List of best creative writing courses in Belfast

Top 5 Creative Writing Courses in Belfast With Placements

November 2, 2024 Aparna Sinha Roy

Do you like to uncover the power of words? Does creating an imaginary universe through your writings seem like a dream job for you? Do you want to nurture the writer within you and equip yourself with the right tools to be a highly sought-after creative writer in Northern Ireland? Read on to discover the top 5 creative writing courses in Belfast and jump-start your creative writing journey.

The ability to showcase creativity through one’s writing is a very valuable skill in today’s job market. Creative writing is a very integral part of Content creation and is necessary for both fictional and nonfictional writing. Belfast, the capital city of Northern Ireland has a very rich legacy of creative art, literature, and media. This has kindled a lot of interest in Creative Writing courses in Belfast.

But Let Us First Understand What is Creative Writing and Why Should You Learn It.

Creative writing has a very wide spectrum of activities covered under it. It can be fictional or nonfictional, biographies, video scripts, social media content, research papers, personal essays, and many more. The word creative writing has been a synonym for how storytelling can be incorporated into whatever form of work one is doing.

Storytelling has been considered the most effective form of writing, which directly connects with your readers on a personal note to bring the desired effect. This form is essentially taking one’s personal or somebody’s experiences and putting them beautifully into words, which can touch a direct chord with your reader, and provides the reader a space for imagination.

Imagination is the keyword in creative writing. A writer needs the imagination to provide fodder for the imagination of the reader. Creative writing is not something one must be born with. It can be learned through various sources. Art can be learned through observation or self-taught, but the science of creative writing must be taught by experts.

All of the various forms of writing may involve similar or different skill sets and an expert or an institute can systematically guide the learner’s nuances of it. Creative writing skills have become very popular today as it is very widely used in content creation. Every most viewed or liked content has a well-written script behind it and that is the reason it’s become more imperative to do a course in creative writing.

There are many ways to graduate in creative writing through courses in universities or online courses. Creative writing is taught as a very important module of content writing courses. Read on to get a full view of creative writing courses in Belfast. However, before delving into deciding which course meets your needs, you must first ascertain whether creative writing is something that excites you.

If you have a creative streak, a talent for imagination, and may or may not have proficiency with words but the plots and the dialogues in your head, keep you burning the midnight oil then this is the course you must consider. This course will equip you to take up creative writing professionally apart from getting certified.

Whether being a tenderfoot or a veteran, these courses are equally beneficial for all. Whether you aim to explore a new career or just up your skill, it will be valuable in both cases. The course providers hire the best of the industry talents and experts who can provide exposure to the latest tools and industry trends from the word go.

Skills That You Will Develop by Taking Up Creative Writing Courses in Belfast Are;

Exposure to the latest software, apps
Become part of a community where ideas can be shared and guidance can be received.
Exposure to industry experts and chances of internship to learn
Become certified and earn a degree
Enhancing observation skills
Exposure to various avenues that one may not think of.
Better communication skills
Time management skills as the course will require to produce time-bound assignments
Last but not least is excellent writing skills, which are required for any content creation job.

So if you want to be a content creator, scriptwriter, biographer, write personal essays or simply be an author for profession or fun, it will be more than beneficial to invest and pursue a course in creative writing.

Why Join Creative Writing Courses in Belfast

The city is full of its own stories from the historical Belfast peace walls, the engineering marvel of the Titanic, and the bustling streets. The city is a melting point of past, present, and future. It is known to be the leader of the industrial revolution in the 19th century. Belfast is known as the cultural academic center earning it the title of ‘Athens of Ireland’.

The city is known to be a welcoming city and is never short of opportunities in the field of creativity. The city boasts to be the hometown of some of the famous musicians and writers such as John Hewitt, the famous poet of the 1960s, and Desmond Fennel – a philosopher & linguist. C.S Lewis: the author of chronicles of Narnia and many more.

Creative writing courses in Belfast are available both on campus and online. Some of the top universities in Northern Ireland are offering this course while other top institutes offer creative writing as an important module in their content writing course.

1. IIM SKILLS

IIM SKILLS is the world’s leading Edtech institute well known for providing affordable high-class online education. The institute has been delivering professional courses for a highly rewarding career in various domains for the last five years. Industry experts teach these courses and being online can be accessed from any part of the world.

IIM SKILLS has a highly sought-after Content Writing Course. The course also prepares for HUBSPOT content marketing certification in the USA and the test of legal English Centre Cambridge UK. The course duration is 4 weeks with 3 months internship. Although the course is known as a Content writing Master course, it also has an extensive module on creative writing.

