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The Best Online Creative Writing Courses: 12 Things to Look For

Sean Glatch  |  April 11, 2024  |  Leave a Comment

Are you looking for the best online creative writing courses? You may have found some promising classes online, but you may also be unsure if the course is actually good. How can you know you’ll benefit from the course without spending your money first?

The good news is, there are creative writing courses out there for everyone, and they’re sure to improve your writing. Even better news, the best online creative writing courses share many of the same qualities.

If you want to learn how to write creatively, or if you simply want to improve your everyday writing, the best online creative writing courses can transform your writing abilities. Let’s explore what you might learn in creative writing classes, and how they help writers of all skill levels.

The Best Online Creative Writing Courses: Contents

What do you do in a creative writing class?

• Reputable Instructor
• Clear Course Description
• Promise of a Great Experience
• Constructive Feedback
• Focus on Craft
• Respect Your Creative Autonomy
• A Writing Community
• Motivate You to Write
• Jumpstart a Writing Habit
• Broaden Your Literary Horizons
• Offer a Healthy Creative Outlet
• Give You Next Steps

How to Make the Most of Online Creative Writing Courses

Every online creative writing class is unique, and different courses emphasize different things. We have classes that are entirely generative, meaning the focus is on writing new poems, essays, stories, or making headway into a novel or memoir project. Other courses might have more of a workshop component, in which you share your work with the class and receive feedback on how to improve your writing.

Some online writing courses also focus on specific skills or types of writing. You might take a class focused entirely on learning the tools for revision, or on learning the elements of fiction writing so you can later employ them in a story or novel.

In short, the best online writing courses typically include the following:

• Lectures and discussions on a topic of creative writing craft.
• Assignments that help you generate new work or revise old work.
• Opportunities to give and receive feedback with your fellow classmates.
• Feedback on your work from the instructor, who themselves is a successfully published author of the type of writing you’re producing.
• A weekly video call. Some courses, including ours, are entirely text-based and asynchronous, but many classes meet at least once a week on Zoom.

In addition to all of this, you will make new friends and connections in the best online creative writing classes. Writing is often a lonely experience for writers, and the bonds you make in creative writing workshops can last a lifetime.

12 Things to Look For In the Best Online Creative Writing Courses

The best online creative writing courses will sharpen your writing skills, help you find your confidence, and introduce you to new communities of writers. How do they do it? Here’s 12 things to look for to make sure you’re spending your money on the right online writing class. 

1. The Best Online Creative Writing Courses Have a Reputable Instructor

Your course is only as good as the instructor who teaches it. For online writing classes to teach you the craft, they need to have reputable, trustworthy instructors. A great instructor will also be empathetic, community-oriented, adaptive to your writing needs, and a great writer themselves.

A great instructor will also be empathetic, community-oriented, adaptive to your writing needs, and a great writer themselves.

Do some research on the course instructor: they should have a terminal degree in their field (M.A., M.F.A., Ph.D., etc.), as well as a significant publication history. A reputable instructor will make all the difference in your course: as part of their education, the instructor should have undergone dozens of writing workshops, submitted to countless literary journals, and had their work scrutinized by critics and book lovers alike.

In order for an instructor to help you develop your creative writing skills, they need to be successful on their own. The best instructors are what make the best online creative writing courses.

2. The Best Online Creative Writing Classes Have a Clear Course Description

What does the course teach you, and what will you learn week by week? In addition to listing a reputable instructor, the course description should tell you exactly what you’ll gain from taking the course.

In addition to listing a reputable instructor, the course description should tell you exactly what you’ll gain from taking the course.

Be sure you know exactly what you’re getting out of your online creative writing course, including what you might learn and write in the process. Consider what will help you the most as you embark on your writing journey: entering a course with certain goals or learning objectives will help you make the most of the course’s lectures and writing assignments.

There should be no ambiguity: if you’re paying for the course, you deserve to know exactly what you’re paying for. And, if you have questions, ask the program administrator before you enroll. They should be happy to hear from you!

3. The Best Online Creative Writing Classes Promise a Great Experience

The best online creative writing courses prioritize one thing: YOU! Your learning, your goals, and your writing should be at the center of your experience. And, your course should guarantee that experience.

The best online creative writing courses prioritize your learning, your goals, and your writing.

Creative writing classes can be a risk, since they probably won’t confer university credit and you probably haven’t interacted with that instructor before. You want to be confident that your learning is guaranteed, otherwise you’ll only waste your time, money, and creativity.

Before you enroll in an online writing course, look to see if the program administrators have a student promise . Your experience in the course should be the number one priority of the instructor and administrators; otherwise, you’re better off looking elsewhere for the best online creative writing courses.

4. The Best Online Creative Writing Courses Offer Constructive Feedback

In addition to useful lectures and assignments, creative writing courses give you access to helpful, instructional feedback. Most instructors hold Masters or Doctoral degrees in English or creative writing and, as a result, they have ample knowledge of what works in literature, as well as tons of experience in giving feedback.

Creative writing courses give you access to helpful, instructional feedback.

In the best online creative writing classes, an instructor will both inspire you to write and guide you towards being a better writer. Their feedback will cover the many aspects of great writing. For example, your instructor might comment on:

• Unclear language
• Ideas that need to be expanded
• Sentences that are too wordy or passive
• Opportunities to use more engaging vocabulary
• Places to improve writing structure
• Grammar and spelling corrections

Finally, an instructor will tell you what you are already doing well in your writing. When you write a really great metaphor , use interesting word choice, or find a moment of great insight, your instructor will tell you—highlighting the creative writing skills you have already mastered.

5. The Best Online Creative Writing Courses Focus on Craft

You might be wondering how creative writing classes are different from high school English. The big difference is that, where a typical English class focuses on basic grammar and literacy skills, creative writing classes focus specifically on craft.

Creative writing classes focus specifically on craft: the elements of language and storytelling that make a work of prose or poetry successful.

What is creative writing craft? Craft involves the elements of language and storytelling that make a work of prose or poetry successful. Focusing on craft is how creative writing classes primarily improve your writing.

Your writing class might focus on the structure of a short story, the different types of literary devices , the importance of effective word choice , or the elements of storytelling . A writing class should break down successful works of literature into the components that make it work, giving you the tools to practice your own creative writing skills.

Additionally, craft-focused writing helps you with everyday writing. From improving your vocabulary to structuring an email, the creative writing practice translates to improved writing in every aspect of your life.

6. The Best Online Creative Writing Classes Respect Your Creative Autonomy

One of the benefits of creative writing classes is the perspective you get from different writers. No two writers are working on the same projects, and in your course, you’re likely to work with students of different genres and writing styles.

your creative authority should be respected no matter how new you are to creative writing.

With so many different writing philosophies in one class, the new ideas you encounter can help strengthen your own writing. But in the worst-case scenario, a student or instructor might try to force their writing philosophy onto you. This is always unfair, as there is no one-size-fits-all writing advice, your creative authority should be respected no matter how new you are to creative writing .

For example, let’s say you’re writing a poem about your childhood cat, and the instructor thinks it should be a poem about your experiences growing up. No matter how many times you explain you want this poem to be about your cat, the instructor keeps telling you to write more about your childhood. By ignoring your goals for the poem, the instructor is not respecting your creative autonomy, because they think they know your writing needs better than you do.

No matter where you are in your writing journey, you are a writer, and you deserve respect and compassion as such. Every writer is on a constant journey of growth and discovery; your instructor and course should acknowledge and respect that. In your course, you will encounter many different ideas, but you should also encounter the freedom to accept or reject those ideas. It’s your writing: you get the final say!

7. The Best Online Creative Writing Courses Foster a Writing Community

A creative writing course fosters a creative writing community . This community gives you the motivation to create, as it creates a safe environment to experiment, take risks, and grow in your writing practice.

A writing community gives you the motivation to create, as it creates a safe environment to experiment, take risks, and grow in your writing practice.

For even the most solitary of writers, writing doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Participating in a community of word enthusiasts can jog your creativity and give you useful feedback on your work. Additionally, the feedback you provide other writers in the community also helps you learn. It’s a self-fulfilling, self-sustaining process, where members of a writing group can continuously grow, improve, and fine-tune their love of the craft.

In fact, well-known authors throughout history have been a part of valuable writing communities, such as The Beat Poets, Stratford-on-Odeon, and other famous writing groups .

When you enroll in creative writing classes, you also take part in a writing community. Foster relationships, make new writing friends, and forge your own writing group—it may one day be famous, too!

8. The Best Online Creative Writing Classes Motivate You to Write

Writing is a skill that you can only develop through practice. For anyone just starting on our writing journeys, the best online creative writing classes keep you motivated and accountable.

The best online creative writing classes keep you motivated and accountable.

Every instructor works differently, but you can expect the following in a creative writing class:

• Creative writing prompts
• Daily journaling assignments
• Helpful revisions
• Inspirational readings
• Ideas to combat writer’s block
• Different opinions on how to write creatively

Some courses are even designed to motivate you, such as our course Write Your Novel! The Workshop With Jack . Sometimes, the biggest struggle is simply to begin, and creative writing courses help you do that.

