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Is Essex any good for Creative Writing?

I've got a conditional offer for Creative writing in Essex. I was just wondering if the course is worthwhile as I know it hasn't been running for long.

Reply 1

Elysium

lushpoison

I've got a conditional offer for Creative writing in Essex. I was just wondering if the course is worthwhile as I know it hasn't been running for long.

I do part of my degree in Creative Writing at Bradford University and whilst I'm not sure how useful it will be at the end, I am enjoying the course. It will probably be useful for me because I plan to have a career in writing, you have to ask yourself what you want to do after university.

I would also contact the university and see what their course content is. I say this because I know Bradford's course content was just a mish mash of other courses last year, although they've rewrote the whole degree this year. If it's just a mish mash of other degrees then it might not be all that useful.

If it really does interest you then I would recommend the Bradford course. I have thoroughly enjoyed it so far and all the teaching staff have done their utmost to make my time at Bradford as comfortable as possible

Reply 2

rottcodd

lushpoison

I've got a conditional offer for Creative writing in Essex. I was just wondering if the course is worthwhile as I know it hasn't been running for long.

half your degree in the first year will not be Creative writing. At Essex, it's compulsory for 25% of your first year to study 'The Enlightenment Period'. It's also compulsory for another 25% to study a course called 'Introduction to Literature' where you study tradgedy, comedy, madness, discontent and satire as they appear in literature. So only 25% of your degree will be a course on Creative Writing (the other 25% you can do optional courses, though if you're doing creative writing it's advised you do the 'essay writing skills' course).

Of course, after the first year Creative Writing will become a more significant part of the course, just as long as you understand that for your first year you have to study quite a bit (50%) of literature. The good thing about this is, after your first year, you will be free to change your degree scheme - you could completely switch to studying English Literature as your degree, or some other humanities subjects. The first year will basically ground you in the humanities, then you make your final choice of degree scheme at the end of the year.