Three years ago, I started out on a part-time BA in Creative Writing. This was an accelerated course, meaning a minimum of 37 hours of work per week and no summer break.
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| credit: Chris Spiegl, Unsplash |
While that's a lot to take on when you work full-time, the course seemed to be exactly what I was after. It was structured for personal development as a writer and to explore subjects, genres and formats I would otherwise not consider.
Some of the things I've written over the three years include:
- Fantasy
- Magical Realism
- Creative non-fiction
- Podcast scripts
- Evergreen blog posts
- Poetry for Performance (and performing it!)
- Comedy scripts
- Writing for theatre
- Interactive fiction
- RPG game
- Romantic Comedy
- Screenplay for an animated movie (partial)
- Screenplay for a sitcom (full).
- Screenplay for a drama (full).
One thing I did enjoy was writing for film and TV. Initially, the strict formatting and strange headings (INT. CAFE - DAY) were completely alien but once I realised the creative element of scriptwriting, I found them fascinating.
I began reading scripts. Lots of scripts. Loads of scripts. And I started writing too - not just for Uni assignments, but for my own writing pleasure. I bought some decent screenwriting software (Fade In Pro) and dove in. I wrote a couple of sitcoms and some drama and decided to continue with Screenwriting for my final portfolio.
The result was a 45 minute drama set in Sunderland. Along with that, part of the final assignment is Market Research and to write a query letter so that, at the end of the course, I've got something ready to go.
Looking back on the three years, was it worth it? Definitely. I feel like I've evolved as a writer and have a bunch of projects buzzing in the back of my mind to get going. This is where the course is a little odd, in that the point of the final project is to focus on what you want to do from this point on. But for me, I feel like I've only scratched the surface of a bunch of things that I want to explore further. Screenwriting is definitely on the list. I've loved that, but also RPG for interactive fiction (something I've got ticking away in the background), podcasting, scripting for YouTube and stand-up comedy.
But I've also missed writing longer form work. Writing novels is something I've loved since I was a kid, and is something I'm definitely going to continue with. There is something about the complexities and depth and sheer fun of writing a novel that still gives me a buzz. I've also taken a much deeper dive into the world of Indie Publishing and have a road-map of what I would do if I was ever start again from scratch, because, let's face it. My current backlist is like a pick'n'mix shop.
But there was another aspect to doing this degree. Something I haven't shared just yet. I'm still thinking that one over.
But in the meantime, I'm going to sit back, enjoy the time not having to worry about citations and references and grades, read a lot more, watch a bit more TV, a bit more theatre and see what happens next.
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