Frequently Asked Questions:

Creative Writing


How do I register for a creative writing class?

Preregistration or early registration is not possible for fall creative writing courses: You must register for them during the fall semester. You will need to submit a writing sample to the relevant instructor no later than two days before the first meeting of class. You will then need to attend the first class, after which accepted students will be given a registration code. 

Up to eight students are allowed to register for spring creative writing courses during that preregistration period. Writing samples should be submitted to the instructor during the first few days of preregistration. The remaining students are admitted to the spring creative writing courses at the start of the spring semester following the procedure outlined in the previous paragraph.

What are my chances of being accepted to a writing class?

This depends on how many students apply to any given class, and varies from semester to semester. Writing workshops by nature must be small, and each class usually has about 10-12 students. We offer four to seven workshops each semester; you may wish to have an alternative class in mind, just in case.

What should the writing sample consist of?

Unless otherwise noted, writing samples should consist of four to seven pages of creative work, geared to the genre of the class you’re interested in. This can be, for example, four to seven poems, depending on their length, a long story or a few shorter stories. The most important thing is that the work should be creative; academic essays are not suitable in this case. These workshops are designed to help writers improve their skills, so the writing samples are not expected to be perfect. Samples should be submitted to the department office. Email submissions are not accepted.

I’ve never taken a creative writing class, but would like to. Where would be a good place for me to start?

ENG 19a (Introduction to Creative Writing) is a good option for beginning writers, as is ENG 39a (Poetry the Beginner’s Ear) and ENG 19b (Autobiographical Imagination).

What is the difference between Directed Writing: Fiction, and Directed Writing: Short Fiction?

Directed Writing: Fiction is a more advanced workshop. Students who have never taken a fiction class but are interested in doing so would be better served by taking the short fiction class first.

What is the difference between the thesis option creative writing major, and the regular CW major? Where can I find the requirements for both?

The regular creative writing major is designed to allow maximum freedom and development to its majors. By not requiring a thesis, majors may take more workshops, and expand their abilities without the pressure of writing a book in a single year. Acceptance to the thesis option is by application only. Instead of the standard major's four creative writing workshops, the thesis option requires three creative writing workshops and a two-semester thesis and a tutorial bibliography. You can find the requirements for both tracks, as well as the requirements for the double major on our website.

When is the deadline to apply to the creative writing thesis track? What do I do to apply?

The deadline varies from year to year, but is generally in late March or early April. Accepted students are notified at the end of the spring semester. The application should include a sample of work (20 pages of poetry, or 35-50 pages of fiction) as well as a transcript of courses taken to date.

I have more questions that haven’t been answered here. What should I do?

Contact the English Department at chaucer@brandeis.edu, or at 781-736-2130.