper.
Libraries have shelves and shelves of literary criticism. It's not like the only place to find it is in a college classroom. And believe it or not, I am well aware of the difference between literary criticism and "This is good, this sucks." I recently worked my way through Joyce's ouevre, tracking the evolution of his style as he aged. Went from there to reading Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, based on a piece I read describing it as her response to Ulysses. It was all terribly fascinating, and I didn't have to pay ten grand for the privilege.
And as previously hinted at, I didn't go to college. I'm a self-taught screenwriter.
which is arguably worse than an english major because it's like a niche of a niche that attempts to preserve fascinating theater, literature, and cultural history while being scoffed at as a bunch of yellow fever faggots.
to be fair i am likely just an outlier, as i swear to god 3/4 of the fucks who graduated with me were yellow fever faggots.
most of the people i am graduating with are career hipster douche baristas
there's gonna be a ton of assholes in any major, when i think engineering i think of people who wear plaid button-up shirts and never talk to girls, not blake
which is arguably worse than an english major because it's like a niche of a niche that attempts to preserve fascinating theater, literature, and cultural history while being scoffed at as a bunch of yellow fever faggots.
to be fair i am likely just an outlier, as i swear to god 3/4 of the fucks who graduated with me were yellow fever faggots.
most of the people i am graduating with are career hipster douche baristas
there's gonna be a ton of assholes in any major, when i think engineering i think of people who wear plaid button-up shirts and never talk to girls, not blake
I dunno who blake is
t pooro - i needed college as an outlet to meet and discuss things that were intellectually driven because i wouldn't want to do it all on my own
I think that douchey self-taught people are even more annoying than douchey college people.
For every guy like you, Pooro, who went it alone and managed to do well and learn the craft, there are a fistful who went it alone and wound up with a lot of shitty ideas that could have been ironed out with a little guidance.
For every guy like me who went to college and used it as a time to interact with other writers and whatnot, there are plenty who assumed that fulfilling the requirements would make them automatically great and didn't get anything they couldn't have got without spending the money.
It's almost as if different people who are interested in writing literature bring different skills, backgrounds, attitudes, and ambitions to the table!
I think that douchey self-taught people are even more annoying than douchey college people.
For every guy like you, Pooro, who went it alone and managed to do well and learn the craft, there are a fistful who went it alone and wound up with a lot of shitty ideas that could have been ironed out with a little guidance.
For every guy like me who went to college and used it as a time to interact with other writers and whatnot, there are plenty who assumed that fulfilling the requirements would make them automatically great and didn't get anything they couldn't have got without spending the money.
It's almost as if different people who are interested in writing literature bring different skills, backgrounds, attitudes, and ambitions to the table!
By the way, MI.
I see you're a Yooper.
Where exactly are you at in da yoo pee, there, Toivo?
(See I can speak the lingo)
I think that douchey self-taught people are even more annoying than douchey college people.
For every guy like you, Pooro, who went it alone and managed to do well and learn the craft, there are a fistful who went it alone and wound up with a lot of shitty ideas that could have been ironed out with a little guidance.
For every guy like me who went to college and used it as a time to interact with other writers and whatnot, there are plenty who assumed that fulfilling the requirements would make them automatically great and didn't get anything they couldn't have got without spending the money.
It's almost as if different people who are interested in writing literature bring different skills, backgrounds, attitudes, and ambitions to the table!
I guess I'm just biased because I've met waaaaay more college students than I have self-taught folks. I've met hardly any other writers who didn't go to college.
I think that douchey self-taught people are even more annoying than douchey college people.
For every guy like you, Pooro, who went it alone and managed to do well and learn the craft, there are a fistful who went it alone and wound up with a lot of shitty ideas that could have been ironed out with a little guidance.
For every guy like me who went to college and used it as a time to interact with other writers and whatnot, there are plenty who assumed that fulfilling the requirements would make them automatically great and didn't get anything they couldn't have got without spending the money.
It's almost as if different people who are interested in writing literature bring different skills, backgrounds, attitudes, and ambitions to the table!
I guess I'm just biased because I've met waaaaay more college students than I have self-taught folks. I've met hardly any other writers who didn't go to college.
Wouldn't that tell you that an english major is useful then?
I mean, if you've never met anyone else self-taught, it's probably not that easy for most people to do.
which is arguably worse than an english major because it's like a niche of a niche that attempts to preserve fascinating theater, literature, and cultural history while being scoffed at as a bunch of yellow fever faggots.
to be fair i am likely just an outlier, as i swear to god 3/4 of the fucks who graduated with me were yellow fever faggots.
most of the people i am graduating with are career hipster douche baristas
there's gonna be a ton of assholes in any major, when i think engineering i think of people who wear plaid button-up shirts and never talk to girls, not blake
My physics class is at least 80% this, and maybe 10% girls.
as well as some fuckwit who wears a beret, fingerless gloves, a ponytail and an awful attempt at facial here, and often answers questions completely wrongly then tries to argue with the lecturer.
I'm actually kind of tempted to switch to majoring in chemistry because I dislike a lot of people in that physics class.
I think that douchey self-taught people are even more annoying than douchey college people.
For every guy like you, Pooro, who went it alone and managed to do well and learn the craft, there are a fistful who went it alone and wound up with a lot of shitty ideas that could have been ironed out with a little guidance.
For every guy like me who went to college and used it as a time to interact with other writers and whatnot, there are plenty who assumed that fulfilling the requirements would make them automatically great and didn't get anything they couldn't have got without spending the money.
It's almost as if different people who are interested in writing literature bring different skills, backgrounds, attitudes, and ambitions to the table!
I guess I'm just biased because I've met waaaaay more college students than I have self-taught folks. I've met hardly any other writers who didn't go to college.
Fair enough. I get a little defensive about English majors; as I said, I've had this argument a lot, though usually with science majors.
Where exactly are you at in da yoo pee, there, Toivo?
(See I can speak the lingo)
I'm in Marquette, at Northern Michigan right now. I'm from downstate originally, though, right outside Ann Arbor. Perhaps you've hard of a special level of hell called Dexter?
I think I remember reading a funny story of yours that took place in Michigan. Something about an overflowing toilet at the Cross in the Woos?
I think that douchey self-taught people are even more annoying than douchey college people.
For every guy like you, Pooro, who went it alone and managed to do well and learn the craft, there are a fistful who went it alone and wound up with a lot of shitty ideas that could have been ironed out with a little guidance.
For every guy like me who went to college and used it as a time to interact with other writers and whatnot, there are plenty who assumed that fulfilling the requirements would make them automatically great and didn't get anything they couldn't have got without spending the money.
It's almost as if different people who are interested in writing literature bring different skills, backgrounds, attitudes, and ambitions to the table!
I guess I'm just biased because I've met waaaaay more college students than I have self-taught folks. I've met hardly any other writers who didn't go to college.
To be fair, I didn't become an English major to be a writer. I did it so I could get my degrees and get a job at some college somewhere, telling people how Melville is overrated and we should strike him from the canon and replace him with someone better from the same era.
I've seen many a person go in thinking "Yeah, I'm going to do this to be a writer," and they usually end up working retail the rest of their lives or changing majors when they get so overwhelmed because they are taught that everything published has to have some sort of Literary or Historical Significance (tm).
You basically don't learn that such things are just there to keep the dingbats out of the mix from the serious students until you go into Grad School.
which is arguably worse than an english major because it's like a niche of a niche that attempts to preserve fascinating theater, literature, and cultural history while being scoffed at as a bunch of yellow fever faggots.
to be fair i am likely just an outlier, as i swear to god 3/4 of the fucks who graduated with me were yellow fever faggots.
most of the people i am graduating with are career hipster douche baristas
there's gonna be a ton of assholes in any major, when i think engineering i think of people who wear plaid button-up shirts and never talk to girls, not blake
i'm offended by that engineering stereotype. plaid is for assholes. i wear solid pastel colored button up shirts, thank you very much
I think that douchey self-taught people are even more annoying than douchey college people.
For every guy like you, Pooro, who went it alone and managed to do well and learn the craft, there are a fistful who went it alone and wound up with a lot of shitty ideas that could have been ironed out with a little guidance.
For every guy like me who went to college and used it as a time to interact with other writers and whatnot, there are plenty who assumed that fulfilling the requirements would make them automatically great and didn't get anything they couldn't have got without spending the money.
It's almost as if different people who are interested in writing literature bring different skills, backgrounds, attitudes, and ambitions to the table!
I guess I'm just biased because I've met waaaaay more college students than I have self-taught folks. I've met hardly any other writers who didn't go to college.
