Professional Writing MA (Full-time & Part-time online)

Why study MA Professional Writing at University College Falmouth?

Do you want to write a novel, non-fiction book or TV screenplay? Or make a career in features journalism or copywriting for business? On this practical, commercially focused course you'll develop the core skills required to write effectively across a range of forms and to market your work in the highly competitive media industry.

Our MA Professional Writing course can be studied full-time over one year or part-time over two years, by online distance learning.

The Professional Writing team at Falmouth also run a highly successful series of short courses in writing for business.

University College Falmouth is part of the Cornwall Skillset Media Academy network - a UK-wide group of institutions identified as centres of excellence in creative media education and training.

Tell me more about the Professional Writing MA course

The MA has built a strong reputation for giving talented writers the focused skills and knowledge they need to make successful careers in many different areas of the media.

It starts by introducing the core skills needed by all professional writers - techniques to structure your ideas, develop different kinds of narrative, edit and critique your own work and that of others. You'll then focus on developing more specialist skills, choosing from options including Writing the Novel, Writing Non-fiction, Scriptwriting and Business & Editorial Writing.

In the last part of the course you'll complete a longer project, which might be - depending on your chosen specialism - a TV or radio script, part of a fiction or non-fiction book, or a substantial piece of writing for a business context. This part of the course is individually negotiated so that you can shape it to your needs and aspirations, with the possibility for part-time students to develop projects relevant to their roles at work.

Throughout the course you'll be helped and encouraged to develop an understanding of the writing industry, together a with high-calibre portfolio of your own work and the confidence and presentational skills to market it effectively.

The course is taught entirely by practising writers through a mix of seminars, workshops and collaborative writing/editorial projects. A lively programme of visiting speakers features talks and workshops by many high-profile authors, editors and publishers. Over the past few years, guests have included:

• Best-selling novelists John le Carré, Patrick Gale, Helen Dunmore and Emily Barr
• Leading non-fiction authors Richard Benson, Paul Kingsnorth and Tom Bromley
• Multiple award-winning travel writer, historian and novelist, Philip Marsden
• The BBC's Controller of Drama Production and New Talent, John Yorke, who led a week-long workshop in which students wrote and produced short online dramas
• Leading authority on writing for business, John Simmons
• TV scriptwriter James Henry, whose credits include Green Wing and Campus
• Leading books apps developer Dan Witters
• Award-winning radio/TV scriptwriter and producer Paul Dodgson
• Top literary agents Mark Lucas and Elinor Cooper

Whether you're a full-time or part-time student, you'll have opportunities to take part in exciting team projects. These might include (for example):

• Blogging from a literary festival or interviewing well-known authors at the London Book Fair for Falwriting.com
• Team-writing and producing a radio comedy show for broadcast, working with a leading radio producer and professional actors
• Taking part in a high-profile writing/design project such as 26 Flavours

Part-time option

The part-time MA runs over two years and is taught online by distance learning, making it possible for students to study at the same time as working or dealing with family commitments. Falmouth's specially designed virtual learning environment, the Learning Space, allows you to interact fully with your peers and tutors, giving access to an extensive array of online resources including lectures, guides to particular aspects of writing and professional practice, critiquing forums, research resources and videos of talks by writers, publishers and literary agents at the forefront of their professions.

MA Professional Writing in the news

'Turn on your iPod and learn' - The Independent, Thursday 1 October 2009

Often VLEs can be information noticeboards and nothing else. Interactivity, being able to share and comment on work along with comments from course tutors, is the strength of this model. A significant amount of course information, use of effective multimedia resources and a personable feel to the site makes the course engaging for the student. Anonymous beta tester

More information about home based learning is available here

Student achievements

MA Professional Writing students develop a wide range of creative projects, both individually and collaboratively. Many of these have resulted in publication and/or career opportunities. A few examples help to show how the ability to work across a range of different formats and media can really pay dividends:

For the Non-fiction unit, Gareth May developed an idea for a book about becoming a man in the 21st century. To accompany this, he created a website, 21st Century Boy, offering advice on everything from how to hold a baby to how to defend yourself in a pub brawl. After leaving Falmouth, Gareth sent out a press release about the site that resulted in him being asked to write a feature article for the Independent. Within days of this appearing, Gareth had been snapped up by a literary agent and secured a major book deal with Random House. 150 Things Every Man Should Know: Telling You the Things Your Best Friend Can't was published in time to achieve excellent Christmas sales in 2009.

