One of the questions I get asked all the time is “should I do a writing course? Is it worth it?”
These courses are everywhere now – from traditional university MAs and Bas, to shorter courses run by publishers, literary agencies, literary consultancies and schools/sixth form colleges offering adult education classes. I myself did a BA in English and Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, with a focus on poetry, so it’s something I have personal experience of.
But these courses can be expensive, and there’s not always clear evidence of their value. We decided to ask three of our authors who have done different courses what their experiences were, and whether they thought the courses they did were worth it.
In 2023, I received a funded place on the Faber Academy ‘Finish Your Draft’ six-month online course. I had no prior creative writing education, and the cost of these courses was typically a barrier for me; so I was pleased Faber Academy provided the opportunity to apply for funded places.
I liked that the course offered both structure (monthly writing tasks and exercises, deadlines, and optional Zoom meetings) and flexibility. I was juggling my PhD and working at the time, but I was able to fit the coursework in when it suited me. The expertise and guidance from our tutor, Natasha Bell, was also invaluable. My writing career launched during the course and I was able to turn to her for advice, which I am immensely grateful for.
@chiarabullenauthor on Instagram and TikTok. Chiara’s debut THE INN AT THE FOOT OF MOUNT VENGEANCE publishes in July 2026 by Del Rey.
I studied on the Creative Writing Master’s at the University of Cambridge from 2017-2019. The first year of the course had three modules covering poetry, fiction and nonfiction, and writing for performance. By far the standout module for me was the fiction - I enjoyed writing, but I’d never really passed 10,000 words or knew how to end my stories. This module, and in particular the lectures on types of stories and story structure completely changed how I thought about books, and helped me draft up my first novel. In the second year, we focused on one big project. For me, this was writing a full-length YA novel. While the university only required a 15,000 writing sample and critical commentary, my tutor supported me in drafting the entire novel, as that was my goal. I really valued the energy and time my tutor put into supporting me, as it again gave me practice in telling a novel-length story.
The courses were residential and part time, meaning I could study alongside my day job. They also offered diplomas and shorter courses - I completed the diploma first to make sure the bigger commitment was right for me! As mentioned above, I credit the course in actually getting me to finish a novel, but it also gave me broader confidence in sharing my work with other people. The university gave opportunities to do readings on our work at student showcases, and in our classes we regularly workshopped with our peers. To qualify for the course we had to provide writing samples, a personal statement, and had referees. There was also an interview process, where I was asked about what I was reading, why I wanted to attend the course, and we discussed my application.
More than anything, I’m grateful for the lifelong friends I made on the course. Writing can be lonely, and getting published can seem a near impossible task, but being in a community with other likeminded creatives was so encouraging and helped me believe I could get there. That support has continued past my education, and I still share my novels (and the ups and downs of publishing) with another writer who I met on the Master’s - we became so close that she was one of my bridesmaids!
I would absolutely recommend it to others; while there has been a lot of work and growth since then, I see the Master’s at Cambridge as the start of my career as a writer.
@ruthy_mason_author on Instagram. Ruthy’s debut, DEATH DO US, is published in June 2026 by Corsair in the UK and Union Square in the US.
I did the Curtis Brown Creative 3-month Writing Your Novel course from April to July this year. Our class met weekly in their London office, and each session comprised of an hour of teaching and writing exercises, focussed on a different element each week (e.g. description, dialogue, plotting, building suspense, etc), followed by an hour of workshopping where we discussed three 3,000-word extracts from our class-mates’ novels-in-progress.
One of the main benefits of the course is the workshopping element, and getting to meet other writers at a similar level - having 14 other writers critique my extracts helped identify weaknesses (and strengths) that I was simply too close to see. As a first-timer, being workshopped was definitely daunting but everyone was incredibly constructive and it offered a great opportunity to learn to receive, digest and implement feedback - which is so important for your future writing journey. Reading critically for others also helps you develop an editorial mind for your own work. Our course tutor, Charlotte Mendelson, was fantastic and we all had a one-on-one tutorial with her that, again, was so helpful to troubleshoot issues (she’s frank and slightly terrifying but pushed us in the best way). In terms of the teaching content itself, if you’ve already been developing your craft through other writing resources and/or have completed other novels it probably won’t be anything particularly new to you. There are still plenty of insightful nuggets, phrased by Charlotte in such a way to make things really click, but I’d say the main reason to do this course is the workshopping. It’s also a big investment financially (the in-person costs £2,100) and time-wise (requiring you to read and critique 9,000 words of writing each week, in addition to making progress on your own novel).
It’s a selective course, and they ask for the first 3,000 words of your novel and a synopsis in the application. They also offer a sponsorship for one writer of colour and the Discoveries Scholar (from the prize for unpublished and unagented women). I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking to build their writing community, benefit from feedback from other writers and/or to form a strong writing group. I still meet with classmates from my course every couple of weeks to workshop and we have a very supportive WhatsApp group for celebrations and commiserations. Personally, I’d suggest being a decent way into writing your novel (as opposed to just having the opening 3,000 words) to get the most out of it, so you can troubleshoot specific areas and ask targeted questions during the teaching sessions.
@ rachelrowlinson on Instagram and @ rowlinsonrachel on X. Rachel is working on her first novel.
As you can see from the above, writers can find these courses very worthwhile, for a variety of reasons. But my own perspective as a creative writing grad and a literary agent is more nuanced. For me, the biggest value that came from my course was the time and headspace to write. When you’ve spent that much money on a course, it helps to legitimise the time you spend dedicated to honing your craft. Whether that’s a 3-month course or a 3-year degree, the most important gift you can give to your writing practice is time.
It’s also undeniable that these courses provide some help in terms of network-building, connecting new writers with publishers, agents and established authors who might help them on their path to publication. But these courses are expensive, and they are not always accessible to people with financial constraints or indeed other demands on their time.
Though as an agency we do represent authors who come from courses, far more of them have never done a writing course. And these courses should never be seen as essential credentials in order to be published. You will get far more out of a course if you enjoy the process of writing, learning and meeting other writers, rather than viewing a course as a means to an end – the end being publication.
No course that I know of publishes data on how many of their previous students go onto become published authors; usually they name a handful of their alumni instead. We would guess that if they did publish that data, the conversion rate wouldn’t be high. A writing course can’t guarantee you a novel that agents and publishers will consider commercial enough to take a risk on. And with more creative writing courses available than ever before, these courses don’t necessarily make you stand out from the crowd in a busy agent’s inbox – the most important thing is still your writing and your idea. So if these courses are out of reach to you, please don’t feel like you are on the back foot – we’d love to read your submission, no matter your writing background.
There are plenty of cheap or free available resources to help you write as well:
Books
The Science of Storytelling – Will Storr
On Writing – Stephen King
Plotting and Writing Suspense Fiction – Patricia Highsmith
Into The Woods – John Yorke
Save the Cat Writes a Novel – Jessica Brody
Podcasts and Youtube Courses
Tim Clare’s Death of 1000 Cuts
Brandon Sanderson’s Writing Lectures
And of course, most towns will have a local writing group where you can share your own work and get feedback, usually for free. You might find these by googling, on Facebook or on Meetup. Or you can find online feedback circles on sites like Wattpad.
Are you writing a book club or crime/thriller novel? You can read more about me and my wish list here. Our submissions guidelines are here, and if you do want to submit to me then my email is: hattiesubmissions@theblairpartnership.com. You can also follow me on Instagram. Finally, make sure you are subscribed to the Substack by clicking below: