How did my MA in Literature pave the way for my Career Path(s)? Part 3/3

How did my MA in Literature pave the way for my Career Path(s)?

In?Part 1?of this series of articles, I explored the influence of my Master's study on my teaching career, and how everything I learned as a student was employed in my class as a teacher. In Part 2, I shed light on the relevance of the same study programme to my job as a translator. In this last part, I will talk about the direct link between the passion I followed in my studies and what I hope to fulfil in my career.

Part 3/3 – Writing; and fulfilling the destiny!

Writing

To write or not to write – that is not even a question:

Whether ’tis chosen as a career to be pursued

With books published and readings scheduled,

Or a hobby taken against life’s troubles

And by resorting to it, escaping them.

A writer's destiny is to write!

Adapted from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, the above lines are intended to embrace the subject they tackle; i.e. writing, instead of the original hesitation and evasion expressed by Hamlet. (Spoiler alert!) It was his destiny, as required by the Ghost of his late father, to kill his uncle and take revenge. However, he kept procrastinating throughout the play, which ended in a catastrophe. But for a writer, the destiny cannot be unfulfilled; avoiding and escaping are not among the choices. There are no choices in fact; just the one; to write!

In pursuing a Master’s degree in literary studies, I was following a dream of living in the world of literature. Deep down, I have always nurtured the desire to write. But my problem was that I studied literature in a non-native language. How could it be possible for me – I used to wonder – to succeed in writing literature in English? I realise there are successful writers who adopt their non-native language(s), but where am I from them? Self-doubt led me to abandon the ambition of becoming a fiction writer, and turn to criticism. This is my story!

Criticism – the less favourable sibling of writing:

Reading literature, particularly novels, was the highlight of my university life; both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. I felt the sublimity of literature in the form of novels, and I passed my Master’s journey working mostly on prose.

I loved analysing ideas, characters, and plots, and I was eager to read between the lines. I was brilliant, and I learned how to enjoy analysing poetry and drama as well. In my Master’s studies, I wrote many research papers about different works of literature, and in that, I was practising literary criticism. However, when I finished my dissertation, I started to feel that I was not being original. I was building on the creativity of others, but I am a creative person and I, too, have ideas that I want to share with the world via the written word.

Until now, I have not had my breakthrough.

No sudden epiphany has ever hit me while asleep and made me wake up in a state of agitation, looking for a notebook and a pencil to pour out the treasures of my mind in a Coleridge-like manner!

No Jane-Austen-like wit was kindled in my brain to criticise society and laugh at its outmoded norms.

For a while, a long while indeed, I thought that I cannot write. But I wrote; maybe aimlessly, maybe vaguely, but I did write about different everyday life situations. But I had decided that my writings wouldn't see the light of day; until I discovered content writing!

Content writing – the non-identical equally-creative twin of writing literature:

Maybe this is what I want to believe for the time being!

After I discovered the field of content writing, I started to think seriously about learning about it (overwhelming at first, charming later!). It is a flexible domain that can be adapted to personal preferences. People can write all sorts of content, for all sorts of clients, and this is the profitable face of content writing. The more personal one which I am practising is writing my own content for my own purposes.

When I thought that my personal experience is worth sharing, I started writing about it. The result is the present series of three articles that might not be interesting for everyone (or for anyone at all!), but that actually has given me a sense of achievement.

After overcoming my fears and doubts, and undermining the barriers I imagined, I am proud to have written a complete piece of content.

Now I feel more motivated to pursue learning and seek knowledge in the field of content writing, for which I am well-prepared thanks to studying literature.

In the end, doing postgraduate studies in literature proved, and is still proving, to be a successful decision, whose consequences will always affect me positively in my career. Even when the job seems irrelevant to the study, deep down I know that I owe it all to literature. And who knows? I still can be a writer of fiction!