Do writing courses help in getting published?
BY Laura Marshall
10th Aug 2017
Laura Marshall, who studied on one of our London writing courses in 2015, has just had her debut novel Friend Request published by Little, Brown. Here, in a piece that originally appeared on her own author blog, she talks about how her time with CBC helped her, and asks whether such creative writing courses can help aspiring writers find a book deal. There’s been a lot written about creative writing courses over the past few years. They spring up like mushrooms, proliferating at an alarming rate. When I sat down at my computer in September 2015 and googled ‘creative writing courses’, the array was bewildering. I was fairly sure that some of them would be excellent and some less so, but how to tell the difference? I consulted a friend of mine, the only person I knew who had written a book, and whom I knew had taken creative writing classes in the past. She recommended Curtis Brown Creative, a writing school attached to the eponymous literary agency that had not come up in my Googling. Or perhaps it had, but I'd discounted it, as there was a competitive element to even being accepted onto the course. I didn’t think I was good enough to get onto a course that didn’t take anyone who could afford to pay. This leads of course onto another contentious issue: cost. Curtis Brown Creative has recently started to offer shorter, online courses which are much more affordable, plus they usually have one free sponsored place available on each longer course. But if you want to do one of these longer courses and don’t bag the sponsored place (competition is fierce) the cost is prohibitive for a lot of people. Many people feel that this is another way in which books and publishing are kept firmly in the hands of the middle classes, and it’s hard to argue with this. Frankly, I don’t know what the answer is. CBC is not a charity, it’s a business and as such needs to make a profit if it is to survive. I have worked in conference and events for many years and have often been on the receiving end of complaints about the price of attendance from delegates. I am well aware of the costs, both direct and indirect, of putting on these kinds of things. It’s not just the tutors’ fees (and they attract great tutors who presumably don’t come cheap); there are staff to pay and overheads to consider. I doubt if it would be financially viable for CBC to charge much less than they do. However, the fact remains that this puts the possibility of applying for one of their longer courses out of reach of many people who might otherwise do so. But putting the money aside, was it worth it? I’ve heard it said that you can’t teach someone how to write, and I think that’s true, but you can definitely teach someone to become a better writer. I learned an enormous, unquantifiable amount from my amazing tutor Erin Kelly (pictured above) about the craft of writing, from creating suspense and atmosphere to structure and voice; but almost more important was the confidence I gained from somebody else reading my work and saying it was OK. I’d never really showed my writing to anyone before and I genuinely had no idea whether it was any good or not. If I hadn’t received the encouragement I did not only from my tutor and the CBC team, but also from my classmates, there is no way I would have been able to muster the stamina required to finish my novel whilst working full-time and bringing up a family. The course gave me something else too: an understanding of and access to the mysterious world of publishing. It had always seemed to me a rarified, exclusive enclave that only those with the right contacts were permitted to enter, contacts I simply didn’t have. But with each guest lecturer that we had on the course, whether agent, publisher or author, the veil was twitched aside a little more, and I began to feel that maybe, just maybe, there was a place for me in there. I don’t know if creative writing courses per se are ‘worth it’. I suspect that even amongst my classmates you would find a range of different answers to that question. All I know is that for me, it was the best decision I have ever made and it has changed my life utterly, leading to agent representation and ultimately to a publishing deal for my debut novel Friend Request. I’d love to hear your experiences of creative writing courses. Friend Request by Laura Marshall is out now. To purchase a copy, please click here.For an in-depth course as part of a group of 15 (in which students are selected on the basis of their submission) with a great tutor and participation from our literary agents, apply for:Six-Month Novel-Writing Course in London with Christopher Wakling (deadline for applications is Sunday 21 January).Six-Month Online Novel-Writing Course with Lisa O’Donnell (deadline for applications is Sunday 28 January).For a dedicated online course for those writing for young adults or children as part of a group of 15 (in which students are selected on the basis of their submission), with a top children’s author, apply for: Writing YA and Children’s Fiction with Catherine Johnson (deadline for applications is Sunday 4 February).We are also offering three low-cost ‘foundation’ online courses, featuring tuition from CBC director Anna Davis: Starting to Write Your Novel (deadline for enrolment is midnight on Mon 15 January).Write to the End of Your Novel (deadline for enrolment is midnight on Mon 22 January).Edit & Pitch Your Novel (deadline for enrolment is midnight on Mon 29 January).