I get a lot of email. And I don't mind answering it. But maybe I can save you a bit of time by addressing some of the questions and comments I receive most often.

What kind of jobs are out there for English majors?

Any job you want! ;) At this point in career history, it doesn't matter so much what you major in -- your job experience is more important. So focus on getting good internships and on-campus jobs, because that's what employers really look at. Even if you're just working in the campus cafeteria, employers don't want to see a 22-year-old graduate who's never worked. It looks...bad. Even if you're a business major. They'd rather see a liberal arts type with a great resume.

Not the advice your parents will give you, but let's admit that a lot has changed since they were in school.

So I won't be serving fries to my friends with "real" majors?

Not unless you want to.

But isn't an English major kind of useless in the "real world?"

No more so than a degree from an econ department that doesn't teach about the Internet or a comp-sci department that teaches assembly language instead of Java.

Seriously, writing skills never go out of style and will help you in a wide variety of jobs. Though many majors require writing, nothing says, "I can string a sentence together" like a B.A. in English, Communications, or something like it.

Hey "English major," you suck because you [dangled a participle/ended a sentence a preposition with/don't use two spaces after each period/insert your favorite irrelevant nitpick here].

Yes, but I'm a professional writer and you're not, so clearly it doesn't matter that much, does it? Have I mentioned that I studied literature, not sentence-diagramming?

How do I become a freelance writer?

There is no simple way to do this. It's also not for everyone. (Click here to read about my early tribulations as a freelancer -- it makes me cringe today, believe me). But if you'd like to give it a try anyway, there are a few things you can do that will get you on the right track.

Step 1: Breaking In

• If you've never been published, you may have to start out writing for free. Ideally you can do this in college. Otherwise, do some volunteer writing work for non-profits. (Please don't donate your work to for-profit corporations. You won't feel good about it later). Just call the organization and offer your help. They'll take it

• Save your early published work, even those high school newspaper articles if that's all you've got. Paying markets will want to see samples of your writing.

• Buy a copy of the Writer's Market to look for publications that interest you. Send queries. Do not send entire articles.

• When you move up to publications that pay, you still won't be getting paid much. You'll probably want to keep your day job at this point.

• If you're remotely interested in something practical like technology or business, you'll be better off. That's just the way it goes. Everyone wants to be a movie critic, thus making stuff like arts writing harder to break into.

• Get to know editors, other writers, and people in general. I hate schmoozing, but freelance writing is a business like any other, requiring some of the same business crud. You need to know people to get jobs.

• On the subject of networking, it helps if you can get a full-time job where you can meet writers and editors (mine was at an online media company). I've gotten a lot of my freelance work through former coworkers at my first, last, and only full-time job.

• If you start getting the urge to quit your day job, save up a few months' living expenses first. Even if you have steady work, it's amazing how long it can take those checks to roll in. You'll be friendly with all your clients' accounting offices before long.