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I studied MA Creative Writing... AMA!!!

For anyone out there wanting to study creative writing or for anyone who loves writing but wants hints or tips... AMA!

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I just wrote this piece and I want to revise it. Do you think it would be better too rewrite the whole thing or just tweak it a bit?

P.S.

Sorry for the horrible grammar


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It really depends on how much time you have. The best thing you can ever do with a first draft is to hide it away somewhere for about six months and then get it out again and look on it with a completely fresh pair of eyes. However, a more immediate approach would be to tweak it yourself until you feel that it reads as well as you can get it and then share it with friends/ other writers and ask them to critique it for you... it is amazing the feedback you get from other people that you just wouldn't have noticed yourself! What is your piece on and how long is it atm?
Have you completed NaNoWriMo? I've failed several times :colonhash:
Original post by Queen Cersei
It really depends on how much time you have. The best thing you can ever do with a first draft is to hide it away somewhere for about six months and then get it out again and look on it with a completely fresh pair of eyes. However, a more immediate approach would be to tweak it yourself until you feel that it reads as well as you can get it and then share it with friends/ other writers and ask them to critique it for you... it is amazing the feedback you get from other people that you just wouldn't have noticed yourself! What is your piece on and how long is it atm?


It's a story and it's roughly around 23k words. I tried to do both but I found that correcting it was a bit hard since I'm not exactly great with grammar and punctuation and I don't know how to rewrite it since I'm not exactly a planner, I'm more of a spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment type of writer. 😖

Anyway, thanks for the help. BTW, is English your first language?


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Reply 5
Are you hoping to write a book one day? If yes, then why? And how did you Find the creative writing course, maybe rate it on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being amazing!?


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Original post by ByronicHero
Have you completed NaNoWriMo? I've failed several times :colonhash:


I haven't actually! Considering it took me about a month just to write a novella for my dissertation the thought of working full time and writing a novel in a month feels very daunting! I might have to give it a go though just to get myself writing! Have you tried maybe writing a set of short stories in a month instead?
Original post by Firenze26
It's a story and it's roughly around 23k words. I tried to do both but I found that correcting it was a bit hard since I'm not exactly great with grammar and punctuation and I don't know how to rewrite it since I'm not exactly a planner, I'm more of a spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment type of writer. ������

Anyway, thanks for the help. BTW, is English your first language?


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Yes, English is my first (and only!) language. Wow 23,000 words is very impressive! You don't need to be a planner to edit and the best writing comes out of spontaneity so don't worry about that! Try breaking it down a section at a time, so edit a paragraph a day and if you feel you are struggling there are loads of editing services that will do it for you! Or even join a writing club and share your work with others :smile: A piece of that length could be submitted into a writing competition which could be really exciting!
Original post by 2en1
Are you hoping to write a book one day? If yes, then why? And how did you Find the creative writing course, maybe rate it on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being amazing!?


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Yes definitely! I have been convinced that I would be a novelist since I could read, I wrote my first fantasy story in primary school and have barely been able to remove my nose from a book since! I just think that it is a wonderful thing to be able to provide a reader with a complete escape from reality and to wrap them up in a fictional world. The creative writing course was incredible, really honed my writing and editing skills and everyone there was so lovely. One of the guys is now a fully fledged published author with his book in Waterstones! Sooo I would rate it 9/10 :biggrin:
Reply 9
Wow that's really good! :smile:

I'll be keeping an eye out for you, although I don't know your name :s
Original post by Queen Cersei
I haven't actually! Considering it took me about a month just to write a novella for my dissertation the thought of working full time and writing a novel in a month feels very daunting! I might have to give it a go though just to get myself writing! Have you tried maybe writing a set of short stories in a month instead?


I hadn't thought to try that.

I might do that this time actually, though I do have several rough ideas I've been meaning to realise for a while. I'm pretty terrible at engaging with the concept though as I find myself re-writing every sentence multiple times which runs contrary to the point.

I wrote 7.5k worth of (terrible) essay in the early hours of the morning - after a night out - once. You would think I could manage 50k in a month, but I just find it so hard to motivate myself alongside work and whatever else. I am determined to complete the challenge once in my life though :colonhash:

What was your novella about?

I've always been slightly suspicious of the ability to assess creative writing. I understand how it can be done, but I wonder if you have any thoughts about this?
Original post by ByronicHero
I hadn't thought to try that.

I might do that this time actually, though I do have several rough ideas I've been meaning to realise for a while. I'm pretty terrible at engaging with the concept though as I find myself re-writing every sentence multiple times which runs contrary to the point.

