18 Comments

A really useful newsletter, Hattie. I’ve been doing short, online courses with Oxford Uni and some really expanded my confidence and taught me lots, but others had the opposite effect! I realised that the difference came down to how interested the tutor was in teaching the course. The course on creative writing I am currently doing is one of the less useful. It feels like the tutor has left us in the classroom to figure it out by ourselves and only occasionally pops his head into the room to see how we are getting on.

We are barely touching on topics, a new one each week. But, I’m hoping the next one will be better.

This experience has, though, made me wonder whether to do a diploma, rather than a lot of short courses. I feel I need to stay longer on a lily pad rather than hop quickly from pad to pad and never see what’s beneath it.

Your newsletter has helped me to see that it might be a good idea to take a longer course. So thank you for that!

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Hi Hattie and everyone!

This was such an insightful read. I’m also doing a part-time creative writing MA at Goldsmiths in London. My experiences echo Hattie. I always liked the idea of a MA but the lockdown gave me the time to work on my stories - basically no social life was good for me for that purpose. I’ve just finished my first year and these are my pros and cons....

PROs

1. As Hattie says, ‘permission and structure to think and talk about writing a lot’. This is amazing about the MA. They take your writing seriously so I have started taking it more seriously too. With busy lives the MA gives you the structure and focus.

2. I always felt a little unsure about my ideas ans writing style but feel much more confident now about what I’m working on. This is through discussions with my tutors, the workshop environment and also the friends I’ve made on the course.

3. It’s amazing to be immersed in writing and learning the craft/ technique. Reading so much more widely but also with a new laser focus. The MA is brilliant for this.

4. The assignments give structure and all important deadlines.

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Jun 23, 2022·edited Jun 23, 2022Liked by Hattie Crisell

Thank you for this, Hattie. As someone who's thought on and off about doing an MA in creative writing (possibly at Birkbeck), it's incredibly helpful.

Part-time is really the only option for me, given work and so on. I know that on some part-time courses (and not only creative writing ones), it's easy to feel out of the loop a bit and maybe as though the department/teaching staff prioritise the full-time students. But it sounds like that hasn't been your experience at Birkbeck. Is that right?

Also, do you feel as though the course has led you to make connections which might help to sustain your writing after you graduate (i.e., fellow students you might continue to share work with, mentors, people in the industry)?

Thanks again!

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Thank you for writing this! I've been debating this for quite a while and it gave some really useful context (I had also looked quite a lot at Birkbeck so this was particularly useful).

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A great newsletter Hattie! I have dabbled in the odd evening short course maybe its time I jumped in. An evening course sounds like the ideal solution.

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Thank you for this post, Hattie. Great to read about your experience.

I already have an MA and did that part-time. It was full on still, so I agree with both you and Anna that a part-time programme is not half a bad idea. It would be the only way to manage my time now anyway.

Before launching into anything I need to do some thinking about what it is that I am looking to get out of the course, taking into consideration your points about writing tasks and craft teaching. It seems it has given you lots of structure and a commitment to yourself and your writing which is fab to hear.

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