9. The Best Online Creative Writing Classes Jumpstart a Writing Habit

The best online creative writing courses will get you into a writing habit. By combining lectures with thought-provoking assignments, one of the primary goals of a writing course is simply to get you writing.

You’ll gain the most from your creative writing courses if you block out the time to write every day.

To make the most of your creative writing classes, try to find time to write every day. It’s best to write at the same time every day, but if your schedule doesn’t allow this, sneak time where you can.

Here are some ways you can steal time as a writer:

• Journal for 15 minutes before you go to bed.
• Write while you wake up with your morning breakfast or coffee.
• Keep a journal on your phone during work and lunch breaks.
• Write on your commute to and from work. If you’re driving, consider keeping an audio journal, where you write by speaking into your phone’s recording device.
• Write on your phone while running on the treadmill.
• Put pen to paper while taking a bath.

These ideas won’t work for everyone, and it all depends on your schedule and lifestyle. Nonetheless, you’ll gain the most from your creative writing courses if you block out the time to write every day, no matter how brief that time is. And, your course should help you find the time to write!

10. The Best Online Creative Writing Courses Broaden Your Literary Horizons

You need to read great writing to produce great writing. The best online creative writing courses will introduce you to great literature, giving you additional opportunities to explore the writing craft.

The best online creative writing courses will introduce you to great literature, giving you additional opportunities to explore the writing craft.

In creative writing classes, you might read both classic and contemporary literature. As writers, it’s good to have knowledge of both worlds. Classic literature introduces you to the bedrock of modern writing, including the devices and rhetorical strategies that make for effective poetry and prose.

Contemporary literature, on the other hand, gives you a glimpse into today’s literary zeitgeist. It’s important to understand today’s publishing landscape and the type of work that’s being published, even if you don’t intend to write like contemporary authors.

In fact, it’s better if you don’t try to write like anyone else! Reading other writers shows you what works in literature and what doesn’t, giving you opportunities to experiment with form and style. But, at the end of the day, your writing is for you, not for publishers or particular writing schools.

Use your creative writing classes as opportunities to explore literature, experiment with words, and discover what you’d like to write yourself.

11. The Best Online Creative Writing Classes Offer a Healthy Creative Outlet

Creative writing classes offer a healthy outlet for your creativity and emotions.

A healthy writing space can supplement your emotional health and wellbeing.

How is that so? With a space to put thoughts to paper, many writers inevitably reach breakthroughs about their own feelings and experiences. This is true regardless of whether you write poetry, fiction, plays, articles, or creative nonfiction.

Now, even the best online creative writing courses can’t replace the benefits of therapy. But, a healthy writing space can certainly supplement your emotional health and wellbeing. Between the prompts, community, and writing habits that a creative writing class fosters, you’re sure to come away from your course with renewed emotional health.

12. The Best Online Creative Writing Courses Give You Next Steps

Your education doesn’t end at the end of your course. If anything, the best online creative writing courses are only the beginning of your writing journey!

The best online creative writing courses are only the beginning of your writing journey!

The best online creative writing courses give you opportunities for continuous growth. Those opportunities can take many forms, such as: a list of literary journals to submit to, further readings on a topic of interest, future creative writing classes, or even simply the instructor’s email.

If you’re ready to move on to the next level of your career, your instructor should provide you with next steps. And if you crave more learning, ask the instructor!

A creative writing course is much like life: the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. Being an active participant will teach you as much about creative writing as the instructor will, because engaging with language is how you grow as a writer. Actively working with suggestions and ideas, keeping a daily writing practice, and offering other students constructive feedback will all boost your creative writing skills.

A creative writing course is much like life: the more you put into it, the more you get out of it.

Additionally, do your research before you enroll in the course, or you might end up taking a class that isn’t suited to your needs. Look up the instructor for the course, their teaching style and previous publications, and how much experience they have as a writing coach. If they don’t seem well suited towards your learning style, they might develop your creative writing skills, and they won’t be worth the cost.

Find the Best Online Creative Writing Courses at Writers.com!

Are you looking for a writing community? Are you ready to get writing? Check out some of the upcoming courses at Writers.com , the oldest creative writing school on the internet.

Sean Glatch

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At The Write Practice, we believe that everyone  can become a published author and share their writing with the world through deliberate practice. But what is deliberate practice though? 

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Earning A Master’s In Creative Writing: What To Know

Updated: Nov 1, 2023, 1:51pm

Do you want to create written work that ignites a reader’s imagination and even changes their worldview? With a master’s in creative writing, you can develop strong storytelling and character development skills, equipping you to achieve your writing goals.

If you’re ready to strengthen your writing chops and you enjoy writing original works to inspire others, tell interesting stories and share valuable information, earning a master’s in creative writing may be the next step on your career journey.

The skills learned in a creative writing master’s program qualify you to write your own literary works, teach others creative writing principles or pursue various other careers.

This article explores master’s degrees in creative writing, including common courses and concentrations, admission requirements and careers that use creative writing skills. Read on to learn more about earning a master’s degree in creative writing.

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What Is a Master’s in Creative Writing?

A master’s in creative writing is an advanced degree that helps you develop the skills to write your own novel, poetry, screenplay or nonfiction book. This degree can also prepare you for a career in business, publishing, education, marketing or communications.

In a creative writing master’s degree program, you can expect to analyze literature, explore historical contexts of literary works, master techniques for revising and editing, engage in class workshops and peer critiques, and write your own original work.

Creative writing master’s programs usually require a thesis project, which should be well-written, polished and ready to publish. Typical examples of thesis projects include poetry collections, memoirs, essay collections, short story collections and novels.

A master’s in creative writing typically requires about 36 credits and takes two years to complete. Credit requirements and timelines vary by program, so you may be able to finish your degree quicker.

Specializations for a Master’s in Creative Writing

Below are a few common concentrations for creative writing master’s programs. These vary by school, so your program’s offerings may look different.

This concentration helps you develop fiction writing skills, such as plot development, character creation and world-building. A fiction concentration is a good option if you plan to write short stories, novels or other types of fiction.

A nonfiction concentration focuses on the mechanics of writing nonfiction narratives. If you plan to write memoirs, travel pieces, magazine articles, technical documents or nonfiction books, this concentration may suit you.

Explore the imagery, tone, rhythm and structure of poetry with a poetry concentration. With this concentration, you can expect to develop your poetry writing skills and learn to curate poetry for journals and magazines.

Screenwriting

Screenwriting is an excellent concentration to explore if you enjoy creating characters and telling stories to make them come alive for television or film. This specialization covers how to write shorts, episodic serials, documentaries and feature-length film scripts.

Admission Requirements for a Master’s in Creative Writing

Below are some typical admission requirements for master’s in creative writing degree programs. These requirements vary, so check with your program to ensure you’ve met the appropriate requirements.

• Application for admission
• Bachelor’s degree from an accredited institution
• Transcripts from previous education
• Writing samples
• Letters of recommendation
• Personal statement or essay

Common Courses in a Master’s in Creative Writing

Story and concept.

This course focuses on conceptualizing, planning and developing stories on a structural level. Learners study how to generate ideas, develop interesting plots, create outlines, draft plot arcs, engage in world-building and create well-rounded characters who move their stories forward.

Graduate Studies in English Literature

Understanding literature is essential to building a career in creative writing. This course prepares you to teach, study literature or write professionally. Expect to discuss topics such as phonology, semantics, dialects, syntax and the history of the English language.

Workshop in Creative Nonfiction

You’ll study classic and contemporary creative nonfiction in this course. Workshops in creative nonfiction explore how different genres have emerged throughout history and how previous works influence new works. In some programs, this course focuses on a specific theme.

Foundations in Fiction

In this course, you’ll explore how the novel has developed throughout literary history and how the short story emerged as an art form. Coursework includes reading classic and contemporary works, writing response essays and crafting critical analyses.

MA in Creative Writing vs. MFA in Creative Writing: What’s the Difference?

While the degrees are similar, a master of arts in creative writing is different from a master of fine arts in creative writing. An MA in creative writing teaches creative writing competencies, building analytical skills through studying literature, literary theory and related topics. This lets you explore storytelling along with a more profound knowledge of literature and literary theory.

If you want your education to take a more academic perspective so you can build a career in one of many fields related to writing, an MA in creative writing may be right for you.

An MFA prepares you to work as a professional writer or novelist. MFA students graduate with a completed manuscript that is ready for publishing. Coursework highlights subjects related to the business of writing, such as digital publishing, the importance of building a platform on social media , marketing, freelancing and teaching. An MA in creative writing also takes less time and requires fewer credits than an MFA.

If you want to understand the business of writing and work as a professional author or novelist, earning an MFA in creative writing might be your best option.

What Can You Do With a Master’s in Creative Writing?

Below are several careers you can pursue with a master’s in creative writing. We sourced salary data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Postsecondary Creative Writing Teacher

Median Annual Salary: $74,280 Minimum Required Education: Ph.D. or another doctoral degree; master’s degree may be accepted at some schools and community colleges Job Overview: Postsecondary teachers, also known as professors or faculty, teach students at the college level. They plan lessons, advise students, serve on committees, conduct research, publish original research, supervise graduate teaching assistants, apply for grants for their research and teach subjects in their areas of expertise.

