Writers who are serious about their craft can create a custom course of study to prepare for graduate programs in creative writing. In this post-baccalaureate certificate program, students hone their craft, formalize their training and build a solid portfolio of work for application to MFA and MA/PhD programs in writing. Courses are conducted as writing workshops to allow for valuable feedback from a community of fellow writers. As students analyze and write creative work and learn about the publishing world, their creative development is guided by instructors who are respected writers themselves. Students can explore a variety of writing areas, or they may specialize their course of study based on experience and discipline — fiction, creative nonfiction or poetry.
Students should have some academic writing experience before beginning the Creative Writing post-baccalaureate certificate.
Creative Writing Tuition
Post-baccalaureate students at Northwestern's School of Professional Studies pay per course. For more information about financial obligations and tuition, visit the Tuition page.
Admission for Creative Writing
In addition to completing an online application, you'll also need to submit a few supplemental materials. A list of requirements for admission including application deadlines and tips on how to apply can be found at the Admission page.
Creative Writing Registration Information
Whether you're a first-time registrant or current and returning student, all students register using our online student registration and records systems. Important information about registering for courses at SPS, including registration timelines and adding or dropping courses in which you are already enrolled, can be found at the Registration Information page.
Find out more about the Creative Writing Certificate Program
Program Courses:
Course Detail
Reading and Writing Poetry <> ENGLISH 206-CN
Intended for students with little or no formal training in the
elements of writing poetry, this course combines both seminar and
workshop methods and includes extensive reading of poetry. Students
use analytical skills presented in the course to critique each
others' drafts of poems written during the quarter. May not be
audited or taken P/N. Advanced composition course or equivalent
writing experience strongly recommended.
There is no available section.
Reading and Writing Fiction <> ENGLISH 207-CN
Intended for students with little or no formal training in the
elements of writing fiction, this course emphasizes the processes
and assumptions unique to fiction writing and the development of a
personal voice. Students analyze technique and form in works of
various authors. Writing assignments include at least two stories
developed and revised in a workshop format. Lectures, workshops,
and individual conferences. May not be audited or taken P/N.
Advanced composition course or equivalent writing experience
strongly recommended.
Reading and Writing Creative Nonfiction <> ENGLISH 208-CN
This course is for students who want to improve their writing
skills and explore the fundamentals of creative nonfiction.
Creative nonfiction borrows techniques from fiction—strong
characters, captivating narration, and compelling scenes—and bears
a certain allegiance to journalistic practices—a faithfulness to
“the facts,” sharp descriptions, and dialogue that rings true. By
learning the craft of creative nonfiction, you’ll discover how to
interest, amuse, entertain, move, persuade, and instruct your
readers.
In this course, you’ll take your writing to a new level. The focus
will be on three forms of creative nonfiction: the personal essay,
think pieces (which is most of the nonfiction you encounter on the
internet), and the lyric essay. You’ll discover how to read as
writers, learning from the old masters and new voices. Each week,
you’ll experiment with a new form and submit a written assignment.
All classes will be conducted in seminar and workshop formats.
May not be audited or taken P/N. Advanced composition class and
strong basic writing skills highly recommended.
For students who have taken courses in poetry writing or who
have been writing poetry on their own, this course offers further
practice and study in the development of poems. Students create and
refine poems; student writing is discussed in a workshop format and
individual conferences. Readings of published poems and writing
exercises are also part of the course. The course will be comprised
of three major components: in-class writing exercises; discussion
of contemporary poetry/poets and of our own works; and a
collaborative group performance at the end of the course.
Assignments will include: participation (lab, homework, workshop
discussion, impromptu readings, oral presentation, attendance),
collaborative group performance, final portfolio "book," and
assigned texts. May not be audited or taken P/N. Prerequisite:
ENGLISH 206 or permission of instructor. Students should have
previous poetry writing experience in an academic setting.
Instructor's consent and confirmation of the prerequisite course or
appropriate writing experience is required for enrollment in this
course.
There is no available section.
Advanced Fiction I <> ENGLISH 307-A
Some stories run uninterrupted from start to finish, like the
exhalation of a single breath or—as George Saunders likes to say—a
toy car zipping under the couch. Other stories seek to delay,
linger, or meander using various devices, one of which is breaking
the narrative into sections or parts. This class will explore some
of the different ways that authors have used this strategy, why
they did so, and how the strategy affects a story’s structure,
pace, and ambition. Students will draft two new stories using one
method or another for dividing the narrative into parts. Other
writing will include exercises and feedback for workshop stories.
Published short stories and brief craft lessons will supplement our
focus on student work.
There will be synchronous sessions (shorter than the scheduled
three hours), and students will meet separately in pairs or
groups for discussions or small workshops, scheduled as they
prefer. Note that all stories should be either literary realism or
magical realism; no fantasy or sci-fi.
Must attend the first class. May not be audited for taken
P/N.
Prerequisite: ENGLISH 207, previous introductory level fiction
writing course, or similar writing experience. Students who
have not completed ENGLISH 207 should obtain instructor's consent
and confirmation of appropriate writing experience. Please send an
email to the professor with your writing background to request a
permission number once registration for winter quarter has
opened.
For students who have completed at least one course in fiction
writing, this course will provide further study of matters of
technique and structure, with an emphasis on the exploration
of character and discovery of plot through the process of
revising. Short stories by contemporary authors will be read
as models. The course builds on the premises, assignments, and
goals of English 307-A, but students may enroll without having
completed that course. May not be audited for taken P/N.
Prerequisite: ENGLISH 207 or 307-A or comparable courses in
creative writing with permission of instructor. Students who
have not completed ENGLISH 207 or 307-A should obtain instructor's
consent and confirmation of appropriate writing experience. Please
send an email to the professor with your writing background to
request a permission number once registration for spring quarter
has opened.
This workshop course is for students who have taken courses in
creative nonfiction or who have been writing creative nonfiction on
their own. Students apply their developing command of creative
writing techniques and forms to frequent short writing exercises
and essays. Class discussion of published essays and excerpts from
longer works and student drafts may address such topics as voice,
style, structure, the uses of research, and truth.
May not be audited or taken P/N. Prerequisite: ENGLISH 208 or
permission of instructor. Students should have previous creative
writing experience in an academic setting. Students who have not
completed ENGLISH 208 should obtain instructor's consent and
confirmation of appropriate writing experience. Please send an
email to the professor with your writing background to request a
permission number once registration for winter quarter has
opened.
The goal of this Advanced Creative Nonfiction course is to help
you embark on a new level of professionalism in your writing. The
emphasis will be on structure, technique, and style. It will also
be on getting your work out there, i.e., published. We'll revisit
the macro elements of writing creative nonfiction via close
readings and discussions of published works. Readings will include
short forms—personal essays, narrative essays, food writing,
reviews, longform journalism, and interviews and profiles. We'll
also examine the potential that book-length forms offer, e.g.,
memoirs. You'll complete weekly assignments, continue or embark on
a work-in-progress, and submit a final piece of writing that's been
revised, edited, and proofread. We'll discuss publishing
opportunities and go over the submission process, including how to
choose websites and journals to submit to, write email queries and
cover letters, and pitch reviews and features. May not be audited
or taken P/N.
Prerequisite: ENGLISH 208 or 308-A, or comparable courses in
creative writing with permission of instructor. Students who
have not completed ENGLISH 208 or 308-A should obtain instructor's
consent and confirmation of appropriate writing experience. Please
send an email to the professor with your writing background to
request a permission number once registration for spring quarter
has opened.