Do you need a College Degree to become a Freelance Writer?
Freelance writers come from all different types of backgrounds. I majored in journalism in college, but I know many writers who received sales, medical, and finance related degrees. That brings me to the question: do you need a college degree to become a freelance writer? The short answer to this question is no. That being said, you may be better prepared for this type of career if you spend four years in college.
Anybody can become a freelance writer. In fact, I have two friends in the business who did not graduate from college. And not only are they in the business, but both of them earn a decent amount of money. To go along with this, three members of my freelance writing course have no college experience at all. Although they are just starting out, it appears that they are well on their way to future success.
As noted above, college can prepare you to become a better freelance writer. Believe it or not, I had a couple of courses that were based around freelance writing. One was “feature writing†and the other “scriptwriting.†Both of these are areas in which you may want to focus on. The feature writing class in particular was one that definitely helped when I decided to become a freelance writer. In fact, I used a couple samples from this class to send to prospective clients in the early days.
In college, I also learned a bit about marketing, accounting, and other areas that have bettered my career. Although these were not my core classes, I dabbled in them from time to time. Looking back, if I would have known that I was going to become a freelance writer I probably would have taken more classes like this.
Will clients ask if I have a college degree? Some will, but most won’t. I have had a couple of clients ask where I went to school, what I majored in, etc. But most clients don’t care. Instead, they are more concerned with your writing experience and the samples that you can show them. If you did graduate from college, you will definitely want to include this on your freelance writing resume; especially if you majored in a related field such as journalism or public relations.
Regardless of your background, you can become a successful freelance writer. If you did not graduate from college, do not let this hold you back.
