What would you do if you're me? I'm desperate.?

If you don't want to go to college, then just say "mom, I am not going to college. It will be a waste of time and money for me. I am going to write." Four-year college is not for everyone.

Now, here comes the BUT.

But, you should pursue an education of some kind. You will need some way to support yourself because, like the other answerers said, novel writing does not support most novelists. Maybe you will be one of the lucky ones, but if not you need something to keep you afloat when you write.

Maybe you will decide to go to a trade school (cosmetology, massage therapy, etc.); maybe you will go into an apprenticeship (those are generally more for rough trades like mechanics, electricians, linesmen and the such, but since I know nothing about you, I can't decide what you would like); maybe you decide to go to a community college near home and take some creative writing classes, and/or some business classes; maybe you go to said community college and take a random selection of classes-one might pop out as being super interesting to you.

I had a teacher in high school who repeatedly told us that four year college was not for everyone. I had been raised to believe that it was, so I went to a University anyway. Almost two years in, I realized that what I was studying was not what I wanted to do for a living; instead of switching majors countless times like many of my roommates and spending more time and money there, I dropped out of college and went to massage therapy school. I knew that I needed some sort of education, and massage is something that I knew I could enjoy doing and make decent money with. Now, years later, I am ready to go back to university, where I am pursuing a B.A. in English writing and an M.A./CAS of Russian Language and Translation. I have my massage therapy skills to help me work through school.

Sorry to be so long winded. My point: maybe you really don't want to go to college, and you don't have to. There is no rule or law saying that college is mandatory to lead a good life and have a good lifestyle (regardless of what others will have you believe). You do need to get some kind of education though. Yes, you can get a job without it, but it will be hard to keep up with the demanding lifestyle you will get as you grow older if you are not educated in some way.

So, my suggestion is to come up with a plan of action: what are you going to do instead of college? Make sure that you have some sort of plan before you tell your mom; it will help buffer the blow.

I was in the same position when I graduated high school. The way I handled it was to come out and say, 'I'm not going to college.'

Of course, all it did was set me back. After a few years I realized I knew absolutely nothing about the publishing industry and had no clue how to get my work accepted. It's not as easy as write a novel, become a bestseller. I went to school, took creative writing courses, learned a lot about the industry, and learned how to research what I didn't know. Is it essential to have a degree to get published? Absolutely not. But it's a big help in learning, through workshops, what you need to work on. And researching is a requirement for a writer--especially when it comes to searching for an agent and/or publisher. Even if you only take a few community college courses at dirt cheap prices, you can learn a lot. Plus, if you stay through until you get a bachelor's or masters, you can make connections with future agents and editors, easing the process into the publishing world.

All that said, this is not a plea to get you into school.

If what you want is to be a role model, go after what you want. If you don't want college, fine...so long as you're chasing your dream. But if, some time in the future, you realize it might have been a mistake to skip college, just remember that you can still reach for your dream through school. Don't, years from now, reject schooling just because you think you'll look foolish. I freely admit that I wasted my post-high school years and should have gone to college right away. But if I had to do it all again, I'd probably make the same decisions. Sometimes it's important to be foolish. Going to school because everyone wants you to, especially if you can't concentrate, is a waste of time and money. If I had gone when everyone told me to, I'd probably be taking engineering courses and hating what I do.

Yes, I still hate my day job--loathe it...want the place to burn to the ground...but I know what I need to do to make it in the industry. I wouldn't know that without college.

But I also wouldn't know it without swallowing my pride and attending when I was ready.

I am going to guess you are still in high school, since you are still deciding on whether to go to college yet. I understand that right now you only want to write novels & heck, who knows, you may write the next best seller. Who am I to say you cannot make it or that you do not have the skills and drive to become a famous writer.

However, here is my suggestion for you. Go to college, get a degree in writing... you will meet some great people who can help you & have connections along the way. If the writing thing does not pan out, at least you have a degree & that will help you out immensely down the road. Look at most job postings, they all want at least a bachelors degree. College will only be 4 years... you have the rest of your life to write. Good Luck!

I'm going to tell you up and front that that's not a wise choice. 95% of authors cannot support themselves on novel writing alone. Most of them have college degrees and do other things while novel writing.

