#sophie-actualgeekqueen

[thelaurenshippen]

Hey, I’ve recently started Uni and and I’m already terrified that I’m going to end up more depressed and stressed out when all I want to do is write,create and work on making things I enjoy (audiodrama,stories and such). Do I need to have a degree to do this stuff or can I just do what I wanna do without forcing myself into a awkward situation?

Hey!! Congrats on starting university - that’s a huge accomplishment and I canNOT imagine starting it this year of all years. But I totally understand that fear and, ultimately, university isn’t for everyone! I will say that one of the best things about universities/colleges, is that they often have free mental health care - absolutely take advantage of it if you’re able!! That can definitely help get through the tough times and all the stress. 

I had a great time in college because it reactivated my love of learning, was great socialization for me personally (I had a super hard time in high school and went to a college with folks who were easier to click with), and I didn’t give that much thought to my grades because I knew I wasn’t going to be applying to a secondary degree. That said, I absolutely have not used my (music lol) degree to write podcasts. 

I’m not sure what country you live in so this is just my perspective on the American experience but I personally believe that a) all education should be free b) anyone who wants to go to college should be able to and c) not everyone should have to go to college to get a well-paying job (also d) all jobs should be well-paid but that’s a whole other thing). There’s a weird emphasis on having a 4-year degree in America for, like, any job and you just don’t need one??? I’ve certainly applied things I learned in college to my office jobs and my career but those skills could also have been gained in work experience. 

But what this means is that you often need a degree on your resume to get certain jobs, but that degree might not practically help you. The college/job market system in the US is super effed!!!! If you’re able to jump right into working for a production company/publishing house/studio/etc. then you can absolutely build a career that way, but unfortunately, a lot of the “first step” jobs in creative careers want to see a college degree on your resume, which I don’t personally agree with. At least in my experience, though, to be fair, I haven’t been in the job market in any real way since 2015!

This is a very rambly way to say: do you need a degree to make stories? No. Part of being a creative is that you never stop learning and growing and for a lot of people, a rigid education environment doesn’t help foster that growth! But do you need a degree to break into the creative industry? ...maybe. It depends on what you want to do, where you live, how you want to break in, your living situation, etc. 

Ultimately, being the professional world is hard and being in a field that is as flighty and random as creative industries is really tough. Creating stories is only part of being a professional creator usually - for instance, I also have to be an accountant, a business manager, a people manager, a producer, an administrative assistant, an editor, a publicist, etc. etc. I’m still trying to figure out how to focus more on the creating part myself. So the best advice I can give is to spend the time building ways to take care of yourself. You’re young, so this will change (it’s still changing for me!), but focusing on what parts of creating you enjoy (do you want to be a writer, an actor, director, producer, some kind of combo, etc.?) and trying out a ton of things can help you figure out the best part of the industry to break into. Regardless of what you end up doing, stress is going to exist (living is stressful!) and, if you’re like me and already have a tendency toward depression/anxiety, those things are going to exist too and might be exacerbated by your job, even if you have a career doing what you love. 

You come first, your career comes second. That can be really hard to remember when your career is so tied to your identity. Sharing stories is really vulnerable and when you make it your job, it can be hard to untie the two. Never forget that you are a person, first and foremost, who has value all on their own and that person deserves to be treated with kindness. Building coping mechanisms for stress and depression can be the most important thing to focus on.

[rockandriot]

Any chance you'd come to Melbourne Supernova or OZ-comicon Melbourne?

Not to Melbourne, but I’m booked in for Sydney nova! 

[thelaurenshippen]

Hey! I absolutely love your podcasts (Caleb my favorite but I always feel bad for Damien)but that aside Im doing my year 12 media here in Australia and I've chose to make a Audio drama based around teens who they have superpowers(right now I have someone with Light control manid=festing as invisibility, being able to absorb animal DNA to mimic abilities and the ability to control the speed at which chemical reactions occur plus time travel..) any tips for me in terms of production or writing?

Sounds super cool! I’ve got an advice tag that might be worth scrolling through - it’s a little hard to give overarching advice because every project is different and will need different things. 

I also talked to a lot of female podcast producers about their work and there was lots of great advice in there. And KC Wayland of “We’re Alive” fame recently wrote the book on audio fiction producing. Literally.

Good luck!