Student and tutor module reviews

I have already sent a review on this course but suspect you have chosen not to print it as it was pretty disparaging of the tutor who really was not good (unlike the tutor on my first course who was excellent).

The course itself was ok and I learned that I do enjoy creative writing. However, I have spoken to quite a few others doing similar courses at other Unis and these do appear to give more input and guidance than the on you provide, so not hugely impressed sorry to say.

Course starting: October 2011

Review posted: February 2013

This was a very interesting course.
But I still think it is difficult to teach someone to write. I found the Poetry section very much like a recipe book, and a bit discouraging. I think freedom of expression needed to be encouraged. Not everyone has a burning desire to immediately publish for publishing's sake. Poetry is like Art it needs a bit of intimacy and relation on one's own level.

Helen Campbell

Course starting: October 2011

Review posted: January 2013

An excellent course for anyone interested in creative writing. All the basics are covered. I have been writing for most of my life, either stories for my children, submissions to magazines or case studies for my students when I was teaching, so I thought I knew it all - but I didn't!

The course text book is known as the Big Red Book (BRB.) Be warned - it is heavy and unwieldy and you may prefer to download it to a Kindle! There is also a workbook which sets out what you should be doing each week and some CDs and DVDs, which I personally did not find very helpful.

The most difficult part of the course for me (and many others) was the poetry writing. There is a lot of technical stuff to learn for this and there was much angst on the forums. Many of us bought Stephen Fry's book on writing poetry because the course text book, we found, did not explain things in a simple manner. Stephen Fry does.

To my surprise, the life writing, which I did not expect to enjoy, earned me my best grades and I have continued to enjoy doing it, so be prepared to give everything a try - you may surprise yourself.

I did not find the workload on this course particularly onerous or difficult, apart from the poetry which, as I have said above, is quite taxing. I would recommend using the forums more than I did. This year I am doing A363 and find the feedback on the forums very helpful and I now realise I should have used them more when I was doing A215. Don't be afraid to use your tutor, either. You can ask them anything! Replies sometimes take a while to come as they are only paid for a few hours work a week but you should get a reply within a few days.

If you decide to do A215 you will definitely enjoy it and you will learn a lot. Good luck!

Course starting: October 2011

Review posted: January 2013

On the positive side, this module is great for developing your skills in creative writing: poetry, short stories and life writing. There is one huge, straightforward course reader - a mix of weekly sections with exercises, and writings from published materials at the back to read as you work your way through the course. The course is set at a good pace: at no point did I feel rushed or lacking in creative ideas or momentum.

On the negative side, the module highly relies on input from other students on the online forum who are to critique your work and post their work for others to similarly critique. My tutor forum group was all but dead. Without students contributing, you may well struggle. I was moved to another group only after I contacted the tutor to say the situation was not at all helpful. The new group had 4-5 of us who regularly contributed.

If you want to be wholly creative, having to write something for the set times when the TMAs are due may be restrictive. I didn't find this a problem. There is opportunity to develop exercises from the course book into TMAs. You can also choose the format of your creative writing for some TMAs and the EMA ie. poetry or a short story. The EMA was an option of picking either one of two of poetry, short story or life writing (I chose a short story and life writing in poetry format). As well as your pieces of creative writing, you also have to write passages of reflection/reflective commentaries.

Be warned that you will need to prepare and start writing for the EMA well in advance: it comes around quickly and, with all the editing and incorporating critiques from the forum, it is time consuming. However, if you have an active and supportive tutor group, you will get all the critiques you need.

Finally, there were only two tutorials, which is not a lot (hence the reason for needing good input from fellow students on the forum).

Course starting: October 2011

Review posted: December 2012

Fantastic course. I heartily recommend. I learned about tools to enhance creative output, and these tools have stayed with me, so that at any time I can sit down now and start to write instead of staring at a blank page wondering how to begin. That is the most powerful and unexpected bonus gift I took away from this course.

