Curtis Brown Creative レビュー 

The first time I've ever signed up for a creative writing course and I am so pleased I found this.

Has the feel of one-on-one tuition and there were many points made that I could identify with.

Having other people on the course providing feedback on your work was an excellent experience.

I wish I'd found about the course before. Very useful and informative.

Comprehensive online creative writing course that's tuned into prevalent publishing trends. Highly recommended.

Brillaint course- excellent teaching, easy to access and a great online forum with like minded people.

An extremely helpful course that will really enhance any writer's work. Highly recommended.

So pleased I signed up to this 10 week course with CBC. The timing of the Lockdown certainly helped in providing the necessary time, but in fact the learning videos and set tasks required minimum time, and experiential learning is fantastic. The student forum was supportive and very friendly. Highly recommended.

Since the substance of the base material of the course is widely available elsewhere, and CBC makes it very clear (quite rightly) that taking a selective course does not guarantee an agent at the end of it, the value of such a course lies in the quality of the personal tuition and encouragement of the tutor. When the tutor has zero interest in the work of most of the students, fails to read it in any detail, and responds aggressively to any challenges made to her slapdash work, this course represents very poor value for money.

I would be sympathetic to CBC's dependence on this single point of failure had they monitored the quality of the course, intervened appropriately and immediately, and been consistent and upfront in how they managed the fallout.

By the end of my course, a third of the students had fallen by the wayside (astonishing, given the cost of the course.). Depending on how aggressively they complained, students were pacified with different levels of compensation, and, I understand, told not to tell anyone else what they'd got. I was promised that all feedback would be collected via a feedback form distributed at the end of the course, since my main concern was that no other group would be subjected to this experience. I'm still waiting for the form.

I can't comment on the quality of tuition on other CBC courses, but my experience of CBC management in this instance was extremely poor.

Were all of the other reviews invited? Having taken one of CBC's six month novel writing courses online, I'm incredulous at the glowing responses here.

My experience:

The tutor did not read any of my three submissions prior to giving "feedback" or even prior to our Skype tutorials. This was the case for multiple other people in the course. Throughout the six months, it was clear in the tutor's posted responses that she had no idea what many of her students' submissions were about (because she hadn't read them), what was happening in the novels of these students, or even the names of their characters. Her feedback notes were shockingly garbled and some of her sentences so riddled with grammar inaccuracies that it was a struggle to figure out what she was actually trying to say. Many of her emails were the same. On occasion, she half-heartedly attempted to allude to passages or elements of published novels she had clearly not read. The tutor was churlish and vindictive in her replies to certain students on the online forum. The only value to the course became the feedback students gave each other, and frankly this was not worth the exorbitant fee because there are so many free online sources at which writers may receive feedback from other writers.

Furthermore, despite the fact that this was a small group of students on a six month course, the tutor couldn't get the names of several students right and persisted in calling some students by the wrong names right up to the last week.

Some people on our course did complain to CBC, and the tutor then spent the last two weeks of the course going back to edit older posts. Or maybe someone from CBC was editing her older posts? In any case, the tutor's ongoing struggle with writing clearly in her feedback, posts, and emails make her entirely unsuitable to teaching in an online format. Presumably she IS capable of writing clearly because she has published several novels: what, then, was going on in this course? CBC had no business taking money from students for this mess, and students certainly spent a great deal of time discussing what could be going wrong with our tutor.

The instructional readings on the course forum consisted of fragments of basic writing concepts that are freely available on the internet. You can read the same ideas, presented in greater detail with examples, in multiple books and guides on the craft, all of which cost significantly less than the price of this course. Instead of paying an exorbitant fee to read a few watered-down, basic ideas on a CBC forum, I suggest taking a look at the tried-and-true Strunk and White classic, The Elements of Style, or at books about writing by Anne Lamott, Natalie Goldberg, William Zinsser, Stephen King, or others. The CBC course does not present any concepts in much depth and the tutor was not invested enough to discuss any concepts at length or to any useful degree.

To be fair, the tutor did seem to spend a great deal of time on two students on the course. I had the sense that the rest of us were there only to provide tuition fees.

I believe this online course is a cash cow for CBC. CBC admin: you should be ashamed for taking so much money from people, and then failing to ensure adequate quality control of tuition and course content.

Interestingly, one of the students who was routinely dismissed by the tutor has secured a literary agent of her own. This should offer some hope to other students who have been exploited, disrespected, and ignored by this tutor.

Summary: this course was of shockingly poor quality and the tutor's blatant unwillingness to even read the work of some students was disheartening and unscrupulous. CBC saw what was going on and allowed it to continue for the duration of the course, and this tutor is still teaching the same course.

CBC admin told us they would be contacting each person on our course to ask for feedback after the course had concluded, but they never did this, presumably because they had received enough complaints from students during the course that they knew there would be very little positive feedback. CBC, on the chance that you simply forgot to contact me and my fellow course members for this, you may consider this review my end-of-course feedback.

