Creative Writing MA

The MA consists of compulsory modules, a typical selection can be found below. Modules can vary from year to year, but these offer a good idea of what we teach.

Full-time route

Term 1

• Elements of Writing: Fiction
• Creativity

Term 2

• Feature and Screenwriting
• Writers at Work

Term 3/Summer Vacation (until the end of September)

• Independent Writing Project

Part-time route

• Term 1: Elements of Writing: Fiction
• Term 2: Feature and Screenwriting
• Term 4: Creativity
• Term 5: Writers at Work
• Term 6/Summer Holiday (until the end of September): Independent Writing Project

Module descriptions

Creativity (30 credits) explores the ways in which theory can illuminate what goes on in your mind and on the page when you are writing creatively or professionally and how that writing will be received by readers and by society at large. It also looks at how to be more creative in your approach to writing by considering everything from the choice of individual words right up to the overarching structure of a complete text.

Elements of Writing: Fiction (30 credits) investigates essential literary techniques, which are then discussed in seminars, revolving around exemplary novels, and practiced by means of workshopped exercises.

Feature and Screenwriting (30 credits) analyses the main strategies and conventions of feature and screenwriting and then practices them with workshopped exercises. Students choose to taker either the feature or the screenwriting strand.

Writers at Work (30 credits) is a career-focused module, which considers the teaching of creative writing in schools, universities and community environments, arts administration and artistic support initiatives. It will therefore look at what methods are used in the teaching of creative writing; at how community writers’ groups and reading groups operate; at how to organise literary festivals, poetry events, and writing competitions; at how to establish a career in the arts industry; at how project design works and artistic projects get to be funded.

Read more about the structure of postgraduate degrees at Brunel and what you will learn on the course.

The opening chapters of a novel; a collection of short stories; a play; a film, TV or radio script; a volume of poems; a portfolio of articles; a memoir; travel writing.