Median Annual Salary: $73,080 Minimum Required Education: Bachelor’s degree in English or a related field Job Overview: Editors plan, revise and edit written materials for publication. They work for newspapers, magazines, book publishers, advertising agencies, media networks, and motion picture and video production companies. Editors work closely with writers to ensure their written work is accurate, grammatically correct and written in the appropriate style for the medium.

Median Annual Salary: $55,960 Minimum Required Education: Bachelor’s degree in journalism or a related field Job Overview: Journalists research and write stories about local, regional, national and global current events and other newsworthy subjects. Journalists need strong interviewing, editing, analytical and writing skills. Some journalists specialize in a subject, such as sports or politics, and some are generalists. They work for news organizations, magazines and online publications, and some work as freelancers.

Writer or Author

Median Annual Salary: $73,150 Minimum Required Education: None; bachelor’s degree in creative writing or a related field sometimes preferred Job Overview: Writers and authors write fiction or nonfiction content for magazines, plays, blogs, books, television scripts and other forms of media. Novelists, biographers, copywriters, screenwriters and playwrights all fall into this job classification. Writers may work for advertising agencies, news platforms, book publishers and other organizations; some work as freelancers.

Technical Writer

Median Annual Salary: $79,960 Minimum Required Education: Bachelor’s degree Job Overview: Technical writers craft technical documents, such as training manuals and how-to guides. They are adept at simplifying technical information so lay people can easily understand it. Technical writers may work with technical staff, graphic designers, computer support specialists and software developers to create user-friendly finished pieces.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About a Master's in Creative Writing

Is a master’s in creative writing useful.

If your goal is to launch a career as a writer, then yes, a master’s in creative writing is useful. An MA in creative writing is a versatile degree that prepares you for various jobs requiring excellent writing skills.

Is an MFA better than an MA for creative writing?

One is not better than the other; you should choose the one that best equips you for the career you want. An MFA prepares you to build a career as a professional writer or novelist. An MA prepares you for various jobs demanding high-level writing skills.

What kind of jobs can you get with a creative writing degree?

A creative writing degree prepares you for many types of writing jobs. It helps you build your skills and gain expertise to work as an editor, writer, author, technical writer or journalist. This degree is also essential if you plan to teach writing classes at the college level.

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Sheryl Grey is a freelance writer who specializes in creating content related to education, aging and senior living, and real estate. She is also a copywriter who helps businesses grow through expert website copywriting, branding and content creation. Sheryl holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications from Indiana University South Bend, and she received her teacher certification training through Bethel University’s Transition to Teaching program.

10 Essential Lessons You’ll Learn in a Creative Writing Workshop

by Melissa Donovan | Jul 11, 2023 | Creative Writing | 9 comments

What can you learn in a creative writing workshop?

When I look back over all my years of formal education, from preschool through college, only a few classes stand out as truly educational in a life-changing way.

In sixth grade, we did a section on space, which fascinated me. I retained a lot of what I learned. Later, I took astronomy and learned even more about the universe. A class on women writers exposed me to a whole world of literature I didn’t know existed. And two writing workshops (poetry and creative writing) put me on the path to becoming a professional writer.

The main difference between a regular class and a workshop is that a workshop is interactive. You work together with your fellow students, critiquing each other’s work, asking questions, and exchanging insights. Whatever you can learn from a single instructor is multiplied by all the knowledge and wisdom you gain by sharing ideas with a roomful of your peers.

What You Can Learn from a Creative Writing Workshop

I only took one creative writing workshop, and I’m sure they are not all equal. At an accredited school, you can usually sit in on the first couple of sessions to see if a class or workshop is right for you before you commit. If you find a good workshop, you’ll reap the benefits:

1. Discover yourself and your path. One day, while sitting in creative writing workshop, I was overcome by the strangest sensation. The best way I can describe it is that I felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be. It was the moment I knew without a doubt that I would be a writer.

2. Find out what your writing strengths are. The best part about receiving critiques from your peers is that they tell you what you’re doing right, which is reassuring. When you know that your writing skills have a solid foundation, it’s easier to accept that you still have work to do.

3. Accept the weaknesses in your writing. No matter how good your writing is now, there are things you can do to improve it. When ten of your classmates agree that certain elements in your prose need touching up or that you need to hit the grammar books, all you can do is accept it and dig your heels in.

4. Learn to handle critiques of your work. The first few critiques might be a bit rough, but once you see how all the suggestions make your writing better, you’ll start looking forward to them. You’ll learn how to separate yourself from your work, and you’ll be able to not only handle but actually embrace (and look forward to) critiques. This will also prepare you for real-world critics and their reviews.

5. Help others improve their work. When other writers put your suggestions into action or express appreciation for your recommendations and then tell you that your feedback helped them improve their writing, it feels good, especially when the arrangement is reciprocal.

6. Meet people who share your passion. There’s nothing like sitting in a room surrounded by people who are just as excited about writing as you are. It’s not only inspiring, it’s comforting. Plus, it’s a great opportunity to meet like-minded people, some of whom may become lifelong friends, writing partners, or your future writing group.

7. Improve your writing. This, of course, is the main reason most people take a creative writing workshop. The ultimate goal is to become a better writer , and a workshop will definitely do the trick. You’ll also put a lot more effort into everything you write because you know it will be scrutinized, and this builds excellent writing habits .

8. Adopt new writing techniques. Between the instructor and your peers, you’ll discover all kinds of interesting new writing tools and techniques, often simply through the course of discussion as well as through observing everyone’s work.

9. Get access to a mentor. The person running the workshop should be knowledgeable and experienced in the world of writing. Maybe the instructor is a published author, or maybe it’s someone who’s worked as an agent, editor, or publisher. This access to a mentor is priceless. Take advantage of it!

10. Gain experience and get a lot of creative writing practice. This is one of the most valuable benefits of a creative writing workshop. When writers work on their own, they tend to procrastinate, get distracted, and generally don’t finish most of the projects they start. But in a workshop, you’re forced to get it done. This gives you lots of great experience and practice, and it also builds good writing habits.

Thinking About Taking a Creative Writing Workshop?

I definitely recommend taking a creative writing workshop if you can find a good one that suits your schedule, budget, and writing needs. If you’ve already taken a creative writing workshop or class, share your experiences by leaving a comment. Did you learn or gain anything? Would you do it again?

You have spoken along these lines before, Melissa, and this entry is, as all your posts, fascinating and carries a great deal of sense. However, and I know I am repeating myself, I am quite unable to allow others to trample over my work, however poor it is and however noble their (expressed) motives.

I cannot help but think of the vast number of ‘real’ writers, men and women who would not have entertained the thought that writing could be learned, like arithmetic, in a classroom.

I am a poor writer and have come to accept the fact I shall always be a poor writer; it is my belief that some things – like arithmetic – can be ‘brought to heel’ by sheer hatd work, while others, like music, painting and writing, will remain ever beyond the reach of some.

Further, I have seen very promising young tennis players taken up by organisations such as the LTA and coached, every shred of flair and originality brutally ‘ironed out’ of them, and my fear is that, for many of us, attending a writer’s workshop would be a similarly dulling experience.

I also realise, however, that there are those of a temperament to survive – and evn thrive in such conditions. Sadly, I am not one of them.

Again, my thanks for a fascinating and informative blog and may it go on to even greater success, but I think you should make it clear that not everyone who has pretensions of being a writer will see their dream come true.

I believe anyone can become a writer. It starts with believing in yourself. I would add that successful authors demonstrate a range of writing skills. Even a “poor writer” (which you are not) can eke out a career in writing. I’ve seen it done. The only way to be sure you will never succeed is to never try.

Writing can be intended for a wide audience but it’s reason for being is that the writer cannot bear not to write. Whether you are a Eudora Welty, basking in prayers se or an Ethel Jackson whose writing fills notebooks only she has seen, your work has much value

Our local university has leisure learning classes that are workshops. We not only get feedback on our work, but we also learn how to workshop a piece, looking parts of the writing process with a discerning eye. The instructors keep the focus on the work, not the author. It’s so helpful for all the reasons you mentioned, but also to learn how to look constructively at my own work before anyone else ever reads it. Being inspired by fellow writers talking about writing is my favorite part. I’m sorry that opsimath feels that way. Whose to say what’s poor writing or good writing? Of course, some is obvious, and the above comment isn’t bad writing. I found it to be well-crafted and conveyed what the author intended. Not everybody is Stephen King or F.Scott Fitzgerald, and there are some who would argue even they aren’t good writers. I had the fear that I would lose myself in critique, but even in that it’s a good exercise. One of my best lessons is that no matter what others said, it’s still my writing. I can choose to take their advice or not. Workshops are only helpful when the focus is on the work, though. It’s a criitique, not a criticism. I’ve been in bad ones and they can hurt more than help. I got out of them quick.

Yes! Everything you said is spot-on. Your experiences in workshop give all of us reason to feel optimistic about finding good writing workshops and the benefits that we’ll gain from them. Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I hope it inspires others to take the plunge and try workshopping for themselves.

You have talked thusly some time recently, Melissa, and this section is, as every one of your posts, interesting and conveys a lot of sense. On the other hand, and I know I am rehashing myself, I am very not able to permit others to trample over my work, however poor it is and however honorable their (communicated) thought processes.

