"If I include train fares and subsistence as well as fees, studying for my MA in Novel Writing at the University of Manchester probably cost me ten thousand pounds. I used to think it was worth it: without the guidance of fellow students, not to mention my excellent tutors, author Martyn Bedford and poet John McAuliffe, I'm not sure my first novel would ever have found a publisher.
"My fellow students helped me see my work through fresh eyes, and when I rewrote "Fire Horses" from scratch it was accepted by the first publisher to read it, Legend Press. Legend took my second a few years later, and I'm now working on my third and fourth; I often tell anyone who'll listen how that Manchester MA changed my life. A creative writing course might not be able to teach you how to write; it can certainly help you learn how to edit..."
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