BA (Hons) Creative Writing (Online) (2024)

On this course, you’ll learn to draw inspiration from the world around you, and existing literature, in order to develop your own voice. Through a range of exciting projects, conducted online, you’ll explore the whole writing process – from ideas generation to final draft. A career in creative writing could see you working in publishing, literary agencies, freelance writing, or in education – and that’s just the start. Whether you want to create prose, scripts, poetry or non-fiction, we’ll offer you an insight into the writing and publishing industries in order to help you with the next stage of your career.

With online talks from published writers and industry professionals, you’ll be able to network and build contacts. When you graduate, you’ll have a strong portfolio and a professional network to kickstart your career.

* £100 recurring annual costs for associated course materials should be considered.

Varying costs – optional face-to-face events (one annual on campus event).

All undergraduate courses at AUB offer an optional placement year, to be taken between your second and third years of study.

If you’re unsure about this optional placement, you don’t need to decide now. Once you’re here and studying with us, the course team will discuss the placement options with you, so when the time comes, you can make a decision that’s right for you.

If you’re required to have a Student Visa to study in the UK, it won’t be possible to undertake the one-year placement option; there’ll be other opportunities for you to engage with industry during your study at AUB.

The first year allows you to experience different areas of Creative Writing, providing you with a toolkit of fundamental creative and academic skills. Facilitated by staff and industry professionals, a dynamic series of online workshops, recorded lectures, online tutorials, and seminars, are designed to build your competency and help you to hone your craft.

At this stage you’ll try everything: Fiction, Poetry, Scriptwriting and Creative Non-Fiction, before you specialise in your chosen area. You'll read widely throughout this level, gaining a solid knowledge of other writers and their work, and an understanding of how this research can impact on your own creative practice.

At the core of the course experience will be online writing workshops, and activities that provide a safe environment for you to share your work with lecturers and peers, gaining invaluable constructive feedback. These workshops will build confidence in sharing your work with your peers and developing strategies for giving and receiving feedback online.

Modules

• The Writing Life 1: A Writer’s Toolkit
• Fundamentals 1: Story
• Fundamentals 2: Your Writing Voice

The second year encourages you to apply your developing skills, equipping you with strategies for pushing boundaries and exploring where you want to take your writing and your stories. There’s a lot of creative freedom here – you can specialise in one area or mix and match, depending on your interests.

You’ll begin to look at the different platforms available for writers including online, in the community, in publication, and/or in production/performance. This will help give you a solid understanding of where writing can take you in the future. This process will also help you develop industry links and networks and a clear understanding of different publishing options and routes including traditional, independent, and self-publishing. You'll actively explore the mechanics of being a professional writer, developing knowledge in the areas of self-promotion, marketing and managing finances – all transferable and employable skills for the future.

Modules

• The Writing Life 2: Writing and Community
• Option 1: Developments in Screenwriting
• Option 2: Beyond Boundaries
• Platforms

You'll enter your third year looking to further strengthen your professional networks introduced at Level 5 through further unique experiences such as our mentorship programme where you’re paired with a practising writer in your chosen field. This programme allows you to develop your work closely with an industry expert, seeking their guidance and advice.

To conclude the year, you'll work on an extended project in your chosen area of interest meaning you’ll leave us with a substantial body of creative work ready to send out to publishers, agents, and/or production companies.

Modules

• The Writing Life 3: Craft
• The Writer as Researcher
• Final Major Project

Teaching will be online and largely delivered through lectures, seminars andworkshops, supplemented by individual and group tutorials; some of this will bepre-recorded, some will be live-streamed. In consultation with the CourseLeader, the teaching team is responsible for co-ordinating individual units ofstudy, and for selecting appropriate methods of delivery according to subjectmatter and student experience. Level 4 provides you with an introduction to keywriting and academic skills through the ‘Fundamentals’ series, whilst Levels 5and 6 see a progression towards more independent learning and greater autonomyover projects and areas of interest.

At the core of the course experience will be writing workshops that providesafe environments for you to share your work with lecturers and peers, gaininginvaluable constructive feedback. This is an essential part of the writing process,and you will be encouraged to translate the feedback into your practice throughediting and redrafting, whilst also offering generous and critical feedback toothers. The course aims to foster critically reflective writers and the workshopprovides an excellent opportunity to develop these skills. This aspect of thecourse will utilise our state-of-the-art digital learning environment, Canvas.

The online nature of this course gives you increased ownership of your studies. Recorded lectures and content can be accessed in your own time around existing life and/or work commitments. You will get support in how to best use your independent study time, through completing curricular and extra-curricular projects, weekly writing tasks, and guided online activities.

Throughout the course you will receive opportunities for tailored academic support from your online tutors, unit leaders, and the course leader. There is also academic support available through our library, Study Skills and English for Academic Purposes teams – all available through online tutorials and email.

For every unit of your course, we will inform you of what you are expected to learn, what you have to submit, how your work will be assessed, and the deadlines for submitting your work for assessment. There are three assessment points per year, one per term.