I really want to think about the incomprehensible number of “genuine” essayists, men and ladies who might not have entertained the prospect that written work could be learned, similar to math, in a classroom.

I am a poor essayist and now acknowledge the actuality I should dependably be a poor author; it is my conviction that a few things – like math – can be ‘conveyed to heel’ by sheer hatd work, while others, similar to music, painting and composing, will remain ever past the compass of some.

Further, I have seen extremely encouraging youthful tennis players taken up by associations, for example, the LTA and instructed, each shred of energy and innovation mercilessly ‘resolved’ of them, and my trepidation is that, for a significant number of us, going to an author’s workshop would be an also dulling knowle

Hi Shamit. Receiving feedback and critiques is not the same as people trampling all over your work. A good critique is designed to make your writing better. If you want to be a better writer, you can certainly work toward that. It’s your choice. There are people who have a natural talent for writing. However, great writing requires a lot of different skills (grammar, storytelling, word-craft, etc.). Even the most talented writers will find some area of the craft where they need to learn skills they don’t possess. The idea that writing can’t be learned is simply not true, as evidenced by thousands upon thousands of people who worked hard to learn the craft and then became successful. The myth that talent is a requirement is an unfortunate one.

A writer is someone who writes. However, the object of writing is not necessarily to get published or make a living by writing. Read, for example, the notebooks of Thomas Edison. One of the best writers I knew was my grandmother, who maintained weekly correspondence with seven high school girlfriends for over 50 years.

That’s true, Ann. People write for many reasons and not only for professional purposes.

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English—Creative Writing Major B.A.

• Apprenticeship and internship opportunities
• Workshops with renowned authors
• Preparation for M.A. or M.F.A. programs in Creative Writing or Law School
• Preparation for careers in publishing, digital publishing, business, marketing, newspaper and magazines, government, and more
• Sphere , a literary journal run by and for undergraduates

Faculty contact: Dr. Carey Snyder

Admission Information

Degree requirements.

Major code: BA5232

The Creative Writing program offers students a range of beginning, intermediate, and advanced workshops in poetry, fiction, and nonfiction. Undergraduate Creative Writing majors will take three writing workshops of their choice, in addition to a Form & Theory course. Creative Writing majors, working closely with a distinguished core faculty of professional writers, can enrich their background in literature provided by the English major curriculum with a rigorous apprenticeship to their craft.

In addition, the program regularly invites writers to campus for residency, workshops, and readings. Each year, five eminent authors are invited to participate in the three-day Spring Literary Festival. These visits provide a unique complement to the student's workshop experience.

Many undergraduates publish their writing in Sphere (the undergraduate literary magazine), while others gain valuable editing experience. Undergraduate writers regularly organize formal and informal readings of their own work.

Undergraduate Creative Writing students have gone on to further study in M.F.A. and/or Ph.D. programs in Creative Writing. Many have gone on to publish their work.

Program Overview

In the English – Creative Writing major, students engage with genres of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from the inside out, by generating and revising their own work as well as exploring closely how published work uses the techniques of craft.

All creative writing students participate in workshops led by nationally recognized writers which focus on understanding and constructing different literary forms; to achieve these goals, workshops emphasize the study of texts by established writers as well as students’ experimentation with their own creative process. The major is also flexible enough to match your own interests and goals: students can fulfill up to 12 of the required hours in the major with courses focusing on literature, rhetoric, or literary theory, or by combining these with apprenticeship or internship experiences.

To ensure a solid foundation in the skills and knowledge that employers and graduate schools expect from any English graduate, the English – Creative Writing major includes the English Core in analysis, research, and literary history. 

Careers and Graduate School

After a curriculum that emphasizes critical thinking and analytical reading as well as multiple genres of writing, English – Creative Writing students enjoy the same wide variety of opportunity upon graduation that other English majors have.

Many of our graduates go on to graduate programs, not only M.A. or M.F.A. programs in Creative Writing but also programs in information science, education or law. Others work in publishing, web content development, grant-writing and community organizing, advertising, or other creative industries. Having invested in developing their own creativity as well as in the well-rounded education that this degree requires, English – Creative Writing students can face the unexpected challenges of the 21 st -century job market with confidence.

Potential employers for those who hold a degree in Creative Writing include, but are certainly not limited to, newspaper and magazine organizations, the entertainment industry, government agencies, institutions of higher education, public and private K-12 schools, publishing companies, marketing agencies, non-profit organizations, businesses, etc.

Browse through dozens of internship opportunities and full-time job postings for Ohio University students and alumni on Handshake , OHIO's key resource for researching jobs, employers, workshops, and professional development events.

Freshman/First-Year Admission: Enrollment in an English major entails no requirements beyond University admission requirements.

Change of Program Policy: For students currently enrolled at Ohio University, transferring into an English major requires a 2.0 GPA. Students choosing to transfer into the English – Creative Writing major should contact the director of undergraduate studies in the English department for assistance. Students who wish to add an English major in addition to another major program should seek assistance from the director of undergraduate studies; students with a second major outside the College of Arts and Sciences will be responsible for meeting the degree requirements of both the English – Creative Writing major and the College of Arts and Sciences.

External Transfer Admission: For students currently enrolled at institutions other than Ohio University, transferring into an English major entails no requirements beyond University admission requirements. Students should contact the director of undergraduate studies in the English Department for assistance.

• Major code BA5232

University-wide Graduation Requirements

To complete this program, students must meet all University-wide graduation requirements.

Liberal Arts and Sciences Distribution Requirement

View the College-Level Requirements for the College of Arts & Sciences.

English Hours Requirement

For a B.A. degree with a major in English - Creative Writing , a student must complete a total of 42 semester credit hours in ENG coursework.

Intercultural Foundations

Complete the following course:

• ENG 1100 - Crossing Cultures with Text Credit Hours: 3

Literary Reading

Complete one of the following courses:

• ENG 2010 - Introduction to Prose Fiction and Nonfiction Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 2020 - Introduction to Poetry and Drama Credit Hours: 3

British or American Literature I

• ENG 2510 - British Literature I Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 2530 - American Literature I Credit Hours: 3

British or American Literature II

• ENG 2520 - British Literature II Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 2540 - American Literature II Credit Hours: 3

Intercultural Breadth

Complete one course from the following:

• ENG 3240 - Jewish American Literature Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3250 - Women’s Literature Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3260 - Queer Literature Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3270 - Queer Rhetorics and Writing Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3370 - Black Literature to 1930 Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3380 - Ethnic American Literature Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3390 - Black Literature from 1930 to the Present Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3450 - Intercultural Adaptations Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3550 - Global Literature Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3850 - Writing About Culture and Society Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 4660 - International Authors Credit Hours: 3

Writing and Research

• ENG 3070J - Writing and Research in English Studies Credit Hours: 3

Senior Seminar

• ENG 4600 - Topics in English Studies Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 4640 - British Authors Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 4650 - American Authors Credit Hours: 3

Creative Writing Workshops

Complete three of the following workshops with at least one intermediate or advanced workshop:

• ENG 3610 - Creative Writing: Fiction Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3620 - Creative Writing: Poetry Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3630 - Creative Writing: Nonfiction Credit Hours: 3

Intermediate:

• ENG 3950 - Creative Writing Workshop: Nonfiction Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3960 - Creative Writing Workshop: Short Story Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 3970 - Intermediate Creative Writing Workshop: Poetry Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 4860 - Advanced Workshop in Fiction Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 4870 - Advanced Workshop in Poetry Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 4880 - Advanced Workshop in Nonfiction Credit Hours: 3

Creative Writing Form and Theory

• ENG 4810 - Form and Theory of Literary Genres: Fiction Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 4820 - Form and Theory of Literary Genres: Poetry Credit Hours: 3
• ENG 4830 - Form and Theory of Literary Genres: Nonfiction Credit Hours: 3

Major Electives

Complete three additional ENG courses for at least nine hours excluding ENG 2800, ENG 3***J, ENG 4510, ENG 4520, ENG 4911, and ENG 4912. Six hours may be at the 2000-level or higher; three hours must be at the 3000-level or higher.

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Course description

Course content, course reviews, course learning outcomes.

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• identify strengths and weaknesses as a writer of fiction
• demonstrate a general awareness of fiction writing
• discuss fiction using basic vocabulary.

First Published: 09/08/2012

Updated: 14/05/2018

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Creative Writing

Texas' only bachelor of fine arts in creative writing.

Do you dream of writing the next great American novel or making it big as an award-winning screenwriter in Hollywood? SFA’s Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing will give you the training you need to succeed in a wide range of professions. It’s ideal preparation for a career as a novelist, poet, journalist or playwright. Even if you want to work in a field like media, public relations or corporate communications, a Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing is a significant advantage. SFA boasts the only program of its kind in Texas – and one of just a handful in the nation!

Learn more about possible career paths.

An inspirational setting

Our beautiful East Texas setting is ideal for writers seeking a creative environment. At SFA, you’ll get the best of both worlds. You’ll live in a dynamic community of your peers and acclaimed visiting writers, and you’ll have instant access to the inspiring sights and peaceful sounds of the East Texas Piney Woods.

Undergraduate programs and requirements

Bachelor of fine arts in creative writing.