I wrote 7.5k worth of (terrible) essay in the early hours of the morning - after a night out - once. You would think I could manage 50k in a month, but I just find it so hard to motivate myself alongside work and whatever else. I am determined to complete the challenge once in my life though :colonhash:

What was your novella about?

I've always been slightly suspicious of the ability to assess creative writing. I understand how it can be done, but I wonder if you have any thoughts about this?


One thing I learnt from my MA is NEVER edit as you are going along. Just whack the words out on the page while they are flowing and it will sound much more natural than if you go back and check sentences along the way! See, writing a novel is just a completely different kettle of fish to writing something shorter even if you do have more time as they further it goes along the more difficult it is to write as the plot and characters become more complex and require more development. Take it chapter by chapter and set yourself a target of say 5k per chapter so break it down that way instead of seeing it as this huge 50k!

I have VERY strong opinions on the assessment of creative writing but I'm afraid it gets me very irate and I might start ranting so I will leave it there (I think the assessment is terrible basically), however, the experience and teaching of the MA were outstanding! I've written a few novellas but my dissertation was a piece of historical fiction mixed in with thriller elements. I enjoy fictionalising the lives of famous people that interest me such as Marlowe, Byron and Caravaggio so I basically wrote a story on one man's search to find a missing Caravaggio painting but the narrative was split between the past (Caravaggio's time) and the present and it was focused on the mirror image between Caravaggio and the protagonist seeking his work. But usually I like to write children's fiction :smile:
Original post by Queen Cersei
One thing I learnt from my MA is NEVER edit as you are going along. Just whack the words out on the page while they are flowing and it will sound much more natural than if you go back and check sentences along the way! See, writing a novel is just a completely different kettle of fish to writing something shorter even if you do have more time as they further it goes along the more difficult it is to write as the plot and characters become more complex and require more development. Take it chapter by chapter and set yourself a target of say 5k per chapter so break it down that way instead of seeing it as this huge 50k!

I have VERY strong opinions on the assessment of creative writing but I'm afraid it gets me very irate and I might start ranting so I will leave it there (I think the assessment is terrible basically), however, the experience and teaching of the MA were outstanding! I've written a few novellas but my dissertation was a piece of historical fiction mixed in with thriller elements. I enjoy fictionalising the lives of famous people that interest me such as Marlowe, Byron and Caravaggio so I basically wrote a story on one man's search to find a missing Caravaggio painting but the narrative was split between the past (Caravaggio's time) and the present and it was focused on the mirror image between Caravaggio and the protagonist seeking his work. But usually I like to write children's fiction :smile:


Breaking it down into chapters is probably very helpful. I think last year I started with a very basic idea of how the narrative would develop but I ended up behind schedule after less than a week and it spiraled from there really. It might be an idea to spend the first weekend writing my way to a nice buffer so that future lapses won't force me into a discouraging deficit. Try, try and try again!

That is essentially my opinion but my experience is all secondhand. I don't want to make you angry so we can leave it at that :tongue: Oh interesting, does that interest extend to an interest in (atuo)biographies? I wouldn't really know what to do with children's fiction beyond the very early stage(s) where I think I could probably rustle something up about friendship and sharing. Situate some anthropomorphised bears near a lake inhabited by a grumpy old axolotl and I have the makings of a success. :lol:
Original post by ByronicHero
Breaking it down into chapters is probably very helpful. I think last year I started with a very basic idea of how the narrative would develop but I ended up behind schedule after less than a week and it spiraled from there really. It might be an idea to spend the first weekend writing my way to a nice buffer so that future lapses won't force me into a discouraging deficit. Try, try and try again!

That is essentially my opinion but my experience is all secondhand. I don't want to make you angry so we can leave it at that :tongue: Oh interesting, does that interest extend to an interest in (atuo)biographies? I wouldn't really know what to do with children's fiction beyond the very early stage(s) where I think I could probably rustle something up about friendship and sharing. Situate some anthropomorphised bears near a lake inhabited by a grumpy old axolotl and I have the makings of a success. :lol:


Yeah, it is really demoralising when you lose momentum with your schedule. Doing a Master's massively forced me to write to a deadline but I have mixed feelings about this as although I produced results I also feel this stunted my creativity. I would love to read some of your stuff if you wanted to send a chapter over to me?

No, auto biographies have never appealed to me actually... I think it is the magic of taking something real and fictionalising it to be as exciting as I want that I really love (probably why I mainly write fantasy!)
Original post by Queen Cersei
Yeah, it is really demoralising when you lose momentum with your schedule. Doing a Master's massively forced me to write to a deadline but I have mixed feelings about this as although I produced results I also feel this stunted my creativity. I would love to read some of your stuff if you wanted to send a chapter over to me?