There are three sections, short story writing, poetry and life writing. I wasn't looking forward to the poetry. I doubt I will write it in the future, but boy did a sizeable portal open up in my brain and some fairly decent poetry flow out during this section. No one was more surprised than me! All down to the excellent tutor who really knew how to open people up creatively.

If you want to write, do it. it's well worth it just for the creative tools alone.

Thursa Wilde

Course starting: October 2011

Review posted: October 2012

Many students love this course. I did not. I absolutely detested the workshopping aspect, which was strongly emphasised. I hated most of the assignments - which didn't begin to touch on what I like to write. But - basically - 'creative writing' as taught by others is not for me. End of. If,on the other hand, you like to have group approval - and need to be given conventional ideas and instructions on how and what to write - then A215 may be just right for you.

Caroline Paisley

Course starting: October 2011

Review posted: September 2012

If you have ever wanted to write then this is definitely the course for you. The course book is excellent with great exercises, although I personally found the poetry section disappointing. Stephen Fry's Ode less travelled got me through my poetry TMA.

My tutorial group was very quiet but fortunately there was a lot going on in the student cafe. I was lucky because I had a great tutor who gave me good feedback.

I really enjoyed this course and my writing has impoved as a result. Be warned though, it is hard work and the gap between the last TMA and the EMA is very short. Start thinking about your EMA well in advance.

Course starting: October 2011

Review posted: September 2012

Well, if you are at all interested in the writing process you really should study this course. You will learn a lot, and your confidence as a writer will increase. I found it much more enjoyable than essay writing, although I am certain that I will have derived some benefit from it when I come to write essays in future.

Our tutor was excellent; very enthusiastic (as I find most OU tutors to be) and his analysis and constructive criticism were always very kindly delivered.

The forum started of in the usual way i.e. lots of initial enthusiasm which eventually tailed off, until only the same few lone voices were posting (I am guilty of desertion here too, I am afraid). I did find that there was a lot more useful information available in the Cafe thread of the forum though.

Much to my surprise, I gained my first ever distinction on this course. As a result I have decided to maintain my writing momentum and brave the third year course A363.

In conclusion, I think that A215 is an excellent course; essential grounding for those moving on to A363 Advanced Creative Writing, and I am sure it has provided me with useful insights into the writing process for when I eventually tackle the OU literature courses.

John Frederick Cox

Course starting: October 2011

Review posted: August 2012

I enjoyed this course very much. As other reviewers have mentioned, the course workbook contains lots of interesting extracts; and the range of activities encouraged me to think about and try out new ways of writing.

My group was quiet online and I can only speculate why that could be. I do wonder in part if it was due to a range of personalities within the group that were not necessarily compatible!

Our tutor was great: she was very supportive & I enjoyed the workshop I attended immensely. It was great to meet some of the group and it was a real confidence-booster.

If you are the sort of person (like me!)who can only focus on one project at a time, it may be hard to turn around the EMA in the tight space (three weeks) after submitting the last continuous assessment - unless the course is changed.

I must say that I feel a bit abandoned by the lack of written feedback on the EMA - I've missed it very much. I only say this because conversely, I found the tutor feedback for the continuous assessments extremely helpful.

Overall, I would thoroughly recommend the course if, like me, you've dabbled in writing (or even thoughts of it ...) for years and would like to produce something more substantial. There is nothing to beat that feeling of having created something.

Janet Ulman

Course starting: October 2011

Review posted: August 2012

I signed up for this module partly as an integral part of my Humanities degree and partly because I've had an autobiographical tale tucked away for years that needed to be written properly.

As earlier reviewers have mentioned, A215 is no soft option. Writing assignments that, by definition, have to be marked subjectively was quite nerve-wracking. The combination of a Coursebook that was (from time to time) prone to rambling detail and a focused tutor who got to the heart of things whether in group tutorials or in responding to queries really worked for me.

