Can I choose a screenwriting specialism on the MA Creative Writing?

Yes. Screenwriting is one of three full specialist tracks alongside fiction and poetry. Screenwriting students graduate with a feature screenplay or a television pilot script plus episode bible, with industry feedback from working screenwriters and producers.

How long is the graduating manuscript on the MA Creative Writing?

It depends on form. Fiction students typically submit a 25,000–35,000-word novel partial; poetry students submit a complete collection; screenwriting students submit a feature screenplay or a television pilot with episode bible. All are workshop-tested and supervised across the year.

Will I have agent introductions on the MA Creative Writing?

The course's industry-week programme brings in UK literary agents and screen producers. Where work is ready and the agent fit is right, tutors make introductions. The course does not promise representation; that depends on the work and the market.

Can I take the MA Creative Writing part-time?

Yes. The MA can be taken over 24 months part-time. Online and distance routes are available. The weekly workshop seminars remain the spine of the course; part-time students attend on a defined evening or weekend rhythm.

Is the MA Creative Writing more about literary or commercial writing?

Both. Tutors include writers working at both ends of the market — literary fiction, commercial genre, prestige drama and popular narrative. Your manuscript is judged on the standards of its own market, not on a single house style.

MA Creative Writing in London | LSJHML | Harold International College of London

Course Overview

The MA Creative Writing at the London School of Journalism, Humanities & Modern Languages (LSJHML) is a one-year UK postgraduate degree for writers ready to produce a substantial finished manuscript under sustained workshop supervision. You will choose a specialism in fiction, poetry or screenwriting, work through weekly workshops with published writers, and graduate with a substantial original manuscript — a novel partial, a complete poetry collection, or a feature screenplay or television pilot package.

The MA Creative Writing assumes serious commitment to a writing life. We assume you have already done some work and want a year of structured craft, sharp critique, and the deadlines that get books finished. By graduation you have a manuscript you can show to agents, a workshop record, and a substantially deeper craft than you arrived with.

Key Features

Weekly workshop seminars in your chosen specialism — submit and critique pages every week in small groups led by published writers.
One-to-one supervision with a writer working in your form — fortnightly across the year.
Industry-week programme with literary agents, editors, screen producers and showrunners.
Publication-pathway support — submissions, agent introductions where appropriate, festival and award submission.
Substantial graduating manuscript — typically a 25,000–35,000-word novel partial, a complete poetry collection, or a feature screenplay or television pilot with episode bible.
Graduating reading in front of an invited audience of agents, editors and tutors.

What You Will Learn

The MA Creative Writing is structured around sustained drafting, critical workshopping and supervised revision. You graduate with both a finished manuscript and the workshop literacy to keep producing manuscripts after the course ends.

Specialist craft in fiction (point of view, scene, dialogue, structure), poetry (line, image, voice, form) or screenwriting (structure, dialogue, beats, format).
Workshop practice — giving critique constructively, receiving it usefully.
Sustained drafting — managing a manuscript across many months, recovering from drafts that aren't working.
Editing and revision — structural redrafting, line editing, the discipline of cutting.
Reading as a writer — close reading the contemporary canon and the new releases of your form.
Publishing literacy — agents, submissions, contracts, the realities of advance and rights.
Screen industry literacy (for screenwriting students) — the script-reader process, options, development practice.
Writing for performance — readings, live events, the public voice of a writer.
Industry strategy — building a writing life that sustains itself across years.

Who This MA Is For

Bachelor's graduates in creative writing, English or related humanities ready for sustained workshop training.
Working writers with publication credits seeking a structured year to produce a major manuscript.
Career-changers from teaching, law, journalism or other writing-adjacent professions committing seriously to a writing life.
International students seeking a UK MA in creative writing taught in the heart of the London publishing and screen industries.

Career Pathways

Writing is a portfolio career for most of its practitioners. MA Creative Writing graduates typically combine writing with related professional work — teaching, editorial, agency, screen-reading — while building a publication record. Typical first or next destinations include:

Novelist or Short-Story Writer (published with literary agent representation)
Screenwriter (television drama, film, narrative podcast)
Poet (publishing with small and trade presses, performance circuit)
Creative Writing Tutor (university, MA programmes, online courses)
Literary Agent's Reader or Editorial role (agency, indie press, trade publisher)
Story Consultant or Editor (screen development, longform podcast)

The MA also serves as a launchpad for doctoral research (creative-critical PhD) or for senior editorial roles in publishing and screen.

Entry Requirements

A UK 2:2 honours degree (or international equivalent) in a related subject, OR a 2:2 in any subject with two years of relevant writing experience.
IELTS 6.5 overall (no band below 6.0) for non-native English speakers.
Personal statement (max 1 page) outlining your writing background and intended specialism.
A writing portfolio of 3,000–5,000 words in your chosen specialism.
Two academic or professional references.
Applicants without a related undergraduate degree may be considered with significant industry experience and a strong writing sample.

Why Study at LSJHML

The London School of Journalism, Humanities & Modern Languages is a specialist higher-education provider based in central London. Our programmes are designed in dialogue with working professionals — journalists, translators, civil servants, academics, broadcasters, editors, publishers and policy researchers — so what you learn in seminar on Monday is what your future employer is using on Tuesday. We deliberately keep cohorts small, give every student named tutor support, and treat employability as a structural part of every programme rather than an optional add-on.

London is the work — politics, courts, capital markets, theatre, broadcasting, publishing, public service, the global press. Your studies are taught in the same square mile where the stories you read about happen. Whether you join us on-campus, online or by distance learning, the city is your classroom and our industry network is your launchpad.