Leaf writing magazine: Issue 2 Autumn 2010

M.A. in Creative Writing, Teesside University – Reprinted with permission from http://www.leafbooks.co.uk

The course consists of two core and three optional modules followed by a final 20,000 word project.  These can be completed over a period of between two and five years.  Even though it is hard work, the course is both inspiring and rewarding, as well as an opportunity to write with like-minded people.

The core modules of Creative Writing Skills & Techniques and Writing for Personal Development have opened my mind up to new ways of writing including prose, poetry, script and life writing.  They have also focussed my attention on the craft of writing.  I understand more about the processes and have developed as a result.

I now take more time to muse over and plan a piece of work.  I also appreciate the importance and purpose of redrafting, honing my words to create a polished piece.  My research and critical reading skills have developed as a by-product of the process and I have more confidence in myself as a writer.

A typical session begins with a presentation of the topic for discussion.  This is led by either the tutor or the student(s) who researched the material.  The theory is then put into practice with creative exercises and follow-up sharing/discussion of writing, which may be rewritten and edited for submission or publication.

While studying writing this way is demanding and requires temporary sacrifices, it is a worthwhile method for improving one’s craft and informing one’s art.