Drama or Art A level? Or something else?

[Mondaymorning567]

Hi, I’m looking for advice on A levels. My daughter is set on doing Creative Writing at Uni and then as a career. She does well in humanities subjects. She is definitely doing English at A level and needs two more, it doesn’t seem to greatly matter which she does. She is not allowed to do both the English options. One of the options will be another essay based subject, probably philosophy.
I have wondered about Art or Drama and would appreciate people’s thoughts.
Art: She likes art and does it as a hobby. I am confident that she would be able to handle to analysis side and would probably enjoy the creativity. I am unsure if ultimately she really has the skill level in terms of the actual art. She should get a good grade at GCSE, but this is likely due to the fact that she is good at showing the analysis skill. But of course, as she has no intention of going to art school, perhaps this is fine? Would there be any possibility of creative writing or poetry as part of this? She is a genuinely talented writer.
Drama: She has no intention of going to drama school and doesn’t want to be on stage. She does like the idea of analysing plays, writing plays and working behind the scenes. I think she would really enjoy this if she gave it a chance.
I would appreciate any thoughts. Obviously, it is her choice, but she is asking me for my opinion and I want to help her. She is very academically able and is predicted good grades, but has found school dull and I am concerned that if she picks three essay subjects with not much space to be creative, she could end up dropping out. The sixth form is separate so school aren’t able to massively help us. Thank you so much for any thoughts or perspectives!

I did Theatre Studies A level and did lighting and set design. Could she do that?

Art A level will take a lot of time.

(re uni,my cousin did an English degree, then a masters. 6 years on she’s the lowest level of book editor there is for a tiny publisher and no signs of her own book deal yet. Absolutely not with £50k worth of debt.)

I did music, maths and french alongside the theatre studies and all have been useful since. I’d be wary of too many subjects in the same field.

Drama is more relevant in terms of creative writing as a career - and as you/she must know, it's crazy hard to turn that into a career and a degree in it isn't integral to doing so. I say that as someone who writes for a living and knows many people who teach on creative writing degrees and I still don't rate them. You could get the same value from reading books and writing in your own time and joining a writing group or evening class. But that's an aside as it sounds like she's got her heart set on the degree, so I'd say drama will give her more useful insights into dramatic structure, character development, dialogue, and all those things that can be useful for scriptwriting, copywriting, and those kinds of jobs. Art might good for developing visual skills to complement the writing but if she's not really gifted, it's a bit off to the side and won't be much help for the CW degree. Although honestly they'll take her on a CW degree if she pays the fees. Some courses are more competitive than others but it doesn't mean anything in terms of a career after, except for perhaps some more vocational/specific masters. I'm not saying it's not worth studying purely for the love of writing and developing your voice, more that those things are possible to do without racking up £££ debt. If you're loaded though and that's not a factor, go for it. One of the best things you can have for a career in the arts right now is rich parents!

Thank you so much for your replies, I really appreciate it. Yes, I know that the Creative Writing degree route is problematic. That's a whole other thread! She is really passionate about it and spends all her time writing and reading. She has about 20,000 written on a novel. I am actually hopeful that she might end up with an English and Creative Writing degree instead, although even this might not make her much more employable. Sadly, we are not rich! Ultimately, it will be her choice, but maybe she would be better to get a job and just write, rather than going to uni.
I think it's a good point about too many subjects in the same area, flexibility is really useful. And art is known to take a lot of time! There are some really useful points here.

spends all her time writing and reading

That's the best thing. Good luck to her!

(well, and living a little too, gotta have stuff to write about!)