Wouldn't that tell you that an english major is useful then?
I mean, if you've never met anyone else self-taught, it's probably not that easy for most people to do.
I was referring to the aforementioned "douchey" variety
It always struck me as a wildly unnecessary major - if you want to write, write. If you want to read and analyze literature, read and analyze literature. There is absolutely nothing an instructor can provide you with that you can not find elsewhere. And without paying ten grand a year, even.
it got me experience in publishing and local publishing industry contacts which allowed me to get a sweet job, and there's no way i'd have got that publishing experience as easily and effectively elsewhere
but, you know
uesless major
I just have a hard time believing that four years and thousands upon thousands of dollars are necessary to make contacts/garner experience.
Think of it this way.
Most every professor you might have in college, english or otherwise, has been published. They have real experience writing and can teach you the tricks of the trade if you take the time to ask them about it.
For a writer, I think that would be one of the biggest advantage.
I think that douchey self-taught people are even more annoying than douchey college people.
For every guy like you, Pooro, who went it alone and managed to do well and learn the craft, there are a fistful who went it alone and wound up with a lot of shitty ideas that could have been ironed out with a little guidance.
For every guy like me who went to college and used it as a time to interact with other writers and whatnot, there are plenty who assumed that fulfilling the requirements would make them automatically great and didn't get anything they couldn't have got without spending the money.
It's almost as if different people who are interested in writing literature bring different skills, backgrounds, attitudes, and ambitions to the table!
I guess I'm just biased because I've met waaaaay more college students than I have self-taught folks. I've met hardly any other writers who didn't go to college.
Fair enough. I get a little defensive about English majors; as I said, I've had this argument a lot, though usually with science majors.
Where exactly are you at in da yoo pee, there, Toivo?
(See I can speak the lingo)
I'm in Marquette, at Northern Michigan right now. I'm from downstate originally, though, right outside Ann Arbor. Perhaps you've hard of a special level of hell called Dexter?
I think I remember reading a funny story of yours that took place in Michigan. Something about an overflowing toilet at the Cross in the Woos?
Yep, that was mine.
I've been to Dexter once or twice. Once, now that I think about it. I used to live in a special part of Nowhere called Holly. If you can find it, you can keep it.
I was in Marquette back about two years ago, driving through to Ontonagon and Bruce's Crossing. My wife is from that area. Beautiful country.
I also posted once about people feeding the bears through a chickenwire fence up there. I had pictures, but I have since lost them.
Pkmoutl on
0
Blake TDo you have enemies then?Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.Registered Userregular
which is arguably worse than an english major because it's like a niche of a niche that attempts to preserve fascinating theater, literature, and cultural history while being scoffed at as a bunch of yellow fever faggots.
to be fair i am likely just an outlier, as i swear to god 3/4 of the fucks who graduated with me were yellow fever faggots.
most of the people i am graduating with are career hipster douche baristas
there's gonna be a ton of assholes in any major, when i think engineering i think of people who wear plaid button-up shirts and never talk to girls, not blake
Man, my engineering faculty was not like that at all.
Like over half were socially well adjusted good lookin dudes that liked talking to ladies.
which is arguably worse than an english major because it's like a niche of a niche that attempts to preserve fascinating theater, literature, and cultural history while being scoffed at as a bunch of yellow fever faggots.
to be fair i am likely just an outlier, as i swear to god 3/4 of the fucks who graduated with me were yellow fever faggots.
most of the people i am graduating with are career hipster douche baristas
there's gonna be a ton of assholes in any major, when i think engineering i think of people who wear plaid button-up shirts and never talk to girls, not blake
Man, my engineering faculty was not like that at all.
Like over half were socially well adjusted good lookin dudes that liked talking to ladies.
Edit: Also pin stripe suits 4 lyf!
well, literally 90% of the engineers i know are like that
Man every adult I have known who worked in some manner of engineering, or had some form of engineering qualitifcations was an absoluteley arrogant cock-head.
edit: The only exception is my friend who is currently on his Civil Engineering degree, but he's a long-standing friend, not exactly an "adult".
So all the 'bums' in our area congregate around the Wal-Mart shopping center, which is to say the Wal-Mart parking lot, which is also adjacent to a Taco Bell and a AM/PM gas station.
