I read through a bit of your blog and I am touched. I recognize a good deal of similar thoughts/issues/processes between us. You want to write, you want to make a career out of it, but you’re not sure how to start, so you look for a job or a college to “jump start” you.

I did this– I came to Hollywood, a young playwright, dreaming of making it big as a screenwriter. I’d never finished a screenplay but I found a job where I read scripts for a living. At times I really enjoyed it, because it felt creative. But although my job related to writing, I did not write. I never finished one screenplay. Or stageplay for that matter. I took action– I signed up for a screenwriting class at UCLA– but couldn’t even finish the 30-page assignment. But I kept thinking, “I am in the industry. I am getting paid. I am learning. I must be getting somewhere.. right?”

But what I learned, and what I would like to offer you, to assuage some of the anxiety you may have about colleges and jobs and such, is this: No job or college is going to MAKE you write. No institution is going to legitimize you or “kickstart” your writing. The confidence to write, which is at least 80% of the battle, comes only from you, and you can start Right Now. You could score the most elite publishing job around, or get an MFA at the top program in the world, but it’s not going to make you any more or less a “real” writer than you are now. You don’t need to ask for permission, you don’t need anybody’s blessing. Just write. Do something to pay the bills, continue to pursue publishing and grad school– but write. Trust yourself that you have something to say and you know how to say it in your own voice.

I know this is all pretty beat-up, hackneyed old advice, but I hope that it is useful to you, or your readers. I also think when you’re twentysomething and college educated and used to following the rules and fulfilling the requirements so you can progress to the next thing, you assume that the writing life will be the same way. But it’s not so much. You are much more free than you think you are. You can grab that apple of knowledge and bite it if you want to. You can write chapter one tonight if you want to.

Plus, writing’s a great way to spend your nights during a recession, because it’s free, and even a Pabst blue ribbon drunk at the cheapest dive bar costs something.

Good luck to you in your many endeavors. Confidence (and nepotism) will get you everything. Cheers!