the writer's room discussion

Hey guys I was just wondering what level of schooling everyone is taking/planning to go to? I myself dropped out of highschool at the start of year 11 due to struggles with the school curriculum and behaviour of other students and teachers alike. But, recently I’ve been looking at writing courses and tafes near me, because I’m worried that I may need a higher academic degree to get anywhere with my writing or improve! Does anyone have any input on what extent aspiring authors should aim for with their schooling? Or other alternatives to improving my writing skills outside of school? Or personal experiences with their own learning and how it’s affected/helped their writing overall? Thankyou:)

I am only in year 10. I can't really think of any advice I am sorry

I'm also not out of high school yet, but I'm sure you can find an online course somewhere, and even youtube is a help if you're looking for writing tips/techniques. Plus, there are lots of articles on writing on the internet, if you look for them. And of course, you can do research on a number of topics for your stories with the push of a couple of buttons. I personally love scrolling through psychology today for character ideas. Point is, there are a lot of resources out there if schooling isn't a good option for now.
Not saying that going to school for writing isn't a good idea- it's really good to work with people who really know what they're doing, especially in person. Just saying that there are other options available.

As someone who has had writing published and had the opportunity to meet many authors, I will say that the only thing published writers have in common is that they read a lot. Not all have higher education, not all (very few, in fact) have majored in or studied creative writing on an academic level, there is little they had in common in areas of age, educational level, profession, nationality, the only thing that they have in common, and the one thing many attribute to their success as writers was that they read a lot.
I read every day.