Through various assignments of script writing, social media writing, blogs with leading newspapers in India, and top-ranked websites, a lot of practical training is provided. The creative writing module also provides students an opportunity to write and publish their first e-book.

Among Other Modules, the Course Provides Exposure in:

Copywriting
Digital content – blogs, web pages, articles, etc.
Legal writing
SEO writing
Freelance content writing and how to monetize the writing.

This course not only trains in the technical aspects of writing but also provides ample opportunities for practical exposure and portfolio buildup. This can be considered one of the best online creative writing courses in Belfast.

Course Fee: 166.58 Euro + GST

2. Queen’s University Belfast

The university is ranked 2nd in the UK in times and Sunday times good university guide. The university offers undergraduate as well as postgraduate courses in creative writing in English. This undergraduate course is considered one of the top Creative writing Courses in Belfast and provides exposure to working with some of the well-known writers in the UK and Ireland.

The course explores the historical influence of language on modern-day including usage in media. The university has a great lineage of well-known authors like Nobel prize winner Seamus Heaney and T.S. Elliot prize winner Paul Muldoon.

The Course is Well Spread Between Multiple Modules Covering:

English in transition and context
History of the English language
Introduction to creative writing
Creative writing in drama, poetry, and prose
A compulsory module of dissertation writing. The topic for the dissertation can be chosen from a variety of topics available. This is an extensive research-based module.

There are other optional modules also available on topics like speech analysis, Shakespeare, the history of America, modernism, and modernity, and Irish literature among many others. This course covers many topics from ancient to modern creative writing. This is a full-time in-person course, however, all the lectures and course details are also available via:

E-learning portal: lectures, detail about the topic, assignments, and group discussions are available on E-learning portals
Web-based learning activities
Lectures- in-person lectures by the professors and visiting faculties
Personal tutors are also allocated to monitor progress and any help required by the students.
Self-directed studies with tutorials and research-based programs
Seminar tutorials
Supervised projects and assessments.

The university also offers opportunities with exchange programs for students from other universities. This is a very extensive course and provides a great opportunity to get a 360 view of creative writing.

Program Fee: GBP 18,800/ year for international students

Northern Ireland and EU students: GBP 4630 / year

Other variable costs may include books and resources.

Recommended Reads:

3. Ulster University

This is a world-renowned university well known for its course content centered around practical learning and focused on teaching subjects to cater to the growing economy. The main campus is located in Belfast but has campuses in some other cities as well. Although the university dates back its roots to the Victorian era, the outlook of the management is to provide future-centric education and facilities.

Ulster University has four campuses around Northern Ireland and provides full-time, part-time, eLearning, and blended courses. The course is provided by the Department of Arts, humanities, and social sciences and is part of a postgraduate course in English literature and creative writing.

The course explores various novels, poetry, and plays analyzing them in light of current literary debates. The creative writing module also provides an opportunity to write under the guidance of published writers. This course is good if you want to move ahead with further study and research in teaching positions, publications, and freelance in advertising, and administration.

The full-time course duration is 12 months

Part-tie course duration is 30 months

Course fee: GBP 15600 for international students. Other costs may include books and resources.

The course is very extensive and has a prerequisite of graduation or a diploma of the minimum upper second class in English literature. It is considered one of the best Master’s courses among creative writing courses in Belfast.

4. The Crescent learning

Crescent learning is an art and culture center in Belfast Northern Ireland providing people to learn and experience a lot of art culture and creative writing opportunities. The center organizes a wide variety of events and provides learning opportunities through courses offered.

The center has a theatre space, dance studio, music room, art studio, workshop spaces, and event halls. The center also conducts over 200 creative and learning classes for a broad age group and interests. These courses are aimed at integrating creative writing with various art forms.

The learning center also hosts an annual book fair in Belfast and offers creative apprenticeship for the students to utilize the technical learning of creative writing in the practical aspect of theatre, music, art, and social media.

The courses and workshops are organized from time to time to give exposure to learners with renowned authors. The topics of these workshops may vary from Spring Awakening and Poetry writing to the basics of creative writing and many more. They can be classified under short creative writing courses in Belfast.

Course fee: anywhere between GBP 50 to 100

5. Fighting Words in Creative Writing Workshop:

This is one of the short workshops to get acquainted with the concept of creative writing and explore the opportunity if one is fit for a career in creative writing. These workshops are free and open to all schools. Provided both online and in person at Skainos center in east Belfast. This program is designed to promote creative writing among post-primary and high school groups.

The motto of the program is to help young adults get exposure to a writing career. These workshops believe in providing creativity to their voice and enjoy the process. The institute aims to provide one of the best creative writing courses in Belfast for young adults.

