If you want a job, get a degree in some programming or engineering field, or go to a trade school and spend less to get entry-level pay better than damn near any university degree.
If I did, I would be a picture of misery.
Hrm. I might go for English and History instead, but I'm not changing my subjects. Were I to do programming or somesuch, I'd be doing something I don't like, and would be likely to get a job I don't like. And yes, at least that would mean I'd have a job- but at the cost of not enjoying my life? I wouldn't be able to stop thinking about what I could have been, with a bit of luck.
There are things, though fairly niche, like Archivist work that English and History both would lend themselves to. I'm not so sure about creative writing, hence why the question.
And thanks for the detailed answer, btw.
No problem, it's fairly closely related to a lot of what I've been dealing with.
One thing to look into if archival work interests you would actually be what I'm doing: a masters in library and information science. Just make sure it's an ALA-accredited program, otherwise you drastically cut down on what you can do with it. Pretty much every second- and third-hand account I've had from people I know is a story of either taking it into further academic work (it
is fundamentally a degree in research methods, among other things), or going to work for a university, corporation, or law firm.
And, naturally, you can just narrow down into a field you enjoy. By the time you're starting on your undergrad thesis project, you should have a even narrower area of research which you love working with and can draw additional articles or book chapters from. That'll help direct you into an appropriate graduate program.
I just wanted to make sure, because I've seen a lot of people go into soft fields solely because they didn't have the self-discipline to pursue something that means easy employment rather than because they have a genuine interest in the field and academic work, and once they graduate they end up with the sort of irritating job they were hoping to avoid without the plus of good pay.