And I am not afraid to admit that because every one that I've seen gathered there looks completely sane, not dressed in rags but rather okay clothes, and completely capable of work (most don't look more than 30), I say 'fuck 'em' to myself, they could get a job if they want. Hey, opinions, I got 'em.
Turns out that there's actually a group of these people, around a dozen, who make stay in this trailer behind the Arbys down the street (that apparently cops don't care about?) and do shifts. Seriously. And the money these guys collect usually goes to buying and re-selling drugs, as a few have been caught with shit on them, albeit in different parts of town. Even rode by yesterday, guys got brand new sneakers on. Better shit then I'm wearing, his signs like "Need new clothes, summer's getting hot" (yeah, real fucking poets these guys. I guess when you've written upteen signs in a week, you tend to get 'creative'), I just rolled down my window and the only time I've been verbally rude to these guys, said "Nice shoes asshole!". He kicked them off into the bushes behind him as I kept on driving.
I don't work my ass off to barely make rent and food and gas just to have some asshole needing to get his crack on. Fuck that, I know I'm a pessimistic asshole. I've given to people in need before, but they didn't have a sign standing in the middle of the fucking road, flipping me off when I had to drive around them. No, once it was a family sitting outside Wal-mart with their kids and an obviously broken car. Gave them some money so they could grab lunch at McDonalds next door.
time to shake your fist at a passing cloud
No time, I'm only 22. That gives me only so many years to prime up my lawn and then yell at kids to get the hell off it.
Also, when I force one of my young future offspring, preferably the well-off but feeble one, to buy me a motorized scooter, I'm putting a small plow on the front of it. Part the waters of people in the express lane at Wal-Mart and shit.
MetroidZoid on
Steam
3DS FC: 4699-5714-8940 Playing Pokemon, add me! Ho, SATAN!
It always struck me as a wildly unnecessary major - if you want to write, write. If you want to read and analyze literature, read and analyze literature. There is absolutely nothing an instructor can provide you with that you can not find elsewhere. And without paying ten grand a year, even.
it got me experience in publishing and local publishing industry contacts which allowed me to get a sweet job, and there's no way i'd have got that publishing experience as easily and effectively elsewhere
but, you know
uesless major
I just have a hard time believing that four years and thousands upon thousands of dollars are necessary to make contacts/garner experience.
Think of it this way.
Most every professor you might have in college, english or otherwise, has been published. They have real experience writing and can teach you the tricks of the trade if you take the time to ask them about it.
For a writer, I think that would be one of the biggest advantage.
There was a time when that was certainly the case, no denying that. But, at the risk of sounding like a cliche, this is a different era. I won't speak about prose writing, as it's not my area of expertise, but as for screenwriting, there are astounding (free) resources out there for people teaching themselves the craft. From established people, too. And more importantly (in my book), still in the midst of active careers. It's advice and answers from people who haven't settled on their laurels, as it were, to teach.
There are websites like Pilot School (http://tvwriting.googlepages.com/pilotschool), which collects the pilot scripts that launched series and careers, so you can compare and contrast successful scripts to see what makes them tick. The Internet Movie Script Database (http://www.imsdb.com/) proves a similar resource for feature-length scripts. And the Writer's Guild library here in L.A. has EVEN MORE, and is open for free to the public at large.
It really isn't difficult for a motivated person to teach themselves, if they're sufficiently passionate. And if they aren't passionate enough, why are they bothering to try?
Poorochondriac on
0
ButtersA glass of some milksRegistered Userregular
so i was 14 and a freshman in high school. my house is across the street from the high school, litterally.
my friend and i just got back from an away football game (we were in the drumline) and were on our way to my house. the gate to the north parking lot was shut so we started climbing. whilst climbing i saw a car that was very similar to a friend of mine's. naturally, i waved.
not a good idea, sir.
the car pulls over and stops about 20 feet from the bottom of the fence. we were about to flip over from the school-side to the street-side of the fence. all the doors open and four HUGE guys pop out of the car. my friend and i jump down the 8 foot fence and book it, cause they had started to book it towards us.
we run around one of the buildings and they went through the open gate about 40 yards from where we were jumping the fence. they chase us around that building. my friend and i hide behind a sign, lit from the back (so we basically are pretty much illuminated by the lights). no idea why i thought that was a good idea.
we are sitting there hiding and hoping we will not be found. all these fools had to do was turn their heads 90 degrees and it would have been over. thankfully, they did not. and they walked by us, still searching. after a few seconds and knowing they had gone by, we bolt and run through the opening they went through and run across the street to the church there and get inside and wait.
we got home safely but ran the back way to my house.
that was the freakiest thing that has ever happened to me.
p.s. when i say these guys were huge, thinking about it now, they were probably normal sized human males. but i was about 5' when i was 14. so... anyone 5'6'' or bigger was rather large. also they were not thin. they were bulky.
screenwriting is a pretty unique animal, pooro. you can pick up a william goldman book and have the basics you need to start writing it.
prose writing, criticism (geared towards publication/academia) or publishing industry stuff might require a bit more guidance, you know? an english degree =/= your job.
