Has anyone done the OU MA in Creative Writing?

[pineapplesoda]

I've seen this course mentioned on MN several times so I'm sure there must be grads here who can tell me what they thought of the course.

I'm in the throws of a break up, house move and youngest dc will leave home in a couple of years. What I want is to do something for myself that I'll enjoy, and also to give me the structure to get back into writing regularly, work out how to improve, get constructive feedback, etc.

I need to do an online course because I'm juggling too many things at the moment and I think travelling to a face to face course might end up being an extra source of stress, rather than something I'm doing for my own satisfaction.

Obviously I'd love to get published, but that's not really my motivation and I don't need writing to be a source of income. I have always loved writing and want to learn to do it better. So I'm less interested in a course that provides industry contacts than in a high quality course that will improve my writing and give me deadlines and assignments.

I'm hoping someone who has done this course, or looked into doing it, can give me their views on whether it's likely to be what I want.

I haven’t, but wondered if this might be worth cross-referencing:

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/mature_students/4409185-Good-online-Continuing-Education-Lifelong-Learning-courses-English-Writing

My entirely personal impression is that the best way to ‘learn to do it better’ is to spend a fair bit of time amongst other people doing the same thing. A year of post-seminar coffee and chat and noting their career progressions will tell you, quicker than anything else, whether your own ideas, modes of expression and connection to the zeitgeist are disappointingly unoriginal, or safely mainstream, or intriguingly eccentric - or whatever. Contact with your peers and potential competitors (even if you don’t think you want to compete!) really bucks up one’s ideas. But I do understand why you might not want to use additional energy on that right now.

(PS I’m sure you meant to write ‘in the throes of’ but your device was feeling uncooperative!)

Deeply ashamed to get to my 50s and not know that 'throes' and 'throws' are different words! Thanks for putting me right LiterallyKnowsBest.

Thanks for this link. I've done one of the Futurelearn courses but will have a look at some of the others. Part of my motivation, which I forgot to mention, is that I dropped out of an MA back in the olden days, and I'd really like to be able to say, after all this time, that I've finally done my MA.

Yeah, but, no, but … An MA (as you may recall) is hard work. Different pressures if spread over years online or at high pressure face to face, but either way it requires a good deal of effort. Particularly the sort of high quality course you’ve said you want.

What’s my point? Getting to the end will demand much more of you than simple enjoyment … I kind of have the feeling (forgive me if I’m wrong) that you’re imagining being able to keep some emotional distance from the work - like painting your neighbour’s fence. When what will be required (if it’s worthwhile) is flinging yourself into your own fire …

(Maybe I’m projecting a little …)

Oh no, not really! I'm a researcher for my job, and I love throwing myself into a big project. I think I've made myself sound like a dabbler, but I am very willing to put in the time and effort needed. Writing has always been a passion, but I've lacked focus over the years, because of children, work, ageing parents, other commitments. I'm now at a point where I'll have a lot more free time because of my impending divorce and older dcs who don't need so much of me, and I also feel I need some kind of project to commit to. I like the idea of an MA because it will require a lot of hard work, discipline, commitment, etc.

Have you made any progress in your investigations, OP?

They’re already listed in the linked thread above but it occurs to me that a one week tutored Arvon course might be particularly helpful for you at this stage. The total immersion means that at least 50% of what you learn comes from conversation with other participants. Choose an area of writing you really want to pursue and see how you get on. (Unusually, perhaps, the fees for these courses are fully justified. And the grants generous if needed.)

Also have a look at the Oxford MSt. The structure of the course might suit you - but it is extremely competitive so you’d need to have a record of relevant achievement (prizes and / or attachment to a desirable organisation) before applying.

It really is worthwhile attending a few open days (in person if possible!) to get an idea of what places look for and who you’re competing with.

Have a look at Faber Academy, they do some excellent smaller online courses that are really good and less of a commitment than ma.

Have you thought about doing a creative writing evening class at a university or adult education centre? A lot of places are doing these online at the moment so the place running them doesn't even need to be local to you.

I have done some of these courses which involve some writing exercises and workshopping a piece of writing submitted by a member of the class. Everyone reads the piece and gives their constructive feedback. I found this input very useful in getting an impartial view of my work. We would submit a short story or a chapter of a larger piece we were working on and would on average submit twice a term. We quickly built up good supportive relationships with each other and many in the group were writing very seriously with a view to try to get published. The tutor was a published author and part of the course was strategies for getting published.

Might be a good way to start to get you motivated to write without diving into the MA straight away?

I came on to look at threads about MAs in Creative Writing.
The OU one is significantly cheaper (about £4000 less) than the one I had researched with the University of Hull, which is also online only.
I have done a F.E. creative writing course some years ago.

It was dominated by a very loud male participant, and not well controlled by the tutor, so I am looking for something more professional to get my teeth into.
I work part-time and description writing is part of my job role, but it's not terribly creative.
Any recent feedback on the OU course would be much appreciated.
I am also researching in person courses locally, but I would quite like a MA!

@trumpisagit how have you got on with looking at courses? The OU one is so much cheaper, and for me I think more practical because I would have more time to do it rather than having to juggle childcare and work around seminars etc. I would like the whole campus experience though, bouncing ideas off others etc.