Ask Sally #11 - Writing Courses

Are writing courses for beginners any good or will I be wasting my hard-earned money? How do I find out which courses are worth doing?

A lot depends on the course. As you're usually going to be spending money on a course, it really is worth researching well.

But your first question also raises the question of whether creative writing can be taught. It's a debate that's raged for quite a while. I think it can be, though I think the student needs the spark and imagination to get them started and I also truly believe that some are born with a natural talent towards writing, just as others are natural artists or musicians. The rest of us, unfortunately, have to work at it.. Like any other educational course, you get out of a writing course what you're willing to put into it. A writing course can point out problems you might not have been aware of, like point of view changes, repetition of words etc. A course can also teach you how to garner ideas. It's also a great way to get feedback on your work.

Whether you waste your money or not really depends on the course. And this is where your research comes in. What qualifications does the tutor have to be teaching creative writing? This doesn't necessarily mean paper qualifications, but whether or not the tutor has been published themselves - and published recently.

A friend of mine attended a course -as part of a set of courses at a residential school - about writing for the radio. The tutor had last had work performed some ten years ago, yet used this work as a basis for his teaching. My friend wanted to know what sold now, not ten years ago, but she didn't get that information from this course. Luckily some of the other courses she attended made up for it. But still, some of her money, and time, was wasted.

Another pal, Womagwriter, attends courses run by Della Galton. Della is having work published in women's magazines now - as I type! Della is bang up to date with what sells. As a result womagwriter own hit rate with women's magazines has improved quite spectacularly. Money well spent.

Another friend recently looked into a course by a male writer, who claimed to have had over 30 books published. He had, that much was true. But they were all, mostly self-published, craft books on writing based on the courses he was teaching. Not a single novel or short story collection among them. He wanted over $1200 for each course. There are people daft enough to pay that, but not my pal!

So research is vital. Ask other writers what courses they've taken and what they got out of them. Research the tutor. When were they last published? Have they been published at all?! If so, where are they being published? Is the course accredited? Is it run by a legitimate organisation? Is the course fee reasonable considering what's being offered?

A lot of universities now run distance learning level 1 writing courses, and the Open University has a level 2 writing course. I took their level 1 Start Writing Fiction course and enjoyed it immensely. It also gave me a good indication of where I was as a writer (and one of the stories I wrote as part of the course was shortlisted in a competition), and a lot of university courses are free or reduced rates to those on benefits or low income, so that's something worth checking.

Beware courses, usually sold over the internet, that claim you can write a novel in 28 days. Yes, you can write a novel in 28 days. Thousands of people do it every year for NaNoWriMo. But you can't write a publishable novel in that time, unless you're Frederick Forsyth, who'd been a journalist for some time before he sat down and wrote Day of the Jackal. And anyway, why should you pay to do something that NaNoWrimo encourages you to do for free?

In fact, be cautious about anyone on the internet who claims to be able to teach you Creative Writing. If the only thing you get when you google their name are links back to the website selling the course, or recommendations from people who are obviously them in disguise, then maybe you should be asking yourself if they're a suitable tutor for you.

Writing courses are a good idea, provided they're well run and give you what you need, but nothing beats practising your writing and reading a lot of what's current in literature, and that's the advice I'd give you above any tips about courses.

More Links

OU Start Writing Fiction

OU Start Writing Plays

OU Start Writing Poetry

OU Creative Writing

London School of Journalism Home Study Courses

Writers News Home Study Courses