Going into college, I always thought I had it all figured out. I was going to be a journalism and theatre double major, and that would be the end of it. After all, I love writing and working on shows, so why would I need to change anything around?
In my Fall 2021 semester, I decided to take a creative nonfiction writing class as an elective for my journalism major. I thought it could be fun, and I missed writing in a more creative format, so why not give it a shot? As I was taking this class, I realized just how much I enjoyed creative writing. Honestly, it scared me a little bit.
Being a journalism major, I felt reassured that I would be able to find a job straight out of college. This reassurance had me shutting down ideas of any other majors (besides theatre) because I wanted to make sure I was going to college for something I would end up using after graduating. The issue is, I wasn’t happy. Journalism is very strict in the terms of what is being written, and I wasn’t having a good time having to stick to those rules.
Creative writing has its own rules, but they’re not as in-depth as the ones for journalism. The rules for both practices are incredibly important, but I find myself happier to follow the ones for creative writing.
On top of this, creative writing just comes easier to me. When you’re writing news stories, you have to make sure that what you’re writing about is relevant; that people will want to read it. When you’re writing creatively, it can be about anything you want it to be. It doesn’t necessarily have to be relevant, because there will always be a specific audience who wants to escape and read someone else’s work without worrying about what’s going on in the real world. The fact that I can write for myself and nobody else is lovely to me.
In general, the main reason I changed from journalism to creative writing is because I enjoy the creative writing style more than the journalistic style. I am able to come up with ideas that interest me and write about them because they make me happy, not because it’s what other people need to be reading. Plus, it isn’t like I dropped journalism all together; it’s just my minor now.
I didn’t want to spend my last two years of college miserable because I was doing something I didn’t actually enjoy that much. I used to think going to school for creative writing wouldn’t be worth it, but after switching majors and getting to really enjoy why I’m going to school I’ve been able to stress a lot less about what I’m doing. Although I’m still new to the creative writing major, I’m enjoying it a lot, and I wouldn’t change anything about where I’m at right now.