The Creativity behind Curtis Brown Creative

There’s no other course like it. A writing course led by leading literary agents. Tutorials taught by best-selling authors and literary judges. All I can think is… um, how did I get here?

My fellow members are well-known and reputable in their own right. Two are already published authors. One writes for international fashion magazines and is recognised by the British Prime Minister. And here I am, critiquing and editing their work? It seems surreal. It’s also the best course I could have applied for.

The work is comparable to a university course unit. We have homework each week and half the time, I have to use my dictionary to search up the vocab my tutor utters. He’s witty, intelligent and well-read. Our homework consists of writing (obviously) and the exercises are funny, smart and somewhat competitive as we scramble to dust off our keyboards and get typing. We’ve reworked the introduction to Frankenstein and written the synopsis of an old childhood book, using memory alone to aid us. Our recent task was to write about a person we know or have just met and what we imagine them doing alone each day. If only she knew!

Through these tasks, I realise who I’m working with. These aren’t students from my previous creative writing degree, whom had no life experience and wrote about crushes on boys. Oh no, my peers are extremely talented writers.

We have resources to scrutinise each week, videos from well-known authors to ponder over and then the best part: we are required to edit/critique 3000 words of 3 of our fellow members work (each week), providing a 200 word analysis. It results in 900 words, as I have too much to say. Then we collectively debate what we thought about the other critiques and add it to a week-long discussion forum.

I got meet my tutor face-to-face on Tuesday. To say I was nervous was an understatement! What would he think of my work? What would we even talk about? Luckily, I’d written down questions to guide the conversation. I spent ten minutes simply setting up my camera at all different angles, unsure about how I should portray myself? Professional or lively? Hair down and chill, or up and like I mean business? Luckily, I had nothing to worry about. Even with his exemplary literary knowledge, he was helpful, allowing me to recognise facets in my book that I hadn’t yet considered, which assisted in the continuity. He also said what I’d been wanting to hear…

It’s one draft away from being at a publishable standard. In fact, he suggested I stop with this novel and develop my new story while I’m there. Great. I’ll follow his advice while I wait for the agents to respond.

So, what do I think of the course at this stage?

• It’s a MUST for people who are starting their manuscript and needing a team of supportive, like-minded, eagle-eye peers who will pull your work apart.
• The resources they provide are much like what I got at uni, however, they’re structured and linking to the course concepts with included videos from best-selling authors.
• The tutorials are extremely beneficial as the tutor (also a well-known British author) asks questions that you probably haven’t yet considered. Plus, he knows a great deal about the publishing business and what editors want, so his advice is priceless.
• The group converses on a day-to-day basis. Although, we’re all over the world, we just pick up where we left off. We can ask one another anything and someone will respond with helpful feedback.
• Critiquing other writers work actually assists in my own writing. You gather info and tips from the group that you can apply to your own work.
• Three months is a long time. Long enough to be writing your first draft while partaking in the course.
• The reputation. It’s such a renowned course that agents and publishers alike will recognise once you start submitting.
• Many best-selling authors have been published through the course such as, Jane Harper (The Dry), Jessie Burton (The Miniaturist, The Muse), Kate Hamer (The Girl in the Red Coat), Nicholas Searle (The Good Liar) Caz Kinsella (Sweet Little Lies) just to name a few.
• You’re getting tips and motivation from literary agents: What more could you want?

There are many blogs out there detailing the advantages of applying for any of the Curtis Brown Creative courses, and mine is just another to add to the list. I’m loving it and getting so much out of it. But I have another 9000 words to devour, so I better get to it!

Thanks for stopping by,

Holly