When anyone wants to learn a new skill, the obvious first port of call is often  a formal structured study course. There are certainly no shortage of them in the world of creative writing and opinions of their value range from high to very low.

Amusingly, some of the most negative comments come from creative writing teachers themselves (often reasonably well-known and successful authors) and a more cynical person might say that they are paying lip service to their teaching duties while trying to supplement the limited income that most published authors earn from book sales.

That cynic might also remark on the fact that several of the most prestigious courses are run by publishers or literary agents and their main marketing hook is the access that will be given to their staff rather than what you will actually learn.

But we shouldn’t listen to cynics as they are very drab people.

The problem I’ve found is that the courses I can find seem to be for other people. The prevailing themes are ‘How to start your novel’ or ‘How to finish your novel’.

What about a course for ‘How to make your novel better?’

For whatever reason, I don’t struggle with starting or finishing or even the bit in the middle (although it is hard to keep motivated when the end seems a long way off).

That being said, I do know that my writing isn’t as good as it could be, and would welcome all of the help I can get to make it better. Unfortunately most of these courses only include a tiny number of direct feedback sessions with tutors and those are based on just a few pages of writing.

All writers are different and our styles are inevitably built on the work of the author’s we have read as well as our own life experiences. At this stage, I don’t want be spoon fed received wisdom about how a few other writers have addressed a particular issue. I want as much high quality feedback on my writing as I can get. What works well. What doesn’t. And then maybe a debate on how other writers have dealt with similar issues.

I am taking a course on Advanced Creative Writing from Oxford University in April 2017 so will find out more. I am a little concerned that it will end up being more about academic literary criticism than helping me to improve what I do.

I will keep an open mind and it may open the door to other study opportunities down the line.