Posts
Man give me forty thousand dollars a year and I'll give you a fucking experience too!
Satans..... hints.....
which is arguably worse than an english major because it's like a niche of a niche that attempts to preserve fascinating theater, literature, and cultural history while being scoffed at as a bunch of yellow fever faggots.
to be fair i am likely just an outlier, as i swear to god 3/4 of the fucks who graduated with me were yellow fever faggots.
I have one.
Creative Studies.
Only one school in the wold has both an undergraduate and a graduate degree for it. The one I went to.
I took the intro class as an elective, and it was the biggest load of shit I've ever seen. And people major in this horseshit.
it's still something I really like a lot but it'll never make me any money
I hate having this argument.
Libraries have shelves and shelves of literary criticism. It's not like the only place to find it is in a college classroom. And believe it or not, I am well aware of the difference between literary criticism and "This is good, this sucks." I recently worked my way through Joyce's ouevre, tracking the evolution of his style as he aged. Went from there to reading Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway, based on a piece I read describing it as her response to Ulysses. It was all terribly fascinating, and I didn't have to pay ten grand for the privilege.
And as previously hinted at, I didn't go to college. I'm a self-taught screenwriter.
most of the people i am graduating with are career hipster douche baristas
there's gonna be a ton of assholes in any major, when i think engineering i think of people who wear plaid button-up shirts and never talk to girls, not blake
me too
people on both sides are entrenched and have no real reason to listen to the other side
hooray
I dunno who blake is
t pooro - i needed college as an outlet to meet and discuss things that were intellectually driven because i wouldn't want to do it all on my own
Imagine a school of thought where they rate things on how creative they are/can be.
But then they tell you five seconds later that creativity can't be measured.
Now write a ten page paper on that.
That's Creative Studies, for the most part.
For every guy like you, Pooro, who went it alone and managed to do well and learn the craft, there are a fistful who went it alone and wound up with a lot of shitty ideas that could have been ironed out with a little guidance.
For every guy like me who went to college and used it as a time to interact with other writers and whatnot, there are plenty who assumed that fulfilling the requirements would make them automatically great and didn't get anything they couldn't have got without spending the money.
It's almost as if different people who are interested in writing literature bring different skills, backgrounds, attitudes, and ambitions to the table!
By the way, MI.
I see you're a Yooper.
Where exactly are you at in da yoo pee, there, Toivo?
(See I can speak the lingo)
I guess I'm just biased because I've met waaaaay more college students than I have self-taught folks. I've met hardly any other writers who didn't go to college.
I mean, if you've never met anyone else self-taught, it's probably not that easy for most people to do.
My physics class is at least 80% this, and maybe 10% girls.
as well as some fuckwit who wears a beret, fingerless gloves, a ponytail and an awful attempt at facial here, and often answers questions completely wrongly then tries to argue with the lecturer.
I'm actually kind of tempted to switch to majoring in chemistry because I dislike a lot of people in that physics class.
kpop appreciation station i also like to tweet some
Let's get ice creams
I'm in Marquette, at Northern Michigan right now. I'm from downstate originally, though, right outside Ann Arbor. Perhaps you've hard of a special level of hell called Dexter?
I think I remember reading a funny story of yours that took place in Michigan. Something about an overflowing toilet at the Cross in the Woos?
I've seen many a person go in thinking "Yeah, I'm going to do this to be a writer," and they usually end up working retail the rest of their lives or changing majors when they get so overwhelmed because they are taught that everything published has to have some sort of Literary or Historical Significance (tm).
You basically don't learn that such things are just there to keep the dingbats out of the mix from the serious students until you go into Grad School.
i'm offended by that engineering stereotype. plaid is for assholes. i wear solid pastel colored button up shirts, thank you very much
much like
every argument ever
I was referring to the aforementioned "douchey" variety
Think of it this way.
