It’s been talked about for a while now (about five years if I remember rightly), but it’s finally here: the Open University is launching its Creative Writing MA Programme. Now before you get yourselves all excited, the programme doesn’t start until October, but if you want to make the first cut then you’ll need to start thinking about it now; I reckon they’re going to be swamped with applications. I actually started my journey with the Open University when I enrolled on the Creative Writing short course (A215 for those who like the numbers).
I’d been dabbling for a few months beforehand, but I can honestly say that it was the course that actually taught me how to write. Everything after that has really been about honing my edge. If you’re thinking about enrolling then I can assure you that it will be the toughest path to a degree you can possibly imagine: it’ll call on reserves of discipline that you did not know you had: coming in from a crap day at the office and then a hideous journey home (the wrong kind of snow; too many leaves on the line; the rails warping under the heat – could someone please tell me exactly where in the galaxy British trains were designed to run). You flop down in front of Breaking Bad and then realise you have a piece of work due in tomorrow… Ah, there’s no feeling like it.
But an OU degree will be one of the most fulfilling and rewarding journeys you will ever undertake, and if I didn’t already have an MA in Creative Writing then I’d be all over this (hell, I might not have even told you about it to stoke my chances of getting a place!). Have a look, have a think. It’s not for everyone, but it might be for you…
Stumbled across this MA last night and registered straight away. I’ve been waiting so long for the OU to do this that I had given up hope so I was pleasantly surprised to find it. Hope application process is as simple as the other OU courses? Like you my first OU course was a creative writing one and I totally loved it. Went on to do a Diploma in Literature and Creative Writing and a BSc (Hons) Open degree focusing on English Language and Sociology. So excited by this! Had to turn down Masters courses at brick unis over the years due to illness so I’m ecstatic at potentially being able to do one at home.x