It's foolish to think that you'll be able to support yourself off novel writing alone. What if you never even get published, first off? Then what are you going to do? You're going to be left as one of the many unemployed Americans with bad credit because she can't pay off her loans, and then you'll be living on welfare. Publishing a novel is one of the hardest things you can do. Literary agents will only query one novel a month out of the four hundred letters they receive. Publishing companies on average may publish only 20% of the authors who submit, and maybe 5-15% of those are new, unpublished authors.

If you really want to prove yourself as a model to them, then don't do something as foolish as this. A high school education will not get you very far. Those with college degrees earn on average a million dollars more than those with high school diplomas. You may not like studying now, but whatever you want to do, you'll like studying it.

As person above said, take a creative writing class or literary class. Eventually, you'll have to love analyzing literature in order to analyze your own writing if you ever hope to get published. So you might as well start now while you're young. You'll have to love literature and English. I don't know a single published writer who doesn't. If you don't love to study literature and English now, you better start or else you'll never have hopes of getting published.

The only way you could ever support yourself on novel writing alone is you marry a rich husband.

By the way, you DO NOT need a degree in English or creative writing to publish. Publishers want you to have some sort of background with publishing writing. They could give a donkey's behind if you have a degree in English or not, because those don't prove anything unless you've got a good story with a great novel execution. Other than that, even if you have a degree in English or creative writing, if your story is poor, obviously they're going to wonder where you bought your degree at.

Publishing credentials hold A LOT more weight than a degree.

I agree with all who say college is the way to go. Trust me, it's good. Yes, I'm glad you love to write novels, but you can go to college to improve on your writing skills, get help from a teacher who has experience, and meet others who are just as interested in writing as you. Maybe you can give each other pointers and work based off each others' suggestions. Your mom just wants the best for you, and knows what's best. You should have a little talk about your future, and tell her how you feel. But going to college will only benefit your career in writing novels.

I highly highly highly recommend going to college if you have the opportunity. Take literature courses, they are invaluable in helping one learn how to write better.

Never underestimate the value of education.

Very few authors are able to support themselves solely on their writing (until they become famous), so the wise course of action is to get a college degree.

College is a bit easier than high school in that you're studying what you want to study. It's really not that bad. Heck I graduated last year and I actually really miss it.

Don't go to school because people expect it of you, go because you want to improve your mind, give yourself a better future, and learn how to become a better writer.

What I recommend is this - talk to your mom about it, ask her what she thinks. Tell her how you feel, but then listen to what she has to say. Parents are a lot wiser than kids give them credit for being.

I don't know how old are you. Ask yourself who is going to take care of you financially speaking, when you are not living at home. Will you be content with holding a MacDonald's job or a waitressing job? That's where you are headed without some sort of formal higher education.

If you are hoping to get published, I have news for you: only a very SMALL percentage of book submissions are contracted for publication and from that SMALL percentage an EVEN SMALLER percentage are more than just one hit wonders. The majority of published authors can not afford to leave their day jobs.

Think about it.

Wow I have the same issue Did you have an idea that he wanted to be with you before you guys became so close that's the problem I have. I put him in the friend zone because I was not sure that I wanted to be with him. Then because we became good friends I was starting to care for him more then a friend. He has a girl but I did not want to come in between him and her because I knew alot the things that were going on between them and always felt I was better for him. So I really tried not to throw that in his face. Its hard because he probably wants to be with you but because he also has love for this other person you would want his feelings to be genuine towards you. At lease that's what my friend told me. Does he want to be with you also? I wish this was like a chat so that I could see your response I totally know what you feel..

Just telling some one that you left one thing because of another will never satisfy the next one until you don't provide some proof. How much you r sure that u have enough potential, depth, vision, foreseeing, sociology, psychology, economics, history knowledge that u can add different spice to u strong imagination of story and characters.I don't know how u will justify your characters while u r prov9ng yourself old fashioned story character who miss fit in the society and cant cop up with family and other relation.

Why don't you go to college and do some sort of course in literature or novels or something that you enjoy in that topic? Then you both win :)