When I started drafting this post in my head, I was thinking I would come up with some Practical and Helpful Advice on how to balance writing and college, since I know I’m not the only young writer out there trying to juggle the two. Then I realized I had nothing really helpful to say about the topic. At least, there was nothing I could say without exposing myself as a hypocrite. I don’t manage my time that well, for starters. I procrastinate like nobody’s business. I stress myself out, and I don’t sleep long enough or eat well enough. So if you’re a Dapper Young Writer looking for advice on how best to come through college with your sanity and overall well-being still intact, I’m probably not the person you should be talking to.
I will say this, though: if you’re really passionate about writing and learning, you’ll find the time to do both. And if you’re sneaky and clever as well as passionate, you’ll figure out how to combine the two and save yourself some time and stress!
Anything-any course of study, any class-can inform your writing, if you let it. English and literature classes, obviously, can be of great benefit for writers; reading widely-and thinking critically about what you’re reading-is such an integral part of being a writer. As a history major and a writer of historical fiction (or historically-based fantasy, at least), I also try, as much as possible, to make my research for term papers double as research for my works-in-progress; the same for my political science coursework. The geology lab course I took this past semester helped me tidy up some of my fictional world’s topographical details. And don’t forget the bevy of resources available to writers on a college campus. A college library is an invaluable thing. So is a campus coffeeshop-thank goodness West Georgia has a Starbucks now!
In short, look at college as an opportunity for you as a writer, not as a hindrance. That doesn’t mean there won’t be stressful days, or weeks, or months (November, in particular), when you’d so much rather be working on your manuscript than writing your fifteen-page research paper or preparing your COMM presentation. The key is learning how to apply it all to your writing. Let all that research pay off in your worldbuilding. And hey, if nothing else, you now know how your character feels when she’s got to give a presentation to her boss (or maybe when he’s got to stand up and give a rallying speech before the battle, in my case).