Learning how to be Creative, Digital and Professional…while Writing

Consider yourself something of a writer? Curious about where your talent could take you? Put your pen down for a minute and get a feel for our postgraduate degree course in creative, digital and professional writing from wisecracking wordsmith and master's student, Matt. 

Date: 8 April 2021

Hi. Matt here.

The master's course (hereafter referred to as MA because it’s easier to write and I’m a bit lazy) I’m currently working towards is the Creative, Digital and Professional Writing MA, which is a pain to say and even more of a pain to type. It is not, however, a pain to study. If, like me, you know roughly which industry you’d like to work in but aren’t 100% certain what exactly you’d like to specialise in, this master’s degree course is perfect. It'll teach you a broad range of skills and narrow them down to the ones you want to turn into a career.

Because that’s what it’s all about: a career. I’m not a hugely academic person, so a PhD was never on the cards, which only really left an MA as my last line of defence against launching myself into the real world armed only with my wit, my will and a certificate from my first university telling me I’m pretty good at writing essays. Way back in October, choosing a career from the thousands available felt a bit like choosing a holiday by throwing a dart at a map while blindfolded, facing the wrong way, suspended upside-down from an exploding helicopter. Hence my decision to give tertiary education one last go.

I’ve enjoyed this MA hugely so far. I started this academic year with a rough idea of what I was good at (words), what I was pretty good at (funny words) and what I wanted to be particularly good at (very funny words). Besides that, I was largely ignorant as to what I actually wanted to get out of my time here. Redefining my potential career path seemed enough to be getting on with. So far so good – not only do I now know where I want to go, I’ve also got a pretty good idea of how to get there.

This postgraduate degree’s strength lies in its variety. Most other creative writing courses will focus only on one particular form of writing, and if that’s what works for you then that’s great. But if, like me, you’re a little unsure about which form of writing suits you best, then the Creative, Digital and Professional Writing master's course at London Met is the one for you. So far I’ve studied writing for novels, writing for newspapers, writing for magazines, writing for video, writing for research, writing for films, writing for TV, writing for social media, writing for podcasts, writing for games, writing for blogs, vlogs and clogs. With one exception (clogs), these are all incredibly useful skills for a budding-if-a-little-clueless writer to have. Will I use every single one of them during my professional career as a writer? Almost certainly not. But that’s not the point, as I’m sure you’ve noticed by now.

Of course, a certain amount of this is down to personal choice. There is a certain level of flexibility in this MA and you are able to tailor it to align with your personal preferences, but actually the vast majority of that list is included in the core modules, so no matter what optional modules you go for, you’ll still come away with a whole raft of new writing skills you didn’t know you needed but are nonetheless glad you have.

One final point, which in my opinion is this MA’s best feature: you are given a lot of freedom. It sounds obvious that a creative writing course would encourage you to be (surprise surprise) creative, but at no point have any of the tutors imposed their will on our work. We’ve all heard the sentence ‘do whatever you like, as long as…’ at some point, but you won’t in this degree. Go wild. Unless you are exceptionally lucky, you’re unlikely to be given that level of creative freedom again. Getting high marks is all well and good, but pushing your creative boundaries and learning what you as a writer can do – that’s even better.

 

 

left hand writing in a notebook and right hand on the laptop keyboard

"...no matter what optional modules you go for, you’ll still come away with a whole raft of new writing skills you didn’t know you needed but are nonetheless glad you have."

Read more about Matt's experience studying at London Met here. 

You can also hear Fatha's story about studying creative writing with us at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.

Or discover Jade's less-traditional route onto the MA course.

 

Want to find out more?

Visit the Creative, Digital and Professional Writing MA course page for more details.