College is the Best and Worst Place for Writers

By Lacey Ross on November 18, 2013

I am an avid writer. My mind is constantly full of ideas for short stories, novels, movies, poems, essays, articles, you name it, I?m thinking about it. I carry my laptop around in order to take down ideas whenever I have a ?eureka!? moment, which happens about once a day. However, coming up with ideas is never the problem. I am not currently experiencing Writer?s Block. Inspiring art and outlets for creativity constantly surround me. What I don?t have is time and patience!

College is the best and worst place to be a writer.?

 

Why is it the best place to be a writer?

 

1. In college, you are surrounded by the best of the best when it comes to inventive and original ideas. The staff at your college has studied the greatest names and principles in literature, art, music, film, theatre, language, etc. and wants nothing more than to funnel their experiences into your eager and fresh mind. If your in-class experiences with, say, the organizational madness of modernism or the genius of Stanley Kubrick doesn?t inspire writing, then I don?t know what will.

2. Once one moves out of their childhood home and into the collegiate world, life drastically changes and can also inspire writing. You meet new people, and through these new friends, you can come to know their experiences as well! And when you meet someone who is willing to take on your sparks of genius, whether they be scribbled in a notebook or frantically typed out on Notepad, your art begins to grow and will continue to grow exponentially. The transition to college and experiences in college will mold you emotionally as well, and writing in any form can capture these emotions and make them art.

3. In college, the possibilities become boundless. You are old enough for your work to be taken seriously by older academics and employers. You can take on internships with publications in order to broadcast your work to a wider audience. Your research on father and daughter relationships in Shakespeare (yes, this was an actual research topic of mine) enters the academic universe and could possibly be cited in others? research. Your short film could be on display in a gallery. You could teach ESL in your community. While you are growing in your academic prowess, your mind is churning and producing ideas for new writing projects! It?s an infinite and cyclical existence, being a writer. It?s beautiful and tortuous.

 

 

And why is college the worst place to be a writer?

 

1. Idea overload! It?s nice to feel like a constant genius but it?s also sad that not all of your ideas can receive attention. Too many ideas can also result in the loss of ideas that you really wanted to keep but your mind couldn?t find space for. (For me, that?s the most devastating aspect of being a writer.)

2. Where does one find the time to sit and just write? You are expected to be constantly involved and busy. If you?re not a volunteer or an intern, how on Earth will you get into grad school? If you don?t work out everyday or play a sport, how will you stay in shape? If you don?t do your homework, how will you ever graduate with honors? If you don?t watch the next episode of Breaking Bad, how will you go on? Setting aside time to write everyday sounds like a manageable idea (and is recommended by nearly anyone who writes for a living) but it?s way more difficult to manage than it seems.

3. You grow tired of writing from your classes. Who wants to sit and type for even an hour after a week of cranking out essays and slaving over lab reports or French compositions? Once all of the mandatory assignments are completed, your hands are tired and the sound of your laptop keys is starting to give you a migraine (sometimes it?s even difficult to write Uloop articles on time!) The last thing you are thinking of after an academically exhausting day is how to develop the characters in your attempt at participating in National Novel Writing Month. And that?s a shame!

 

 

I?ve been writing since before I can remember and I don?t plan on stopping anytime soon. However, that doesn?t mean the completion of any of my major writing projects will come at any time in the near future. Maybe that?s why so many people ?take a year off.?

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