While on the course, Beccy Matthews worked on a novel set in early 20th-century Cornwall, but also developed her skills as a features journalist. After leaving Falmouth, she went on to found Verve Publishing, which produces three highly successful magazine titles: Movie Magic, Big Screen and Wed.

Shortly after finishing completing her MA in 2006, Anusia Kotowicz won the i-blink Scriptwriting Competition for her short script Bob's Grey Day. Since then, her full-length screenplay Fog, a psychological thriller that started life as Anusia's MA project, has gone into production with Casa Films.

In 2007, a team of students worked on a publicity and fundraising project for the NSPCC that involved editing and publishing a book of children's writing, working closely with designers and illustrators, creating a website and writing numerous press releases. The We Wish project succeeded in raising over £20,000 for the charity, and the book was described as "a triumph" by best-selling author and former Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo.

For her MA project, Sam Bowhay planned and created a website for a regional association of horticultural producers, as well as a range of publicity materials to promote its successful launch. This experience and portfolio helped Sam find a job with ink!, a leading copywriting agency, soon after finishing the course.

While at Falmouth, Ruth Underwood co-edited bloc-online (runner-up in the Guardian Media Awards Best Student Website category that year). She also wrote magazine travel features and, for her MA project, a 60-minute pilot episode for a TV drama series. which has since helped her gain work as a script editor on the ITV detective drama series Taggart.

In 2007, a team of students worked closely with professional designers, branding experts and photographers to develop and launch creativefalmouth.org, a website that showcases the Falmouth area as a hotbed of creative talent.

In 2009, a team of students worked with seasoned scriptwriter and producer Paul Dodgson - whose credits include Eastenders for BBC TV and Betjeman's Women for Radio Four - to write and produce a radio comedy. BOGOF, set in the aisles of a slightly surreal supermarket - was recorded by a group of professional actors before being edited and broadcast on Falmouth's very own radio station, The Source FM.

Before taking up a place on the course in 2006, Judy Heminsley had set up and run her own business. Judy drew on this experience to develop a book about working from home as her MA project. Work from Home was published by How To Books in 2008.

Ian Collier worked on a graphic novel project during his time at Falmouth, but also did work experience with a writing agency specialising in e-learning. He wrote recently to say: "I've been at Cambridge University Press for several years now, and have risen through the ranks. Now I put other people's writing into e-learning products and advise on the use of technology in the classroom, spend a lot of time in New York and still write comics for cash every now and again. As for the course, there were two principal rewards for me. The first was the set of new skills and a clear direction for practice and improvement. The second was a whole year's worth of time to write...The combination of the two can be life-changing."

MA student Rob Self-Pierson threw himself into several writing projects while at Falmouth, including the highly successful collaborative comedy event dumbFUNDED. He also worked on an idea for a book about the moon. After completing his MA, he embarked on a series on walks by moonlight, writing about these on his blog: discoveringbritainbyfullmoon This helped attract the attention of leading literary agency MBA, who now number Rob as a client, and has also helped land him work as a magazine journalist and creative copywriter.

As part of his work for the Business Writing unit, Tim Warren wrote an industry analysis based on a work placement with a leading corporate blogging agency. The insights and portfolio that he gained from this experience later helped him to find work as a freelance corporate blogger and copywriter. For the MA's Scriptwriting unit, Tim developed a radio comedy series that has since been taken up by a leading production company and pitched to the BBC.

Every year, many students on the course edit and create content for bloc-online, a showcase for new writing that in previous years has been both winner and runner-up in the Guardian Student Media Awards ‘Best Website' category.

