I have recently graduated from college with a BA in English with an emphasis in Professional Writing. I don't know where to go to start looking for a career/job. I was thinking of trying to get some of the fantasy stuff I did back in high school but I don't have a great deal of confidence in my work mainly because I feel that it just seems childish. Do any of you guys on this site know where I might go to get constructive criticism on my work or where I might go to find a reputable job site that focuses on writing jobs? Or do you have any tips on getting hits so that I might get the criticism I'm looking for?
I'm doing this because of my father. He originally said that it would be alright if I looked for a career outside of my major. Now he wants me to use my major. I understand he's angry at the fact that I can't find a job because of the economy. The fact that the few who are hiring are not looking to hire entry level personel just makes it worse.
To tell the truth, I feel like I lost the love I had to write the stories up in my head. I originally started writing hoping to impress a girl to go out with me. Then I began writing to contribute to the stories that me and my friends made up. I was encouraged by a high school creative writing teacher to get into a writing program in college. I recieved the HOPE Scholarship, but since I didn't have the funds to stay at another college in Georgia, I attended the local state university.
I met a lot of good people while going to college but a few of the professors got under my skin. One in particular was the kind of guy who instantly made you inferior. He was a published poet and I think that this fact inflated his ego. When I attended a creative writing class he offered none of the stories I made appealed to him. The cryptic way he gave criticism made me feel as if he was taking something I thought up and plow it into the ground. I wouldn't mind this if he would just tell me what was wrong or what I needed to do to improve but I never recieved a straight answer. Plus the fact that most of my classes involved me writing McEssays (5-10 pages, double-spaced, MLA, etc) didn't help. With little or no creativity or mentally stimulating projects, I guess my love of writing fell to the wayside.
Well, that's my rant. I hope that this is the right place to post this.