Creative and Professional Writing

Creative and professional writing is a discipline that takes both the craft of writing and its practical applications seriously. Creative writing develops your ability to produce fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, and other forms of imaginative literature, through sustained practice, close reading, workshop critique, and the development of your own distinctive voice. Professional writing extends this into the contexts where writing is done for specific audiences and purposes: journalism, copywriting, digital content, technical communication, and the writing skills needed across every profession.

Together, they form a programme that is both artistically rigorous and practically grounded.

This three-year full-time programme at the University of Chester includes a year abroad, giving you the experience of living and writing in a different country and culture. The year abroad is particularly enriching for writers, who draw on observation, experience, and an understanding of different ways of living. You will study the craft elements of different forms of writing, the history and contexts of literature and journalism, the editorial and revision processes that transform drafts into finished work, and the professional landscape of writing careers including publishing, media, marketing, and the digital content economy.

Workshop culture, in which student writing is read and discussed critically by peers and tutors, is at the heart of the programme.

Graduates from this programme pursue careers as novelists, journalists, copywriters, content strategists, technical writers, scriptwriters, editors, communications professionals, and teachers. Many pursue portfolio careers, combining different kinds of writing with other roles. The professional writing component of the degree is important precisely because it ensures graduates understand the range of contexts in which their skills are applicable.

Further study options include master's degrees in creative writing, journalism, publishing, and communications, and the year abroad experience is often directly relevant to the kind of writing graduates produce after graduation.