No, auto biographies have never appealed to me actually... I think it is the magic of taking something real and fictionalising it to be as exciting as I want that I really love (probably why I mainly write fantasy!)


Unfortunately I destroy everything as soon as I decide it isn't good enough. I once tore up my entire pad of poetry in a lesson when I decided they were all awful (which they were). It's a horrible habit as it leaves no room for reflection but as I'm usually not entirely sober when I write (in the spirit of Behan, a drinker with a writing problem [:tongue:]) I am also somewhat volatile. I've not actually written anything (or tried to, to be accurate) at all this year which is a shame. Hopefully at the end of November I might have something for you :biggrin:

This conversation has reminded me of a book I made when I was perhaps 5 which I titled "Rainbowman". I used card to make the pages, drew pictures on pieces of white paper to stick above the writing, which was on meticulously drawn lines on the bottom half of each page. I then punched holes in each and connected it all with tags before decorating the cover and writing a blurb. I hadn't thought about that for years. Being creative is so positive, I think so many of us lose sight of that as we get older. :moon:

Ah fair enough. I'm a really big (auto)biography fan myself but I understand your position :h:

What made you choose your particular course over the various others available?
Original post by ByronicHero
Unfortunately I destroy everything as soon as I decide it isn't good enough. I once tore up my entire pad of poetry in a lesson when I decided they were all awful (which they were). It's a horrible habit as it leaves no room for reflection but as I'm usually not entirely sober when I write (in the spirit of Behan, a drinker with a writing problem [:tongue:]) I am also somewhat volatile. I've not actually written anything (or tried to, to be accurate) at all this year which is a shame. Hopefully at the end of November I might have something for you :biggrin:

This conversation has reminded me of a book I made when I was perhaps 5 which I titled "Rainbowman". I used card to make the pages, drew pictures on pieces of white paper to stick above the writing, which was on meticulously drawn lines on the bottom half of each page. I then punched holes in each and connected it all with tags before decorating the cover and writing a blurb. I hadn't thought about that for years. Being creative is so positive, I think so many of us lose sight of that as we get older. :moon:

Ah fair enough. I'm a really big (auto)biography fan myself but I understand your position :h:

What made you choose your particular course over the various others available?


Nooooooooooooo!!! I can't believe you destroy it! I have stories I wrote in primary school still! Have you tried many creative writing exercise books as I could recommend some really good ones? To be fair one of my tutors was all for throwing away the crap to leave room for good pieces of writing but I always think it could be the start of something great potentially...
What is your fave autobiography then? I might be willing to give one a go!
I studied an English BA and took all the creative writing modules I possibly could as I originally wanted to do a combined course but it wasn't available and I also did a creative writing diss for my BA and I was put forward for the MA by one of my tutors who really encouraged me to go for it and I am so glad I did!
i am Special Forces and want to write best selling novels based on my experiences. what would be a good nom de plume for me ?

Nigel de Vere Anstruther
Original post by Queen Cersei
Nooooooooooooo!!! I can't believe you destroy it! I have stories I wrote in primary school still! Have you tried many creative writing exercise books as I could recommend some really good ones? To be fair one of my tutors was all for throwing away the crap to leave room for good pieces of writing but I always think it could be the start of something great potentially...
What is your fave autobiography then? I might be willing to give one a go!
I studied an English BA and took all the creative writing modules I possibly could as I originally wanted to do a combined course but it wasn't available and I also did a creative writing diss for my BA and I was put forward for the MA by one of my tutors who really encouraged me to go for it and I am so glad I did!


I've not. I did have various books on journalistic writing and the like but I think I have given those away by now (thankfully). Very different of course.

Hmm, I'm not sure really. I've enjoyed a couple which are fairly esoteric so wouldn't recommend them to anyone who wouldn't already be likely to read them. I have to say I did really enjoy Tony Blair's, but my favourites are probably Stephen Fry's (I don't know anyone who didn't enjoy them). Hitch-22 is also interesting, but isn't really an autobiography. Really, the best approach is likely to be to just choose someone you like/admire and read theirs. :dontknow:

Oh so it was more of a natural progression at the same university. I'm glad it worked out for you. :smile:
Reply 18
Original post by Queen Cersei
Have you tried many creative writing exercise books as I could recommend some really good ones?


What sort of creative writing exercises do you do? I've been using some websites recently for prompts so am curious.
I've mainly been writing random stuff - not so much a story, but just little paragraphs to try and work on my writing style.
Going to write a book? :smile:

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