Visiting speakers

Over the past few years, guests have included:

• Best-selling novelists John le Carré, Patrick Gale, Helen Dunmore and Emily Barr
• Leading non-fiction authors Richard Benson, Paul Kingsnorth and Tom Bromley
• Multiple award-winning travel writer, historian and novelist, Philip Marsden
• The BBC's Controller of Drama Production and New Talent, John Yorke, who led a week-long workshop in which students wrote and produced short online dramas
• Leading authority on writing for business, John Simmons
• TV scriptwriter James Henry, whose credits include Green Wing and Campus
• Leading books apps developer Dan Witters
• Award-winning radio/TV scriptwriter and producer Paul Dodgson
• Top literary agents Mark Lucas and Elinor Cooper

MA Professional Writing web links

MA Professional Writing Portal Page
This portal gives more information about the course, its culture, the postgraduate student writing community, alumni and staff. It also provides opportunities to interact with potential peers.

Professional Writing Research Portal
Whatever field you're working in as a writer, you need to know how to research effectively. This site will help you do just that.

Professional Writing newsletters

•  June 2011 Newsletter (164.49 KB)
•  July 2010 Newsletter (182.25 KB)
• December 2009 Newsletter (136.54 KB)
• November 2009 Newsletter (100.53 KB)
• April 2009 Newsletter (113.21 KB)
• December 2008 Newsletter (588.16 KB)
• May 2008 Newsletter (203.52 KB)
• December 2007 newsletter (2227.07 KB)
• June 2007 newsletter (316.89 KB)
• March 2007 newsletter (123.24 KB)

Short courses

Writing for Business

MA Professional Writing at University College Falmouth offers a range of one-day courses aimed at people who'd like to improve their writing skills for business.

Designed for busy professionals, these hands-on, practically focused courses will help anyone who wants to write better marketing copy, website copy, reports or proposals. Whatever business you're in, we'll show you how to make your writing clearer, more powerful and more creative.

More information about the writing for business courses can be found here

Professional Writing Summer School 2011

Every year, the MA Professional Writing team runs summer schools in Falmouth to enable budding writers to stretch their abilities and find out how to turn their talents into paid, published work.

Taught entirely by successful practising writers­, these courses have proved extremely popular with participants in previous years. One student on last year's Professional Writing Summer School commented: "The course far exceeded my expectations in professionalism and useful content."

More information about the professional writing summer school can be found here

Entry requirements

Entry requirements through the university sector include honours degrees, foundation degrees and HNDs in a related subject. If you have solid professional experience rather than an academic track record, this may be acceptable for entry to study at this level through a process called APEL (Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning).

Some of our most successful students have come from non-academic backgrounds. The most important thing we're looking for is a real aptitude for writing, demonstrated by examples of your work (published or unpublished), together with a disciplined approach that will allow you to make the most of the course.

More information about entry requirements and applying for our postgraduate courses can be found here

For further information about MA Professional Writing at University College Falmouth, please email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk or telephone Admissions on 01326 255764.

Answers and advice about the course

 Postgraduate study guide 2012 (2.70 MB)

If you have any queries about the course, we'd be glad to talk them over with you, or to put you in touch with alumni who can tell you about their experience on the MA Professional Writing course. Give us a call on 01326 255764 or email admissions@falmouth.ac.uk

HelpMe Forum: MA Professional Writing

Funding your study

A Master’s degree represents a significant investment in your future, and you will rightly be concerned about funding. Our fees & funding section outlines fees for full and part time students and has guides to introduce you to ways of funding your course at Falmouth.

Postgraduate Placements Cornwall

Put your skills to use in Cornwall's dynamic business environment on a paid placement project

Postgraduate Placements Cornwall is a consultancy level business placement programme starting in September 2011 and running in Cornwall until 2014. The programme is delivered by University College Falmouth and partner institutions University of Exeter and PCMD.

For more information about the project, please contact the Placement Office in the Annexe at Tremough:

Tel: 01326 254200 or 01326 255984
Email: placementteam@falmouth.ac.uk

Career opportunities

Recent graduates of the MA Professional Writing are working as magazine and website editors, freelance features journalists, scriptwriters and script editors, creative copywriters, and in a wide range of publishing and corporate communications roles. Several have published non-fiction books and others have placed novels with agents.

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