Most every professor you might have in college, english or otherwise, has been published. They have real experience writing and can teach you the tricks of the trade if you take the time to ask them about it.
For a writer, I think that would be one of the biggest advantage.
Secret Satan
he's a chem major. taught high school for a while.
takes all kinds. in all places.
Yep, that was mine.
I've been to Dexter once or twice. Once, now that I think about it. I used to live in a special part of Nowhere called Holly. If you can find it, you can keep it.
I was in Marquette back about two years ago, driving through to Ontonagon and Bruce's Crossing. My wife is from that area. Beautiful country.
I also posted once about people feeding the bears through a chickenwire fence up there. I had pictures, but I have since lost them.
Man, my engineering faculty was not like that at all.
Like over half were socially well adjusted good lookin dudes that liked talking to ladies.
Edit: Also pin stripe suits 4 lyf!
Satans..... hints.....
Tell me about it.
Six years of English and Broadcasting.
I ended up working a tech job at Citibank for nine years.
kpop appreciation station i also like to tweet some
well, literally 90% of the engineers i know are like that
this is an engineering school
maybe australians are different
edit: The only exception is my friend who is currently on his Civil Engineering degree, but he's a long-standing friend, not exactly an "adult".
No time, I'm only 22. That gives me only so many years to prime up my lawn and then yell at kids to get the hell off it.
Also, when I force one of my young future offspring, preferably the well-off but feeble one, to buy me a motorized scooter, I'm putting a small plow on the front of it. Part the waters of people in the express lane at Wal-Mart and shit.
3DS FC: 4699-5714-8940 Playing Pokemon, add me! Ho, SATAN!
There was a time when that was certainly the case, no denying that. But, at the risk of sounding like a cliche, this is a different era. I won't speak about prose writing, as it's not my area of expertise, but as for screenwriting, there are astounding (free) resources out there for people teaching themselves the craft. From established people, too. And more importantly (in my book), still in the midst of active careers. It's advice and answers from people who haven't settled on their laurels, as it were, to teach.
People like John August (http://johnaugust.com/), Jane Espenson (http://www.janeespenson.com/), John Rogers (http://kfmonkey.blogspot.com/). They regularly answer reader questions, and have archives that cover damn near any topic imaginable.
There are websites like Pilot School (http://tvwriting.googlepages.com/pilotschool), which collects the pilot scripts that launched series and careers, so you can compare and contrast successful scripts to see what makes them tick. The Internet Movie Script Database (http://www.imsdb.com/) proves a similar resource for feature-length scripts. And the Writer's Guild library here in L.A. has EVEN MORE, and is open for free to the public at large.
It really isn't difficult for a motivated person to teach themselves, if they're sufficiently passionate. And if they aren't passionate enough, why are they bothering to try?
Kind of like your mom.
my friend and i just got back from an away football game (we were in the drumline) and were on our way to my house. the gate to the north parking lot was shut so we started climbing. whilst climbing i saw a car that was very similar to a friend of mine's. naturally, i waved.
not a good idea, sir.
the car pulls over and stops about 20 feet from the bottom of the fence. we were about to flip over from the school-side to the street-side of the fence. all the doors open and four HUGE guys pop out of the car. my friend and i jump down the 8 foot fence and book it, cause they had started to book it towards us.
we run around one of the buildings and they went through the open gate about 40 yards from where we were jumping the fence. they chase us around that building. my friend and i hide behind a sign, lit from the back (so we basically are pretty much illuminated by the lights). no idea why i thought that was a good idea.
we are sitting there hiding and hoping we will not be found. all these fools had to do was turn their heads 90 degrees and it would have been over. thankfully, they did not. and they walked by us, still searching. after a few seconds and knowing they had gone by, we bolt and run through the opening they went through and run across the street to the church there and get inside and wait.
we got home safely but ran the back way to my house.
that was the freakiest thing that has ever happened to me.
p.s. when i say these guys were huge, thinking about it now, they were probably normal sized human males. but i was about 5' when i was 14. so... anyone 5'6'' or bigger was rather large. also they were not thin. they were bulky.
Expertly played.
prose writing, criticism (geared towards publication/academia) or publishing industry stuff might require a bit more guidance, you know? an english degree =/= your job.
oh man.
:...:
nice.