A creative writing experience (The Plymouth trilogy)

The great thing is that the programme covers everything, so it’s really open to you as to what you write about.

The format of the course is really great, purely because you’re constantly in a workshop environment, so you’re working with people you do and you don’t know. You get feedback from them. You give feedback. It’s constantly developing your work.

The support from lecturers is just a really great network. You’re constantly able to contact them, whether it’s through email or your personal tutoring hours.

Creative writing has enabled me to write about anything and everything. The possibilities are endless, which I believe is exactly how writing should be. 

This diversity inspired me to further my studies and I am now a MA Creative Writing student at Plymouth.

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Olivia Humphrey, BA (Hons) English and Creative Writing

I came across the MA programme at Plymouth almost by chance. At the time I was looking for a new challenge.

At the beginning I was unsure of myself as a writer. I’d never studied creative writing academically before and I’d never shared my writing with others. 

The first time I handed my work over to the rest of the class to critique was scary, but the experience proved incredibly valuable. These workshop sessions were always informal with encouraging tutors. I was able to explore how I wrote and develop my skills. They gave me the confidence to push against my boundaries.

I had always thought of myself as a writer of long-form fiction, of novels. Now, I write poetry, creative non-fiction, dramatic writing.

My confidence as a writer continued to grow throughout the course and encouraged me to further pursue creative writing academically. I’m now in my first year of a creative writing PhD at Plymouth, continuing the research I began during the MA.
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Katherine Glew, MA Creative Writing

I’ve been interested in writing since I can remember. As a teenager I veered more towards poetry and that’s where my interest lay in my degree. It was during the MA that I actually became interested in fiction writing.

The best part of the programme for me was actually being taught and instructed by professionals in the field. By writers who actually produced their own novels.

Studying led me to write my first novella, The Art of Kozu. A work that went on to win the Manchester Metropolitan Novella Award in 2014.

Taking this interest award forward, I’m now in the finishing stages of writing my first full-length novel as part of my PhD. 

This is not an easy task but I’ve received phenomenal support and encouragement from the staff here and this kind of help has allowed me to produce a body of work that I’m very proud of.
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Jamie Edgcombe, PhD Creative Writing