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644 Posts
The problem
Right my insightful brethren...I need some advice.
I don’t know what to do with my life, I know, who does? But what sort of career route to go down?
....
The details.
I have always wanted to be a writer, since I was about six years old. It’s all I have ever wanted to be and I am very determined to do this. Yet, I know this might not work out, and I need a job alongside this. As wanting to write has always been a key focus I am unsure what sort of job I should look into.
I’ve recently graduated university, I have a degree in English and Creative Writing. I felt this was a good move, as it progressed my ambition of being a writer, and it will help me career wise.
Before I chose my course I had a lot of people telling me what I should do...go into law, as I have a natural talent with verbal language and it pays well, get a graduate job with a bank, go into publishing, speech therapy as it pays well and it is helping people...I thought if I did English I could always do a conversion course afterwards if I wanted to do law or something like that.
I’ve been doing a part time job in a bookshop for the last few months while I figure everything out, and I have decided I would like to go and do further study.
The original plan was to do a Masters in Creative Writing, thing is now I don’t know if this is the best move for me. I feel my writing is already up to a good standard and it is something I can continue to improve on my own. Plus I write fantasy, and that isn’t highly compatible with most creative writing courses I have looked at, or lecturer interests. I don’t want to spend a considerable amount of money and not be able to write what I love. Doing a course like this is following my heart, as it isn’t necessarily going to improve my job prospects, so if it isn’t going to help me with the thing I love...why do it?
I do want to do a Masters I think, as I had a really bad university experience. I’d like to be able to go to university and enjoy it this time. I feel like I really missed out, and it would help me meet new people, new friends, maybe even a new love interest. Going to uni would mean I could join societies, and meet people around my age with similar interests and get to know them properly, people on my course too. Yes I’d need to wait until next year, and this is not a great reason on it’s own to do it, but it does feed into why I am considering this.
I know I don’t want to do a normal office job, and I am not sure that the lack of stability of journalism/publishing is for me. I don’t want to go into law, as I feel my morals are too strong and I would find it very difficult from that point of view. I’d rather die than be a teacher, as I had an unhappy educational experience, and don’t want to revisit it.
One option is to go into psychology, and become an Educational Psychologist...that would mean helping children with special needs. This is a subject very dear to me as I am dyslexic, and I feel I need to help people with similar problems. But do I want to be involved in that world everyday? It’s pretty draining emotionally. I know I need to do something to help people with dyslexia and similar conditions, but I could easily do this in a voluntary fashion, which is what I have been doing since my teens in one form or another. I’d also like to help by doing well with literacy, and inspire dyslexics to believe in themselves.
It also involves a LOT of extra study (masters, year working with kids, then 3 year phd), and I am not sure it will leave me much time to write or do other things, and it isn’t very creative. I’m a fairly creative person and I feel a job that doesn’t let me be creative will suffocate me.
One of my lectures suggested that I become a professional public speaker as she noticed how well I handled group discussion, but getting into that means you need to be something special, say have written a book or have a phd...and I need a job that I can do to support my writing, not one dependant on it. The same goes for lecturing, which I know I would be good at and would enjoy.
....
Summary
So, any suggestions for an INFJ girl who is good with words, wants a stable job to support her writing, and who wishes to be creative?
Maybe even just some useful questions to ask myself to help me make up my mind, or gain a bit more clarity?
Right my insightful brethren...I need some advice.
I don’t know what to do with my life, I know, who does? But what sort of career route to go down?
....
The details.
I have always wanted to be a writer, since I was about six years old. It’s all I have ever wanted to be and I am very determined to do this. Yet, I know this might not work out, and I need a job alongside this. As wanting to write has always been a key focus I am unsure what sort of job I should look into.
I’ve recently graduated university, I have a degree in English and Creative Writing. I felt this was a good move, as it progressed my ambition of being a writer, and it will help me career wise.
Before I chose my course I had a lot of people telling me what I should do...go into law, as I have a natural talent with verbal language and it pays well, get a graduate job with a bank, go into publishing, speech therapy as it pays well and it is helping people...I thought if I did English I could always do a conversion course afterwards if I wanted to do law or something like that.
I’ve been doing a part time job in a bookshop for the last few months while I figure everything out, and I have decided I would like to go and do further study.
The original plan was to do a Masters in Creative Writing, thing is now I don’t know if this is the best move for me. I feel my writing is already up to a good standard and it is something I can continue to improve on my own. Plus I write fantasy, and that isn’t highly compatible with most creative writing courses I have looked at, or lecturer interests. I don’t want to spend a considerable amount of money and not be able to write what I love. Doing a course like this is following my heart, as it isn’t necessarily going to improve my job prospects, so if it isn’t going to help me with the thing I love...why do it?
I do want to do a Masters I think, as I had a really bad university experience. I’d like to be able to go to university and enjoy it this time. I feel like I really missed out, and it would help me meet new people, new friends, maybe even a new love interest. Going to uni would mean I could join societies, and meet people around my age with similar interests and get to know them properly, people on my course too. Yes I’d need to wait until next year, and this is not a great reason on it’s own to do it, but it does feed into why I am considering this.
I know I don’t want to do a normal office job, and I am not sure that the lack of stability of journalism/publishing is for me. I don’t want to go into law, as I feel my morals are too strong and I would find it very difficult from that point of view. I’d rather die than be a teacher, as I had an unhappy educational experience, and don’t want to revisit it.
One option is to go into psychology, and become an Educational Psychologist...that would mean helping children with special needs. This is a subject very dear to me as I am dyslexic, and I feel I need to help people with similar problems. But do I want to be involved in that world everyday? It’s pretty draining emotionally. I know I need to do something to help people with dyslexia and similar conditions, but I could easily do this in a voluntary fashion, which is what I have been doing since my teens in one form or another. I’d also like to help by doing well with literacy, and inspire dyslexics to believe in themselves.
It also involves a LOT of extra study (masters, year working with kids, then 3 year phd), and I am not sure it will leave me much time to write or do other things, and it isn’t very creative. I’m a fairly creative person and I feel a job that doesn’t let me be creative will suffocate me.
One of my lectures suggested that I become a professional public speaker as she noticed how well I handled group discussion, but getting into that means you need to be something special, say have written a book or have a phd...and I need a job that I can do to support my writing, not one dependant on it. The same goes for lecturing, which I know I would be good at and would enjoy.
....
Summary
So, any suggestions for an INFJ girl who is good with words, wants a stable job to support her writing, and who wishes to be creative?
Maybe even just some useful questions to ask myself to help me make up my mind, or gain a bit more clarity?