My personal jury on the online forums is still out... In a nutshell, the tutorial group forum was too quiet while the student cafe forum was overwhelmingly noisy!

How did it go? Looking back to my two motivations, I got the confidence (through learning the skills) to submit my life-writing piece for the EMA. The grade I got for it pushed my overall result to a distinction.

I'm doing U214 Worlds of English next but my A215 result has persuaded me that Advanced Creative Writing should be part of my level 3 studies.

I would thoroughly recommend this module to anyone that has something inside that needs to be written and wants to do it justice, either as a one off or as the start of something bigger.

Course starting: October 2011

Review posted: August 2012

Overall, an enjoyable course. The TMAs are not evenly spaced so check out the submission dates early and plan your work accordingly. You will find yourself under pressure at some points and at others you will be twiddling your thumbs.

The poetry section was the hardest but also the one on which I learned the most. Don't get too hung up on the technicalities. There is a lot to learn but I got my best mark for a poem I wrote 'from the heart', mostly ignoring the technical stuff.

My tutor group forum was very quiet and not many people took part but I have read of others being very busy and helpful, so it seems to be the luck of the draw.

I wish I had made more use of my tutor. For instance, I wish I had checked with her before writing a story for People's Friend (TMA 05). I was penalised in the marking for writing a story specifically for PF although I was given an upgrade on appeal. You should write a 'good' story and then find a suitable publication for it, not the other way around.

The main problem with this type of course is that the marking is necessarily subjective but that is something you have to learn to live with. If you choose to do this course I hope you enjoy it. I did, I learned a lot and I'm going on to do A363.

Course starting: October 2011

Review posted: August 2012

This is an excellent course teaching techniques and ways of thinking rather than facts! The dreaded Big Red Book is a mine of information and the extracts from published writings are very appropriate and well chosen. Studying Creative writing leads one to read in a different way, analysing 'how' the writer conveys emotion, character etc aswell as 'What' and 'why'.

We had an excellent tutor who set up thought provoking on-line tutorials and ran 2 excellent day schools and was always available on-line to help with panics. I do regret the lack of face to face contact as the two sessions we did have worked so well on a number of levels and very few of our group participated in the on line tutorials so there were limited peer reviews and comments.

As other reviewers have said this is not a soft option. There are a lot of activities and you are encouraged to write daily. I now realise how essential revision of writing is and that it never ends! Thanks OU - a great 8 months.

Course starting: October 2011

Review posted: August 2012

I thorougly enjoyed the A215 Creative writing module. I was very wary of the poetry side of things but actually found myself writing poetry for the first time ever. The tutor was so helpful and always there to give guidance. I was also unsure regarding the discussions with other students but found them so helpful and friendly. I found myself looking forward every day to reading their work and making helpful and positive feedback.

I would definitely encourage any student interested in Creative wring to take this course. It was throughly enjoyable and I am now looking forward to the next module I am taking which is the advanced Creative writing course. Good luck to everyone. Enjoy.

Jackie Taylor

Course starting: October 2011

Review posted: August 2012

Great course, allowing you to use your imagination, yet helping you to shape and create. Brill tutor, supportive all the way. It may appear to be an easy course, particularly in relation to something like A210, which is quite analytical, but do not be fooled, it isn't as easy as you think. It's not just about putting words on a page, it's which words and why, what are you trying to achieve. Any document I read now, I am looking at it and wondering if it would have been better written a different way! Really enjoyed this course, hope you do too.

Sharon Isabel Peters

Course starting: October 2011

Review posted: July 2012

Totally amazed by this course as I had no idea that I could sit down and write a hundred lines of poetry in half an hour! I had a lot of distractions during this course so I didn't make the most of the course material but I have been opened up to a way of earning money which I was previously unaware.

Would recommend this course to anyone who enjoys the idea of putting creative thoughts down in writing.

Anne Assheton-Salton

Course starting: October 2011

Review posted: July 2012