Our Bachelor of Fine Arts in creative writing program is the only one in Texas and one of only 16 in the nation. If you’re an aspiring writer, this program will give you fundamental and advanced training in the craft and technique of writing for a variety of genres. This program includes coursework in playwriting, screenwriting and literary publishing.

View a degree plan on the advising web page .

To learn more about the requirements of this program, please see the  Undergraduate Bulletin or discuss with your advisor.

View Degree Maps and Course Descriptions

Creative Writing Dr. John McDermott [email protected]  

Dugas Liberal Arts North Room 214

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 13007, SFA Station Nacogdoches, Texas 75962

What are your chances of acceptance?

Calculate for all schools, your chance of acceptance.

Your chancing factors

Extracurriculars.

List of All U.S. Colleges with a Creative Writing Major

Writing has been my passion practically since I learned to read in kindergarten. I would write stories about princesses and my family dog, Gansett. When it came time to look at colleges, I was set on attending one with a strong creative writing program. Ultimately, I graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a B.A. in Writing Seminars.

Today, colleges across the country offer creative writing as a major. Because writing skills are essential for a wide range of careers, and because most curricula emphasize broad liberal arts competencies, a degree in creative writing can set you up for success in numerous fields, whether you want to be an editor or a lawyer.

Interested in majoring in creative writing? Learn which schools offer the major and what to look for in a program.

Overview of the Creative Writing Major

Creative writing is about more than spinning tales. For your major, you’ll generally need to pursue a curriculum grounded in literature, history, foreign language, and other humanities courses, along with distribution courses, if the college requires them.

Most creative writing majors must participate in workshops, in which students present their work and listen to peer critiques, usually with a certain number of advanced courses in the mix. In some cases, colleges will ask you to specialize in a particular genre, such as fiction, poetry, or playwriting. 

To succeed in creative writing, you’ll need to have a tough spine, in order to open yourself up to feedback from your classmates and instructors. You may need to give readings in public — if not as an undergraduate, certainly during your career. Of course, a passion for creating is essential, too, as is a willingness to revise your work and learn from the greats and your peers.

A creative writing major opens up doors to many careers, including journalism, content marketing, copywriting, teaching, and others. Even careers that don’t center around writing often have a strong writing component: you’ll need to write reports, deliver presentations, and so on.

Some writers go on to earn an MFA, which will help you hone your craft. It’s also often a prerequisite for teaching creative writing at the college level.

What to Look for in a College as a Creative Writing Major

Published authors on faculty.

Many world-renowned authors have another claim to fame: professorships. Writers who have taught their craft include (among many others):

• Maya Angelou (Wake Forest University)
• Colson Whitehead (many colleges, including Vassar College and Columbia University)
• Stephen Dixon (Johns Hopkins University)
• Viet Thanh Nguyen (University of Southern California)
• Eula Biss (Northwestern University)
• Toni Morrison (Princeton University)

Be aware that as an undergraduate, you may not be able to learn from the greats. That’s why it’s important to look into which courses these faculty teach before you have dreams of being mentored by Salman Rushdie — who is a Distinguished Writer in Residence at NYU.

Genres Offered

While many schools that have creative writing majors offer fiction and poetry courses and tracks, there are some niche genres that could be more difficult to find. If you’re interested in playwriting, for example, you won’t find that at every school. Before you decide on a program, be sure it includes the genres you’d like to explore further, whether that’s flash fiction, creative nonfiction, or something else.

Workshopping Opportunities

The core of most quality creative writing curriculum is workshopping. This means sharing your work in your classes and listening to your peers discuss and critique it. While this may sound intimidating, it can do a lot to help you hone your work and become a better writer. Look for colleges that make this the bedrock of their curriculum.

Showcasing Opportunities

Are there opportunities to present your work, such as college-sponsored readings where undergraduates can participate? Or, perhaps the school has a great literary journal. At my school, students could submit their plays and have them performed by fellow students. 

List of All U.S. Colleges With a Creative Writing Major

What Are Your Chances of Acceptance?

No matter what major you’re considering, the first step is ensuring you’re academically comparable to students who were previously accepted to the college or university. Most selective schools use the Academic Index to filter out applicants who aren’t up to their standards.

You’ll also want to demonstrate your fit with the school and specific major with the qualitative components of your application, like your extracurriculars and essays. For a prospective creative writing major, the essay is particularly important because this is a way to demonstrate your writing prowess. Activities might include editing your school’s newspaper or literary journal, publishing your work, and participating in pre-college writing workshops.

Want to know your chances of being accepted to top creative writing schools? Try our Chancing Engine (it’s free). Unlike other calculators, it takes your individual profile into account, including academic stats and qualitative components like your activities. Give it a try and get a jumpstart on your journey as a creative writing major!

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Stanford Online

The creative habit: cultivate a daily writing practice.

CSP-XCW19WA

Stanford Continuing Studies

Creativity comes naturally to us from childhood, but “real life” often gets in the way, with critical voices and practical concerns suppressing the impulse to put our ideas on paper and make art. Even if you can barely remember the last time you wrote anything beyond an email, a text, or a grocery list, the seeds of creativity are still deep inside you and need only a little coaxing to flourish again. Writing just a little every day takes away the anxiety of the blank page and makes you more observant, more in touch with your creativity, and as a result, happier and more fulfilled. Every weekday, for five weeks, you will receive a prompt, from which you should freewrite for 30 to 60 minutes (or whatever you can spare). Weekends will be off, with optional short prompts for those wishing to sustain momentum. The daily prompts will encourage you to try creative nonfiction, fiction, and simple poetic forms. You may always approach a prompt from a different genre or angle. This course is for those who want to write without inhibition and have fun without an evaluative component. You may submit one 500-word piece each week for gentle instructor feedback, if you wish, and you may post your writing in a thread to give and receive peer feedback. We will forge a creative community and find the quality of heightened awareness that comes from using creative writing as a way of being more present in the world.

Malena Watrous Writing Certificate Lead and Creative Writing Coordinator, Stanford Continuing Studies

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English and Creative Writing BA

  A Sample Plan represents one way to complete a program of study. Actual course selection and sequence will vary and should be discussed with your academic advisor(s).

Academic Career

Second Year

Fourth Year

Walking by the Way

the road to inspired learning

Eight Free Creative Writing Lessons

February 17, 2012 by Ami 17 Comments

I know I throw around the word favorite all the time. But this is the truth: teaching creative writing lessons is my favorite. 

I have taught creative writing enrichment for summer school students. I have taught creative writing in various homeschool settings and co-ops. I have taught big students and little students. And I love it. 

Since I love to share homeschool co-op class ideas , I have compiled the creative writing lessons from a co-op class that I taught. 

Creative Writing Lessons for a Homeschool Co-op Class

First, please remember that any teacher can use these creative writing lessons. You don’t need to be teaching homeschoolers. You can be a classroom teacher or a homeschool teacher at home with one student. You can even be a librarian who needs a fun program series.

Second, I used these creative writing lesson plans with upper elementary students (with maybe a few 7th graders thrown in). However, you can adapt and use them for older students or younger students!

Creative Writing Lesson Plans

Creative writing lesson one.

The first lesson focuses on cliché and metaphor. It prompts students to consider how words matter.

Grab lesson one here .

Creative Writing Lesson Two

The second lesson teaches students about sensory details: why they are important and how to include them in their writing. Students will begin using sensory details to evoke smells and sounds and sights.

Grab lesson two here.

Creative Writing Lesson Three

The third lesson introduces showing vs. telling. Students learn how to recognize authors who utilize showing, and students are able to articulate the difference between showing and telling.

Grab lesson three here.

Creative Writing Lesson Four

The fourth lesson teaches students how to capture images. We use examples of poetry and prose to discuss this important writing skill.

Grab lesson four here.

Creative Writing Lesson Five

The fifth lesson introduces the story elements of character and conflict.

Note: You may choose to split this lesson into two lessons since it covers two big elements. I only had nine weeks with my students, so I had to jam character and conflict together.

Grab lesson five here.

Creative Writing Lesson Six

The sixth lesson introduces the students to point of view and perspective. We have fun reading poems and using pictures to write descriptions from different points of view.

Grab lesson six here.

Creative Writing Lesson Seven

The seventh lesson puts everything we’ve learned together. I read the students some fractured fairy tales, and we watch some, too. Students then use the prewriting activities and their imaginations to begin drafting their own fractured fairy tales.

Grab lesson seven here.

Creative Writing Lesson Eight

The eighth lesson focuses on revision. After a mini-lesson, students partner up for peer editing.

Grab lesson eight here .

For our final class day, students bring revised work, and I host coffee shop readings. This is a memorable experience for students (and their teacher).

Creative Writing Lessons FAQ

Since posting these creative writing lessons, I have had lots of questions. I decided to compile them here in case you have the same question.

Q: What are copywork quotes? A: Copywork quotes are simply great quotes that students copy as part of their homework assignments. You can use any quotes about writing. I’ve included my favorites throughout the printable packs.

Q: Can I use this with a younger or older student? A: Absolutely! Just adapt it to meet the needs of your student.

Q: Can I use this for my library’s programming or my homeschool co-op class? A: Yes! I just ask that it not be used for profit.

