MA Professional Writing – (M.A.)

The course has built a strong reputation for giving talented writers the focused skills and knowledge they need to make successful careers in many different areas of the media industry. It can be studied full-time over a year or part-time / online over two years.

It starts by introducing the core skills needed by all professional writers - techniques to structure your ideas, develop different kinds of narrative, edit and critique your own work and that of others. You´ll then focus on developing more specialist skills, choosing from options including Feature Writing, Writing the Novel, Writing Non-Fiction, Scriptwriting and Writing Creatively for Business.

For your final MA project you'll complete a longer piece of work, which might be - depending on your chosen specialism - a TV script, part of a fiction or non-fiction book, or a substantial piece of writing for a business context. This part of the course is individually negotiated so that you can shape it according to your needs and aspirations, with the possibility for part-time students to develop projects relevant to their roles at work.

Throughout the course you'll be helped and encouraged to develop an understanding of the writing industry, together a with high-calibre portfolio of your own work and the confidence and presentational skills to market it effectively.

The course is taught entirely by practising writers through a mix of seminars, workshops and collaborative writing/editorial projects. Whether you´re a full-time or part-time student, you´ll have opportunities to contribute to team projects such as the award-winning online magazine

A bespoke Virtual Learning Environment enables part-time students to interact fully with peers and tutors, giving access to an extensive array of online resources including lectures, guides to particular aspects of writing and professional practice, critiquing forums, research resources and video talks by writers, publishers and literary agents at the forefront of their professions.

Visiting speakers have included: novelists John le Carré, Patrick Gale and Robert Goddard; BBC Controller of Drama Production and New Talent, John Yorke; award-winning travel writer Philip Marsden, literary agents Mark Lucas and Lesley Thorne; former editor of The Face and acclaimed non-fiction author Richard Benson; prolific broadsheet journalists Gill Charlton and Oliver Bennett; and TV/radio writer Paul Dodgson.

How is the course structured?Full-timeThe full-time MA course runs over 45 weeks, October to September. In the first part of the course you take two units that focus on developing core writing skills across a range of formats. You then take two specialist options from a selection that includes fiction, non-fiction, scriptwriting, features writing and writing creatively for business. These enable you to focus on your strengths and career aspirations and to start building a portfolio that demonstrates your abilities.You also take a unit focusing on research skills and another that introduces you to key aspects of the content industry and how to operate professionally within it. As you progress, you´ll develop a proposal for a longer piece of writing in consultation with course tutors.This proposal will form the basis for the independent MA project that you undertake over the summer months.Part-timeIf you want to develop your writing but don´t want to quit the day job, relocate or give up other commitments, then the part-time option could be for you. The part-time course is delivered via distance learning, over 90 weeks. Part-time students follow basically the same syllabus as full-time ones, but take two units focusing on one specialist form of writing rather than two units in different specialisms. Students who wish to develop projects related to their current employment or in order to change career path will be able to do so. A specially designed Virtual Learning Environment allows part-time students to take part in seminars, workshops and tutorials with tutors and fellow students, and to participate in team-based writing and editorial projects. CareersThere have never been so many opportunities for professional writers. Recent MA Professional Writing graduates are working as magazine and book editors, freelance features journalists, web content writers, TV scriptwriters, authors, and in public relations and corporate communications.