(Image: Green Chameleon)

Hello All!

As always, welcome back to my regular readers, and welcome to any new readers. Thank you for joining me.

Today I would like to share with you the first post in a three-part series about my experiences of studying a course in creative and professional writing. The reasons I have for deciding to undertake this course were; to enable to me to do my job better, to improve my own writing, and to understand my clients’ processes better.

I chose an undergraduate course delivered by Griffith University through Open Universities Australia. I chose this one because an undergraduate course goes towards a bachelor’s degree which is something I hope to complete in the future. I was also able to complete the course via correspondence. Both factors were extremely important in making my decision.

I eagerly anticipated starting this course. The blurb looked good and to be honest – I enjoy learning!

I gained access to the course outline on day one. Now, admittedly, as I glanced through the material, I started to have reservations.

My first concern was that the course seemed to have a broader scope than I expected. But I trusted that the course content was going to teach me what was advertised – creative and professional writing.

My second concern was the apparent lack of connection between the information supplied in a few of the units and the task we were required to complete for those units. Again, I trusted that the university knew what it was doing. Especially since this was an undergraduate course.

Week 1: I felt it went well. The workload was not too heavy. We familiarised ourselves with the course’s online forum (Learning@Griffith) and what was called the Discussion Board where the students could interact with each other and the tutor. The forum was also where we could access our Required Readings, upload completed tasks and assignments. Everyone seemed friendly and happy to be participating.

Week 1’s task was to introduce ourselves as the main character in a ‘developing story’ using the ‘Show, Don’t Tell’ method in 150 words. This needed to be submitted to the forum. Part two of our task was to critique another student’s work (and have someone critique ours) on the forum. Part three was to write a reflective piece telling the university about our aspirations as a writer. The reflective piece did not need to be submitted to the forum. All tasks, including the reflective pieces, needed to be added to a Word document on our own computer for the first six weeks. This Word document would later be submitted as Assignment 2. The required reading touched on ‘writing as communication’, ‘ethics and issues with writing in the public arena’ and ‘writing paths and genres’.

I enjoyed the first week’s tasks. I struggled at first with how I would like to write my story but was satisfied with the result. Going by my tutor’s comments, he believed I was off to a good start too.

Week 1 Task – Who are you? 150 words

She sits at her desk in the corner of the dining room twiddling with her pen. A notebook open at a new blank page.

‘What should I write about?’ she mumbles to herself.

She hasn’t written anything creative since she was a teenager, over half her lifetime ago. Poetry used to be an outlet for her when she was going through her teen years.

Jenni has read many books. Her husband quite often jokes that her favourite place would be a never-ending library. She reads for enjoyment and for her work.

Jenni can edit and proofread works of fiction, non-fiction, or even business documents. But to come up with an original idea for a story herself? She’s struggling. She has never felt that desire or urge to write a book herself, but she loves helping others to get their stories out for readers to enjoy.

She writes a few lines. She wonders if she has reached the word-target the writing course she has just started has set for her. Jenni decides she will start dinner (the kids are getting hungry!) and type up what she has written so far. She’s procrastinating she knows. She’s also extremely nervous.

Note from Jenni: I hope you found this article interesting. Next week I will be sharing the second instalment of a short series of posts about my experience completing a Creative Writing Course. Please follow my blog so you don’t miss out on any upcoming posts. Click HERE to go to Part 2.

If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to contact me via my Contact Me page or leave a comment below. To find out more about my services, visit My Services page. You can also find me on Facebook by clicking the ‘F’ icon at the bottom of any page on my website.