Do you have any questions about teaching creative writing? What’s your biggest hang-up when it comes to teaching creative writing? I’d love to hear from you and help you solve the issue.

January 7, 2016 at 1:57 pm

Hi Theresa,

As long as you are not profitting from using them, they are yours to use! Enjoy! Wish I could be there to help facilitate all those young writers! 

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Department of English

M.f.a. creative writing.

English Department

Physical Address: 200 Brink Hall

Mailing Address: English Department University of Idaho 875 Perimeter Drive MS 1102 Moscow, Idaho 83844-1102

Phone: 208-885-6156

Email: [email protected]

Web: English

Thank you for your interest in the Creative Writing MFA Program at University of Idaho: the premier fully funded, three-year MFA program in the Northwest. Situated in the panhandle of Northern Idaho in the foothills of Moscow Mountain, we offer the time and support to train in the traditions, techniques, and practice of nonfiction, poetry, and fiction. Each student graduates as the author of a manuscript of publishable quality after undertaking a rigorous process of thesis preparation and a public defense. Spring in Moscow has come to mean cherry blossoms, snowmelt in Paradise Creek, and the head-turning accomplishments of our thesis-year students. Ours is a faculty of active, working writers who relish teaching and mentorship. We invite you in the following pages to learn about us, our curriculum, our community, and the town of Moscow. If the prospect of giving yourself three years with us to develop as a writer, teacher, and editor is appealing, we look forward to reading your application.

Pure Poetry

A Decade Working in a Smelter Is Topic of Alumnus Zach Eddy’s Poems

Ancestral Recognition

The region surrounding the University of Idaho is the ancestral land of both the Coeur d’Alene and Nez Perce peoples, and its campus in Moscow sits on unceded lands guaranteed to the Nez Perce people in the 1855 Treaty with the Nez Perce. As a land grant university, the University of Idaho also benefits from endowment lands that are the ancestral homes to many of the West’s Native peoples. The Department of English and Creative Writing Program acknowledge this history and share in the communal effort to ensure that the complexities and atrocities of the past remain in our discourse and are never lost to time. We invite you to think of the traditional “land acknowledgment” statement through our MFA alum CMarie Fuhrman’s words .

Degree Requirements

Three years to write.

Regardless of where you are in your artistic career, there is nothing more precious than time. A three-year program gives you time to generate, refine, and edit a body of original work. Typically, students have a light third year, which allows for dedicated time to complete and revise the Creative Thesis. (48 manuscript pages for those working in poetry, 100 pages for those working in prose.)

Our degree requirements are designed to reflect the real-world interests of a writer. Students are encouraged to focus their studies in ways that best reflect their artistic obsessions as well as their lines of intellectual and critical inquiry. In effect, students may be as genre-focused or as multi-genre as they please. Students must remain in-residence during their degrees. Typically, one class earns you 3 credits. The MFA requires a total of 54 earned credits in the following categories.

12 Credits : Graduate-level Workshop courses in Fiction, Poetry, and/or Nonfiction. 9 Credits: Techniques and Traditions courses in Fiction, Poetry, and/or Nonfiction 3 Credits : Internships: Fugue, Confluence Lab, and/or Pedagogy 9 Credits: Literature courses 12 Credits: Elective courses 10 Credits: Thesis

Flexible Degree Path

Students are admitted to our program in one of three genres, Poetry, Fiction, or Nonfiction. By design, our degree path offers ample opportunity to take Workshop, Techniques, Traditions, and Literature courses in any genre. Our faculty work and publish in multiple genres and value the slipperiness of categorization. We encourage students to write in as broad or focused a manner as they see fit. We are not at all interested in making writers “stay in their lanes,” and we encourage students to shape their degree paths in accordance with their passions. 

What You Study

During your degree, you will take Workshop, Techniques, Traditions, and Literature courses.

Our workshop classes are small by design (typically twelve students or fewer) and taught by core and visiting MFA faculty. No two workshop experiences look alike, but what they share are faculty members committed to the artistic and intellectual passions of their workshop participants.

Techniques studios are developed and taught by core and visiting MFA faculty. These popular courses are dedicated to the granular aspects of writing, from deep study of the poetic image to the cultivation of independent inquiry in nonfiction to the raptures of research in fiction. Such courses are heavy on generative writing and experimentation, offering students a dedicated space to hone their craft in a way that is complementary to their primary work.

Traditions seminars are developed and taught by core and visiting MFA faculty. These generative writing courses bring student writing into conversation with a specific trajectory or “tradition” of literature, from life writing to outlaw literature to the history of the short story, from prosody to postwar surrealism to genre-fluidity and beyond. These seminars offer students a dynamic space to position their work within the vast and varied trajectories of literature.

Literature courses are taught by core Literature and MFA faculty. Our department boasts field-leading scholars, interdisciplinary writers and thinkers, and theory-driven practitioners who value the intersection of scholarly study, research, humanism, and creative writing.

Award-Winning Faculty

We teach our classes first and foremost as practitioners of the art. Full stop. Though our styles and interests lie at divergent points on the literary landscape, our common pursuit is to foster the artistic and intellectual growth of our students, regardless of how or why they write. We value individual talent and challenge all students to write deep into their unique passions, identities, histories, aesthetics, and intellects. We view writing not as a marketplace endeavor but as an act of human subjectivity. We’ve authored or edited several books across the genres.

Learn more about Our People .

Thesis Defense

The MFA experience culminates with each student writing and defending a creative thesis. For prose writers, theses are 100 pages of creative work; for poets, 48 pages. Though theses often take the form of an excerpt from a book-in-progress, students have flexibility when it comes to determining the shape, form, and content of their creative projects. In their final year, each student works on envisioning and revising their thesis with three committee members, a Major Professor (core MFA faculty) and two additional Readers (core UI faculty). All students offer a public thesis defense. These events are attended by MFA students, faculty, community members, and other invitees. During a thesis defense, a candidate reads from their work for thirty minutes, answers artistic and critical questions from their Major Professor and two Readers for forty-five minutes, and then answer audience questions for thirty minutes. Though formally structured and rigorous, the thesis defense is ultimately a celebration of each student’s individual talent.

The Symposium Reading Series is a longstanding student-run initiative that offers every second-year MFA candidate an opportunity to read their works-in-progress in front of peers, colleagues, and community members. This reading and Q & A event prepares students for the third-year public thesis defense. These off-campus events are fun and casual, exemplifying our community centered culture and what matters most: the work we’re all here to do.

Teaching Assistantships

All students admitted to the MFA program are fully funded through Teaching Assistantships. All Assistantships come with a full tuition waiver and a stipend, which for the current academic year is roughly $15,000. Over the course of three years, MFA students teach a mix of composition courses, sections of Introduction to Creative Writing (ENGL 290), and additional writing courses, as departmental needs arise. Students may also apply to work in the Writing Center as positions become available. When you join the MFA program at Idaho, you receive teacher training prior to the beginning of your first semester. We value the role MFA students serve within the department and consider each graduate student as a working artist and colleague. Current teaching loads for Teaching Assistants are two courses per semester. Some members of the Fugue editorial staff receive course reductions to offset the demands of editorial work. We also award a variety of competitive and need-based scholarships to help offset general living costs. In addition, we offer three outstanding graduate student fellowships: The Hemingway Fellowship, Centrum Fellowship, and Writing in the Wild Fellowship. Finally, our Graduate and Professional Student Association offers extra-departmental funding in the form of research and travel grants to qualifying students throughout the academic year.

Distinguished Visiting Writers Series

Each year, we bring a Distinguished Visiting Writer to campus. DVWs interface with our writing community through public readings, on-stage craft conversations hosted by core MFA faculty, and small seminars geared toward MFA candidates. Recent DVWs include Maggie Nelson, Roger Reeves, Luis Alberto Urrea, Brian Evenson, Kate Zambreno, Dorianne Laux, Teju Cole, Tyehimba Jess, Claire Vaye Watkins, Naomi Shihab Nye, David Shields, Rebecca Solnit, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Susan Orlean, Natasha Tretheway, Jo Ann Beard, William Logan, Aisha Sabatini Sloan, Gabino Iglesias, and Marcus Jackson, among several others.

Fugue Journal

Established in 1990 at the University of Idaho, Fugue publishes poetry, fiction, essays, hybrid work, and visual art from established and emerging writers and artists. Fugue is managed and edited entirely by University of Idaho graduate students, with help from graduate and undergraduate readers. We take pride in the work we print, the writers we publish, and the presentation of both print and digital content. We hold an annual contest in both prose and poetry, judged by two nationally recognized writers. Past judges include Pam Houston, Dorianne Laux, Rodney Jones, Mark Doty, Rick Moody, Ellen Bryant Voigt, Jo Ann Beard, Rebecca McClanahan, Patricia Hampl, Traci Brimhall, Edan Lepucki, Tony Hoagland, Chen Chen, Aisha Sabatini Sloan, sam sax, and Leni Zumas. The journal boasts a remarkable list of past contributors, including Steve Almond, Charles Baxter, Stephen Dobyns, Denise Duhamel, Stephen Dunn, B.H. Fairchild, Nick Flynn, Terrance Hayes, Campbell McGrath, W.S. Merwin, Sharon Olds, Jim Shepard, RT Smith, Virgil Suarez, Melanie Rae Thon, Natasha Trethewey, Philip Levine, Anthony Varallo, Robert Wrigley, and Dean Young, among many others.