Guided by a Volunteer Facilitator the Workshop Provides Exposure in:

Brainstorming to develop the storyline, characters setting of the story
Various methods of storytelling
Dialogue
Collaborative writing, discussions, and Sharing

Although this is a very basic course in creative writing but promises to expose the participants to all the required techniques of creative writing. Once they are exposed they can go on to complete a degree through a creative writing course in Belfast at a university or one of the online institutes.

Workshop cost: free

In this article, we have discussed the top 5 Creative Writing courses in Belfast, which include regular Bachelor’s degrees, Master’s degrees, online diplomas, and online and in-person workshops. The choice, of course, depends on the extent of the topic you want to learn and are willing to devote the time.

While Bachelor’s program offered by Queen’s university can be attended in person and has the added benefit of experiencing student life, is spread over four years. The diploma offered by IIM SKILLS is a short-term course with the added benefit of an internship and provides exposure to many other types of writing relevant to today’s job markets.

It does not specifically focus on creative writing skills only. It provides exposure to use creative writing in all scenarios of content writing. There are also many self-paced learning options available on Udemy and Coursera for Creative writing courses in Belfast.

Frequently Asked Questions About Creative Writing Courses in Belfast.

1. Is it worth spending on a creative writing course?

Creative writing is a very important skill, which is, not only required for creative art and media projects but also extends to technical writing, scientific information, and content writing projects. Many people may still debate that creative writing skills cannot be taught and with so many resources available online it is not worth spending on a structured course. But I would beg to differ.

One may have the flair for writing, and may also possess the enthusiasm to create an outstanding piece of writing but guidance from the experts can take your career to a greater height. The experts not only have the right tools but also industry experience which they can impart and help you to avoid the pitfalls.

If you are planning to creative writing or content writing as a profession it is more than worth investing in these courses. However, the choice of registering for a full-time course versus joining a part-time online course is yours based on what outcome your plan to achieve. The key factors to look at while deciding to take up the formal course are:

The outcome you want to achieve
How much time can you dedicate to the course
Do the benefits surpass the cost
Exposure to industry experts
Internship opportunities
Job prospects
Review

2. What are the top five tips to become a successful creative writer?

Creative writers are in demand due to current trends in content creation but it takes a lot of perseverance along with technical skills to be successful. The top five tips to be successful are :

Be consistent. Write everyday
Be observant about things, people, and issues.
Do not shy away from taking references from other writers.
Identify the target segments and write for them.
Build your narrative in a storytelling format as this connects with the readers more easily.

Apart from these most important is to practice your craft and become better at it and let your imagination take unchartered flight.

3. Do creative writers make money?

Yes, thousands of writers are making money every day. Though this may seem like a dream if are just starting, knowing the right technique is more than possible. Creative writing jobs can be fictional and non-fictional writing and one needs to find their niche and approach what excites them. There are various types of creative writing formats, which one can choose from.

Ghostwriting:

People who love to write but do not want to come too much in the limelight. Ghostwriting is a great way of earning money by writing people’s memoirs, fictional non-fictional work, and self-help ideas.

Video games story writing

This is one of the most lucrative aspects of creative writing. Many big companies spend millions in creating video games and the story must be perfect. So if you have an idea of how video game structure works you can pitch for work.

Scriptwriting:

Scriptwriting has a lot of scope for videos, reels, youtube, educational content, comic videos, and product and technology reviews videos

Editing services

Creative writers can provide freelance editing, proofreading, and review services

4. What is the definition of good creative writing?

There is no clear definition of good or bad creative writing as it is every individual’s style and perception. However, there are some ground rules, which must be followed to make your writing interesting:

Set the tone of writing by keeping your audience in mind.
Write what you know and can cite your personal experiences to make them relatable.
Use creativity with providing uniqueness to your writing, and sentence structure and maybe use the words in a unique context.
Give wings to your imagination
Use metaphors, similes, and alliteration to make the piece interesting

Final Thoughts

If you love writing and want to take your skills to next level it is imperative to get trained by people who are experts in the craft. With all the options available for Creative Writing courses in Belfast, a city with a very rich history of authors, and novelists, one can choose the course that best suits their needs. Going through formal education in university for 3-4 years and getting a Bachelor’s or degree in creative writing or learning through online short-term courses is a matter of personal choice and goals.

Both methods of education have their advantages and costs as we have discussed in detail in this article. So go ahead and choose. Whether you are very happy learning or just upgrading your skills whatever the case may be and translate all your dreams into reality. Let your creativity manifest through your writings!

Vaibhav Kakkar