University help!
Caza_Bellow
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I sent my UCAS form away in December, and I applied for Media Studies, Media Studies & Production and Media Communication & Cultural studies. However, creative writing, drama and storytelling is what I really want to do, and I honestly thought that media, communication and cultural studies was the appropriate choice to make, however, now I am not so sure!
Is it too late for me to add another choice, and what course do you think would be the best to take if I wanted to do creative writing/storytelling etc?
Is it too late for me to add another choice, and what course do you think would be the best to take if I wanted to do creative writing/storytelling etc?
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Contact the universities.
Be aware that many creative writing degrees are joint honours (usually with English or Journalism) so that it's unlikely that you will get to concenrate on creative writing. I did English with Creative Writing at the University of Wales and the writing element accounted for only 1/3 of the course. The rest was English, and to be honest I found that coping with the demands of that side of the degree made it difficult to spend as much time as I would have liked writing. Try to find a less theory-driven degree - I did a term of Theatre Studies, which was really good fun and helped with developing plot and characters.
My friend at Bangor did a BA in Creative Studies, which was theatre, creative writing, media and film combined. In retrospect I wish I'd done that too!
I know my university had both a drama society and a writing society, not to mention a newspaper, radio and TV station so a variety of opportunities that might catch your interest.
Also, can you see yourself doing something like creative writing as a degree choice where it is likely to be structured or would you prefer it to remain a leisure activity where you can just write whatever you fancy? I have a History degree but I was still able to do a lot of writing - mainly short stories but also a short novel and obviously the essays for my courses.
Also, you might find TheStudentRoom forums more helpful as it's full of people who will have had similar issues.
Do you mean I should contact the University in which I'm looking to do the course, or the University in which I have applied for a course, but don't particularly like?
Or during your first year, depending on the university's rules/regulations about transfers.
I'm still in touch (through Facebook) with the people I studied creative writing with... One has had a few poems published in an anthology, and I've been comissioned to write a play; but I don't think a single one of us has been commercially published. The friend I mentioned earlier who did Creative Studies now works producing TV / stage productions, but has to do admin work between shows to pay the bills.
Creative writing was fun, and it was a good introduction to the different genres and formats - but as a route to publication it wasn't much help. If you know what you want to write, you're better off just writing it and trying to get an agent, rather than paying for a degree. (Besides which our course tutors were very academic and we weren't encouraged to read or emmulate commercially successful authors. It was more about art and expression than writing to make money.)