Academy of American Poets University Prize

The Creative Writing Program is proud to partner with the Academy of American Poets to offer an annual Academy of American Poets University Prize to a student at the University of Idaho. The prize results in a small honorarium through the Academy as well as publication of the winning poem on the Academy website. The Prize was established in 2009 with a generous grant from Karen Trujillo and Don Burnett. Many of our nation’s most esteemed and celebrated poets won their first recognition through an Academy of American Poets Prize, including Diane Ackerman, Toi Derricotte, Mark Doty, Tess Gallagher, Louise Glück, Jorie Graham, Kimiko Hahn, Joy Harjo, Robert Hass, Li-Young Lee, Gregory Orr, Sylvia Plath, Mark Strand, and Charles Wright.

Fellowships

Centrum fellowships.

Those selected as Centrum Fellows attend the summer Port Townsend Writers’ Conference free of charge. Housed in Fort Worden (which is also home to Copper Canyon Press), Centrum is a nonprofit dedicated to fostering several artistic programs throughout the year. With a focus on rigorous attention to craft, the Writers’ Conference offers five full days of morning intensives, afternoon workshops, and craft lectures to eighty participants from across the nation. The cost of the conference, which includes tuition, lodging, and meals, is covered by the scholarship. These annual scholarship are open to all MFA candidates in all genres.

Hemingway Fellowships

This fellowship offers an MFA Fiction student full course releases in their final year. The selection of the Hemingway Fellow is based solely on the quality of an applicant’s writing. Each year, applicants have their work judged blind by a noted author who remains anonymous until the selection process has been completed. Through the process of blind selection, the Hemingway Fellowship Fund fulfills its mission of giving the Fellow the time they need to complete a substantial draft of a manuscript.

Writing in the Wild

This annual fellowship gives two MFA students the opportunity to work in Idaho’s iconic wilderness areas. The fellowship fully supports one week at either the McCall Outdoor Science School (MOSS), which borders Payette Lake and Ponderosa State Park, or the Taylor Wilderness Research Station, which lies in the heart of the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area. Both campuses offer year-round housing. These writing retreats allow students to concentrate solely on their writing. Because both locations often house researchers, writers will also have the opportunity to interface with foresters, geologists, biologists, and interdisciplinary scholars.

Program History

Idaho admitted its first class of seven MFA students in 1994 with a faculty of four: Mary Clearman Blew, Tina Foriyes, Ron McFarland (founder of Fugue), and Lance Olsen. From the beginning, the program was conceived as a three-year sequence of workshops and techniques classes. Along with offering concentrations in writing fiction and poetry, Idaho was one of the first in the nation to offer a full concentration in creative nonfiction. Also from its inception, Idaho not only allowed but encouraged its students to enroll in workshops outside their primary genres. Idaho has become one of the nation’s most respected three-year MFA programs, attracting both field-leading faculty and students. In addition to the founders of this program, notable distinguished faculty have included Kim Barnes, Robert Wrigley, Daniel Orozco, Joy Passanante, Tobias Wray, Brian Blanchfield, and Scott Slovic, whose collective vision, rigor, grit, and care have paved the way for future generations committed to the art of writing.

The Palouse

Situated in the foothills of Moscow Mountain amid the rolling terrain of the Palouse (the ancient silt beds unique to the region), our location in the vibrant community of Moscow, Idaho, boasts a lively and artistic local culture. Complete with independent bookstores, coffee shops, art galleries, restaurants and breweries, (not to mention a historic art house cinema, organic foods co-op, and renowned seasonal farmer’s market), Moscow is a friendly and affordable place to live. Outside of town, we’re lucky to have many opportunities for hiking, skiing, rafting, biking, camping, and general exploring—from nearby Idler’s Rest and Kamiak Butte to renowned destinations like Glacier National Park, the Snake River, the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness Area, and Nelson, BC. As for more urban getaways, Spokane, Washington, is only a ninety-minute drive, and our regional airline, Alaska, makes daily flights to and from Seattle that run just under an hour.

For upcoming events and program news, please visit our calendar .

For more information about the MFA program, please contact us at:  [email protected]

Department of English University of Idaho 875 Perimeter Drive MS 1102 Moscow, ID 83844-1102 208-885-6156

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Our 2020-21 Writing Curriculum for Middle and High School

A flexible, seven-unit program based on the real-world writing found in newspapers, from editorials and reviews to personal narratives and informational essays.

Update, Aug. 3, 2023: Find our 2023-24 writing curriculum here.

Our 2019-20 Writing Curriculum is one of the most popular new features we’ve ever run on this site, so, of course, we’re back with a 2020-21 version — one we hope is useful whether you’re teaching in person , online , indoors , outdoors , in a pod , as a homeschool , or in some hybrid of a few of these.

The curriculum detailed below is both a road map for teachers and an invitation to students. For teachers, it includes our writing prompts, mentor texts, contests and lesson plans, and organizes them all into seven distinct units. Each focuses on a different genre of writing that you can find not just in The Times but also in all kinds of real-world sources both in print and online.

But for students, our main goal is to show young people they have something valuable to say, and to give those voices a global audience. That’s always been a pillar of our site, but this year it is even more critical. The events of 2020 will define this generation, and many are living through them isolated from their ordinary communities, rituals and supports. Though a writing curriculum can hardly make up for that, we hope that it can at least offer teenagers a creative outlet for making sense of their experiences, and an enthusiastic audience for the results. Through the opportunities for publication woven throughout each unit, we want to encourage students to go beyond simply being media consumers to become creators and contributors themselves.

So have a look, and see if you can find a way to include any of these opportunities in your curriculum this year, whether to help students document their lives, tell stories, express opinions, investigate ideas, or analyze culture. We can’t wait to hear what your students have to say!

Each unit includes:

Writing prompts to help students try out related skills in a “low stakes” way.

We publish two writing prompts every school day, and we also have thematic collections of more than 1,000 prompts published in the past. Your students might consider responding to these prompts on our site and using our public forums as a kind of “rehearsal space” for practicing voice and technique.

Daily opportunities to practice writing for an authentic audience.

If a student submits a comment on our site, it will be read by Times editors, who approve each one before it gets published. Submitting a comment also gives students an audience of fellow teenagers from around the world who might read and respond to their work. Each week, we call out our favorite comments and honor dozens of students by name in our Thursday “ Current Events Conversation ” feature.

Guided practice with mentor texts .

Each unit we publish features guided practice lessons, written directly to students, that help them observe, understand and practice the kinds of “craft moves” that make different genres of writing sing. From how to “show not tell” in narratives to how to express critical opinions , quote or paraphrase experts or craft scripts for podcasts , we have used the work of both Times journalists and the teenage winners of our contests to show students techniques they can emulate.

“Annotated by the Author” commentaries from Times writers — and teenagers.

As part of our Mentor Texts series , we’ve been asking Times journalists from desks across the newsroom to annotate their articles to let students in on their writing, research and editing processes, and we’ll be adding more for each unit this year. Whether it’s Science writer Nicholas St. Fleur on tiny tyrannosaurs , Opinion writer Aisha Harris on the cultural canon , or The Times’s comics-industry reporter, George Gene Gustines, on comic books that celebrate pride , the idea is to demystify journalism for teenagers. This year, we’ll be inviting student winners of our contests to annotate their work as well.

A contest that can act as a culminating project .

Over the years we’ve heard from many teachers that our contests serve as final projects in their classes, and this curriculum came about in large part because we want to help teachers “plan backwards” to support those projects.

All contest entries are considered by experts, whether Times journalists, outside educators from partner organizations, or professional practitioners in a related field. Winning means being published on our site, and, perhaps, in the print edition of The New York Times.

Webinars and our new professional learning community (P.L.C.).

For each of the seven units in this curriculum, we host a webinar featuring Learning Network editors as well as teachers who use The Times in their classrooms. Our webinars introduce participants to our many resources and provide practical how-to’s on how to use our prompts, mentor texts and contests in the classroom.

New for this school year, we also invite teachers to join our P.L.C. on teaching writing with The Times , where educators can share resources, strategies and inspiration about teaching with these units.

Below are the seven units we will offer in the 2020-21 school year.

September-October

Unit 1: Documenting Teenage Lives in Extraordinary Times

This special unit acknowledges both the tumultuous events of 2020 and their outsized impact on young people — and invites teenagers to respond creatively. How can they add their voices to our understanding of what this historic year will mean for their generation?

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Creative Writing

Pursue your M.A., and craft your story, with a concentration in Creative Writing

Explore Creative Writing Graduate Studies

How it works.

At the graduate level, students may choose to concentrate on creative writing within the broader areas of Rhetoric and Writing Studies (RWS) or Literature and Cultural Studies (LCS). We offer areas of concentration in Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, and Poetry.

For the M.A. with a creative writing emphasis, RWS and LCS students choose their seminar courses from Advanced Fiction, Creative Nonfiction, or Poetry. Additionally, our Special Topics in Creative Writing offer in-depth concentrations in a variety of forms. Over the course of two years, students work one-on-one with our nationally-recognized creative writing faculty to produce a creative writing thesis comprised of publishable work in their chosen genre(s). Our creative writing faculty includes National Book Critics Circle Award-winner Honorée Fanonne Jeffers , American Book Award-winner Rilla Askew , and National Poetry Series Award-winner Jake Skeets .

