In July last year I subscribed to a Novel Writing course offered by the London School of Journalism. Keen and eager (although somewhat less convinced my idea could hold a story) I penned the first draft of a synopsis in a charming little coffee shop in Ilfracombe, North Devon.
Fourteen classes and twenty-seven written submissions later, I’m pleased to announce that I’ve have completed the course with flying colours. Go me!
This isn’t the end of my creative exploits. Spurred on by the course, I’m continuing in earnest on my manuscript (#AmEditing as the cool cats on Twitter say) and dipping my toe into the world of short stories.
While my love, life and ambition is to turn my manuscript into a fully published novel, I’ve discovered that diverting energy into other avenues is a great way to refresh and experiment. Also a bit of fun! (Which I know for some people must sound weird. The idea of hours of writing, followed by 2000 words of something news.)
Thank you to my wonderful tutor Val Holmes for being a fresh pair of eyes throughout the course and being unafraid to challenge the creative choices I make.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, this isn’t the last you’ve heard of my writing exploits.
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My Housemate's a Mermaid 
Hey! How did you find the course? I’m thinking of taking one of the journalism ones and would love to hear what you thought of the expereince 🙂
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Hey Naomi, thanks for the comment!
I found LSJ to be a great long distance course. Currently employed in a fulltime job in Finance, I didn’t have the time/money/lifestyle to consider studying towards a masters in creative writing. I needed something that could work around me.
For me I got the lesson material via the student site (released 2 lessons at a time). I’d read the material and then send back my coursework to a dedicated email address. Unlike a lot of other short courses out there, with LSJ you get the human interaction of an assigned tutor who gives valuable feedback throughout the course. It’s self paced, so how long it takes you to complete is dependent on your own commitments to complete work and the marking turnaround. I did it in a year, but to be honest the bulk if my submissions came in the second half, when I suddenly hit my writing stride and couldn’t stop!
While there’s no qualification gained from the short courses, LSJ does post out a certificate on decent quality paper with a foil stamp, once you’ve completed the course. You also get the satisfaction that LSJ is a reputable school that has physically existed for 100 years (which meant a lot to me when deciding on educational establishments).
If you’re dipping your toe into writing I’d 100% recommend it as a stepping stone for seeing if journalism could be a viable career path without investing your life savings or signing up to videos/multiple choice assessments that will do nothing for improving confidence or writing skill.
I hope this helps, please keep me posted if you go ahead with a writing course. Would be good to hear how you get on! 🙂
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