Converge
Creative writing courses
Discover the creative writing courses we offer.
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All our courses may be subject to change. You will be notified of these changes if necessary.
On our creative writing courses you can develop new skills and explore different writing techniques.
At the centre of Converge creative writing is our 'Creative Writing: Inspirations' course. This is the foundation for all the other writing courses we offer, so we ask that everyone starts here, whatever their previous experience.
All Converge creative writers are welcome to submit a piece for our annual publication, Creative Writing Heals.
Creative Writing: Spring into Writing
Course length: 8 weeks
Learning type: On campus learning
This is an introductory course for new students joining Converge in spring/summer 2026. It provides an introduction or a refresher in Creative Writing. Using Spring and Summer as a theme, students will study key techniques in Creative Writing such as observation, freewriting, imagery and reading texts as writers. Using seasonal prompts and observations around campus students will be able to gather a portfolio of themed writing by the end of the course. They can then progress to Inspirations in autumn term 2026 if they wish.
Creative Writing: Inspirations
Course length: 10 weeks
Learning type: On campus learning, online and by post through Converge Connected
Creative Writing Inspirations covers the fundamental skills and practices of creative writing, including: observation, freewriting, description, character, plotting and different forms such as prose, poetry and scripts.
It is a full year course taking place over eight sessions in the autumn term, and a further ten sessions in the spring/summer term. After finishing the autumn term, you still need to complete a new application form to continue with the course, but you will be automatically given a place.
IMPORTANT: In Spring/Summer 2026, Creative Writing Inspirations is only open to Converge students who took part in the course in autumn term 2025. If you are new to Converge and/or have not taken part in any Creative Writing courses with us before, please apply for Creative Writing: Spring into Writing.
Creative Writing: Craft of Writing
Course length: 10 weeks
Course location: On campus learning
Craft of Writing further develops your writing practice and helps you to build a body of work as a writer. We investigate aspects of writing such as developing pieces from initial ideas to completed projects, voice, narration and writing for performance.
You can only take part in Craft of Writing if you have completed the full year of Creative Writing: Inspirations.
Creative Writing: Read Like a Writer
Course length: 10 weeks
Learning type: Online through Converge Connected
In Read Like a Writer, you will study a range of texts by other writers, including classics and contemporary literature, in order to develop your own writing skills. We will take each text apart to see how its author wrote it, and then apply these principles to our own pieces. The course will cover topics such as character, rhythm, structure, plot, tone and atmosphere.
You can only take part in Read Like a Writer if you have completed the full year of Creative Writing: Inspirations.
Life Writing
Course length: 8 weeks
Course location: On campus learning
In this course you will be introduced to the many forms that Life Writing takes, from the personal to the published. We will consider what constitutes life writing, how it has evolved and how the art of storytelling can enhance the life story.
Practical tasks will provide an opportunity to experiment with style and form. We will explore published works, including diaries, the personal essay, autobiography and memoir to gain a greater understanding of this genre and perhaps influence your approach to your own writing.
Creative Writing: Writing the Uncanny
Course length: 5 weeks
Learning type: On campus learning
The creek on the stairs, a rustle in the garden, and a strange apparition. "I know what I saw." Writing the Uncanny is a specialist course for those who have already engaged in other Converge writing modules looking to develop their writing techniques.
On this course you will learn writing techniques and explore stories that deal with the uncanny, the strange, and the unnerving. We will examine ghost stories, weird and uncanny fiction and other stories that make the homely feel unhomely and uncanny.
We will look at developing your writing through examining uncanny fiction to develop your writing to create a sense of uneasiness within your work. Each week we will look at a different type of uncanny fiction including, ghost stories, folk horror, and gothic fiction.
Converge students need to have completed at least one term of Creative Writing Inspirations, or Life Writing, to be offered a place.
Short and Sweet: Make a Video Poem or a Flash Fiction Film
Course length: 10 weeks
Learning type: On campus learning
On this course, you will learn poetry, flash fiction (very short stories) and film techniques and bring them together to make your own video poem or flash fiction film in a collaborative and creative atmosphere.
We will experiment with using prompts to write stories and poems, and translating these into short films through visual storytelling, storyboarding and use of sound.
You don't need any previous experience of writing or filming to take part in the course. This is not an acting course, and you don't have to be filmed yourself.
The courses are interesting. I have become a better person and something of a poet!
— Converge student