How You Will Be Funded

Of course, in addition to taking an intensive array of courses, at OU you will be supported financially by teaching and learning in our in our award-winning  First-Year Composition program and/or working in our world-renowned Writing Center . Many students also take advantage of unique funding opportunities including research assistantships and working in our composition office.

Explore Graduate Student Funding

What You'll Create

Graduate students work closely with their faculty advisors, selected from our award-winning creative writing faculty, to develop a thesis showcasing their work as creative writers. The MA creative writing thesis may be a novel excerpt; a collection of short stories, creative nonfiction, or poetry; or a combination of genres, resulting in projects such as:

• A collection of short fiction set primarily in Southwestern Oklahoma featuring disparate narrators as they explore and replicate the experience of the contemporary woman during stages of adolescence and young adulthood. In 2021, Rekindled won the prestigious Mark Allen Everett Southwest Award , judged by Kelli Jo Ford.
• An excerpt from an historical novel set in the late 1960s, grounded in little-known historical events in Tulsa and Norman. The novel features dual protagonists: a young, Black closeted lesbian woman recently hired on as a reporter for a Tulsa news station and a young white woman who aspires to become an anchor.
• A collection of creative nonfiction in which the author reckons with her personal history, the complexities of family and heritage, the shaping forces of environment and place, and her own disabilities and feminist worldview.
• A creative non-fiction exploration focused on overcoming trauma and managing mental illness from the perspective of a Black, multiracial man.
• A collection of linked stories focusing on themes such as family/broken family, Indigenous displacement, addiction, loss, and healing.

Join a vibrant community of creative writers. Our small seminar and pro-seminar courses offer students a close working relationship with our incredible faculty while facilitating critical creative writing workshop opportunities. 

Our creative writing community works to bring writers and creators to campus, providing opportunities to learn from and make connection with folk from all stages of their professional, creative careers. 

Our Faculty + Interests

Honorée fanonne jeffers.

Honorée Fanonne Jeffers is an award-winning poet, essayist, and novelist. Her debut novel The Love Songs of W.E.B Du Bois was an Oprah Book Club selection and received the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.

Professor Jeffers’ Website

Rilla Askew

Rilla Askew is known for her award-winning historical fiction and creative nonfiction. Noted titles include Prize for the Fire; a collection of essays, Most American: Notes from a Wounded Place; and her American Book Award-winning novel, Fire in Beulah.

Professor Askew’s Website

Jake Skeets

Jake Skeets is an award-winning Diné poet, novelist, and creative nonfiction writer. His debut collection of poetry, Eyes Bottle Dark with a Mouthful of Flowers, received the National Poetry Series Award, Kate Tufts Discovery Award, American Book Award, and Whiting Award.

Professor Skeets’ Website

Join our Learning Community - Applications are Due January 5

General english department application requirements.

• A sample of critical or scholarly writing , no more than 25 pages long. This may be an excerpt from a longer work, such as a senior thesis. It should, however, be clear of grading comments and should preferably be in your expressed area of concentration.
•   A 1-2 page personal statement  about what you’ve done in English or in related fields, why you want to study English, and, particularly, why you think the University of Oklahoma is an appropriate place for you to do it. We want to know what your scholarly interests are, and what areas of concentration you are planning to declare. If you aren’t sure yet what you plan to do in English, that’s fine, but we want to know that you have some idea of the possibilities.
• Three letters of recommendation . On your online application, you will be asked to provide emails for three references, who will be contacted by the University with a request for a letter of recommendation. Request your references to comment specifically upon (1) your qualifications as a prospective graduate student (literary/rhetorical judgment, writing ability, originality, diligence) and, if you are applying for Graduate Teaching Assistantship, (2) your qualifications as a prospective teacher (ability to organize, enthusiasm, responsibility, objectivity). If possible, referees should use the online reference system, but if they prefer, they may send hardcopy letters directly to the Office of Graduate Admissions (731 Elm Avenue, Room 318 Norman, OK 73019).
• An up-to-date  Curriculum Vitae
• Official transcripts  from every prior institution

Also, be sure to check out our English Graduate Studies FAQ .

Interested in Applying for a Graduate Degree with a Creative Writing Concentration?

To apply for the M.A. with creative writing emphasis, applicants should submit a 20-page sample of fiction, creative nonfiction, or poetry with their application materials. For more information on the standard application materials, check out our general Graduate Studies page . 

Apply to the OU English Graduate Program

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English Department

Creative Writing

English - creative writing emphasis (58-60 credits).

The Creative Writing program focuses on writing courses: creative writing in fiction, drama, poetry, or nonfiction prose and includes coursework in literature to supplement the creative writing courses. Students in the upper-divisional courses are expected to interpret and analyze literature in thoughtful, organized, and clear essays that are free of mechanical errors. If you think you need help with your reading and writing, we strongly encourage you, in addition to your work in English courses, to consult the Hacherl Research & Writing Studio and other University resources.

Introductory and advanced critical writing genre courses form the core of the major, giving students an opportunity to develop their craft and aesthetics through intensive writing, reading, and workshops. Students must take courses in at least two different genres. Aside from the core courses, creative writing majors take 25 credits in literature (which may include literary/cultural, rhetorical, and literacy theory and film studies) at the 300- or 400-level. Special modes courses (456, 457, 458, 460) introduce advanced students to distinct forms within their major genres.

Major Requirements

• May include literary/cultural theory, film studies, and rhetorical and literacy theory at the 300 or 400 level, including a writing proficiency course. Literature electives include: ENG 307-311, 313, 314, 332-347, 364, 365, 371 and/or ENG 401, 406-417, 442, 464.
• ENG 350: Introduction to Creative Writing
• Two Genre Courses: ENG 351, 353, 354, THTR 384, FAIR 354v
• Four Creative Writing Electives: ENG 451, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457, 458, 459, 460, 466; THTR 485, FAIR 454y

Note: Eras taken as a seminar cannot be repeated as a survey, and eras taken as a survey cannot be repeated as a seminar. Repeated eras will not count toward this major.

Review the English - Creative Writing Emphasis, BA in the WWU University Catalog . 

Download the English - Creative Writing Emphasis, BA plan of study .

Ready to Declare an English Major?

Please see the English Advising and Declaration page for more information!

ReadFest 2024: Creative Writing Class

Creative Writing Class

Date and time

Barking Learning Centre

About this event

• Event lasts 2 hours

Please note this is a location based event at Barking Learning Centre .

NB: This session can also be booked to attend online.

Course outline:

If you are a beginner to writing and would like to learn how to write that book you always knew was inside you, or a more experienced writer who wants to reacquaint yourself with the fundamentals of writing, this is for you.

Over eleven two-hour monthly sessions, our tutor will take you through every aspect of creative writing - from structure to dialogue, description, point of view and everything in between - all the way through to writing a synopsis and the process of submission.

Please note there is a supporting Google Classroom for this course and the direct link to join can be found in confirmation email under the Additional information section.

If you have any accessibility requirements, please directly get in touch with us at [email protected]

If you are not sure if this class is for you or would like more information, please contact us to discuss. Ask the organiser or email: [email protected]

NB: To make the most of the Creative Writing Classes , please ensure that you book your place and that you are prepared to attend all the available sessions, there are 11 monthly sessions in total.

Tickets will be released in three-month blocks for the following dates:

• 12 October 2024
• 9 November 2024
• 7 December 2024
• 11 January 2025
• 8 February 2025
• 8 March 2025
• 12 April 2025
• 10 May 2025
• 7 June 2025
• 5 July 2025

Barking and Dagenham Libraries and Pen to Print are proud to host our thirteenth annual Literary Festival which takes place between Saturday 14 September and Saturday 21 September.

We are delighted to showcase our events both online and in-person. This is a wonderful festival which provides a great opportunity to meet authors, discover new genres and celebrate the joy of reading through a wide range of events.

We are pleased to say that all our in-person events remain FREE and our online events are subject to a small fee. Our programme is supported by London Borough of Barking and Dagenham and Arts Council England, funded by the UK Government.

For more information please visit: pentoprint.org/readfest

• Booking is essential and you will be asked to present your booking confirmation upon arrival.
• Pen to Print and our partners reserve the right to remove participants who are disruptive to a session.
• Pen to Print and our partners reserve the right to unenroll a participant from a course and explore an alternative approach to supporting them on their writing journey, if we feel that a class is unsuitable for that participant.
• NB: May feature content that some people may find upsetting, uses language or depicts scenes reflecting attitudes that are no longer seen as acceptable.
• Pen to Print shall not be liable to attendees for any injury, loss or damage of or to personal equipment belonging to the attendees or any indirect or consequential loss or damage whatsoever arising out of the attendance of the event.
• Pen to Print reserves the right to cancel, delay or postpone the event for any reason, including adverse weather conditions, an emergency situation or unforeseen or unavoidable circumstances out of its reasonable control. In such cases, the event organiser will endeavour to inform participants as quickly as is possible.
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