Did They Just Say, ‘No Degree = No Publication’?
Ways to Get Published Without a Degree
Tips From Our Editors
First, go around the gatekeepers! Do not let the gremlins dissuade you.
It is an unfortunate fact that MFA degrees act as an incubator for salivating publishers. We know this from Poets & Writers online. And apparently there is an open war cry from some institutions to return to a required MFA!
Sigh.
However, if you do not have a degree, this isn’t the end of the world.
Thankfully, flagship imprints like Simon and Schuster are abandoning traditional blurb requirements based on whether writers obtained an MFA. The Oxford Review is gleefully joining this band of rebels. I do not say this because I want slop. I say this because you are in good company.
Of course, I would never discount a degree, as the courses in creative writing and screenwriting that I took at Harvard were integral to honing my craft. For some, however, the irritating truth is that talent appears to arrive rather inconveniently pre-installed.
Diploma photo courtesy of Photo Courtesy of RDNE Stock project on Pexels
Here is a shocking list of well-known writers that cannot brag about a formal education:
(Excluding honorary degrees )
- Neil Gaiman
- Truman Capote
- Terry Pratchett
- Liz Nugent
- Linda Lael Miller
- Augusten Burroughs
- William Shakespeare
- Charles Dickens
- Jane Austen
- H. G. Wells
- Maya Angelou
If the gatekeepers had been in charge, there would be no Good Omens, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Running with Scissors, Hamlet, Great Expectations, Pride and Prejudice, The Time Machine or I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings.
Now, I will preface this by saying that I personally received my writing degree from an Ivy League university, but I do not believe you must follow suit. Indeed, I have met some incredibly talented writers who had no degree whatsoever and are far more clever than me.
Whilst I do not believe that one needs a degree to be an incredibly talented writer, I do believe that taking writing courses can be invaluable honing one’s craft.
‘But it is not accessible to me,’ you say?
That is no longer true!
Ivy League universities now offer FREE courses in writing—no admission required—and one can take these courses online. And here is your list!
Links to Elite Universities that Offer FREE Scholarly Materials:
1. University of Oxford—The Bodleian Libraries
2. Harvard University—Free Courses
3. Yale University—Open Course