Edit/Reply to CBC's Response:

CBC wrote: "We would like to discuss your concerns in depth so we can gain a full understanding of what happened during your course..."

My Response: Actually, you did have a full understanding of what happened during my course. Multiple people on the course--including me--complained to CBC admin about what was happening. Two people who took the course in previous years with the same tutor assure me they had complained. You knew.

None of this is new. You are inviting my response now only because I have posted this in a public forum.

The course brought me into the midst of the industry - a great shortcut with respect to learning about what agents are looking for. The tutors also encouraged students to learn from each other and, since the ending of the course, being amongst a group of committed writers has been really important in helping me finish my manuscript. The CBC team are great and really supportive and have been very helpful in the submissions process and will continue to be with the second novel. I'm very glad I did the course. My confidence and understanding has grown since having had the tutor, agent and student feedback.

I first did the online six-month novel writing course and the experience was incredible. The quality of written and video materials was second to none alongside our tutor's supportive but honest feedback that made ask so much more of myself as a writer. Having the space to work with other writers and read and analyse their work was invaluable and enhanced my own writing in a way that I hadn't anticipated. I learnt so much! The support from the CBC team was brilliant and I still feel a part of the CBC family.
I also did the three-month editing course and again the notes and guidance I received really helped me shape and edit my manuscript to the point where I felt I could submit it.
The relationship between CBC and Curtis Brown means you're working with experts in their field who know publishing inside out and who want you to succeed. I would certainly consider future courses.

A brilliantly constructed course, full of tips and challenges to help hone writing and make it the best it can be.
Fabulous tutors, stacks of useful resources, and a positive and supportive community.
Nothing is too much trouble for the CBC team. Great communicators who are always on hand to help or share their expertise.
I can't recommend CBC highly enough to new and budding writers.

Curtis Brown Creative are excellent, well informed and insightful.
Very well connected into the industry.
And you meet brilliant, creative people, all with their own story to tell!

Loved every second of the course, both for the content and tuition and for the selected group with which I was lucky enough to be matched. Am so glad I applied for the 6 month course as it allowed sufficient time and practice for the advice to seep in and become assimilated. Excellent tutor, impressive speakers and a writing group who one day I hope to meet on a bookshelf.

Curtis Brown Creative offer 3 month or six month online creative writing courses presented in weekly modules with accompanying material, videos and written tasks for students to work through and critique on a secure platform with fellow students. The courses and feedback have given me valuable tools and tips to take away and use during the various stages of the writing process from the beginning, middle and end of the novel.
A highlight and special feature has been the insight and understanding of how a literary agency works and how to prepare a novel for submission to agents.
The online interaction between tutors, agents and fellow writers on respective courses has given me an unique opportunity to e-meet and network with a great writing community and I would highly recommend the courses to writers who are looking to take a work in progress to the next level.

The best creative writing school for those who want to learn how to edit and improve their work-in-progress and make sure it catches the eye of agents and publishers. Superbly organised, with a range of accessible, intelligent learning materials brimming with practical advice, and brilliantly taught by outstanding writers, agents and publishers. With a strong record of success across all genres, I can heartily recommend Curtis Brown Creative.

Inspiring, educational, transformative.
Highly recommended.

Loved both my classes. Very impressed with the professionalism, customer service, and of course the great teachers. Look forward to the newsletter, too. It also seems you are always seeking to improve and offer new services. thank you.

One comment is that as someone living int he U.S., it would be nice to invite some US agents once in a while.

At times confronting, surprising and very entertaining, the six month online novel writing course I did with Curtis Brown Creative led to representation by two CB agents, Alice Lutyens and Pippa Masson, and a two book publishing deal with Text Publishing, a major independent Australian publisher. The friendships I made are among the most important in my life. To say I’m pleased I took the course would be the understatement of the year.

CBC is the best writing workshop I've ever had. And I've studied creative writing at the Ph.D. level. I can't say enough positive things about the other writers and Anna Davis and everyone involved. I had the privilege of working with Nikita Lalwani as my tutor and I will never forget it. She is someone I really admire and was fabulous. I loved every minute of the two courses I took. For me, the only problem is the expense. The programs are all way out of my reach financially. But I was able to attend because I was given a scholarship. And then Anna Davis let me sit in on another workshop. I have to thank her and CBC for their generosity to me. I would recommend CBC to any serious writer and I have recommended it to serious writers I know. The only problem for us is that we're all struggling former academics and cannot afford the courses without financial assistance.

An invaluable course that I absolutely attribute my publishing contract to. Great tutors and excellent on-going support.

Career changing!
Taking Curtis Brown Creative's six-month online novel-writing course changed my career completely. The insights, the depth and breadth of the lessons, the one-on-one and group critique - every last piece of it was invaluable and I shaped me as a writer. Now the author of four traditionally published books and two more sold, I can't recommend CBC's courses highly enough.