Bachelor of Creative Writing
2023 Deakin University Handbook
| Year | 2023 course information |
|---|---|
| Award granted | Bachelor of Creative Writing |
| Campus | Offered at Burwood (Melbourne), Waurn Ponds (Geelong), Online For students who commenced prior to 2023 only |
| Duration | 3 years full-time or part-time equivalent |
| CRICOS course code | 095259J Burwood (Melbourne), Waurn Ponds (Geelong) |
| Deakin course code | A316 |
| Approval status | This course is approved by the University under the Higher Education Standards Framework. |
| Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) recognition | The award conferred upon completion is recognised in the Australian Qualifications Framework at Level 7. |
The final intake to this course was in Trimester 3 2022. Students should contact a Student Adviser in Student Central for course and enrolment information. Further course structure information can be found in the Handbook archive. | |
Course sub-headings
- Course overview
- Career opportunities
- Participation requirements
- Mandatory student checks
- Fees and charges
- Course Learning Outcomes
- Course rules
- Course structure
- Work experience
- Other learning experiences
Course overview
With Deakin’s Bachelor of Creative Writing, you can turn your fascination with writing into a fulfilling life-path that fosters your natural creativity and professionalises your skills. Graduate from this industry-led degree as a polished and agile writer, with skills across a broad range of styles.
Gain practical experience writing compelling texts, creating characters and worlds that leap off the page, all while discovering the specific techniques that bring each genre to life.
Build industry experience through internships at publishing houses and festivals. Or spend a year on the editorial team of Deakin's own international writing and creative arts journal, Verandah, developing your writing and editing skills alongside aspiring professional creatives like you.
Under the guidance of teachers who are published writers themselves, you will explore many genres of writing, including short and extended fiction, creative nonfiction, digital approaches, poetry and script writing.
Do you have an eye for detail and an idea for a good story?
Collaborate and improve your skills working with peers in interdisciplinary teams for writing, film, drama and new technologies.
You will be supported to identify and pursue opportunities for writing and editing in new media, cross-genre experimentation and creative production with an awareness of entrepreneurial initiative and know-how.
You’ll benefit from unique opportunities to:
- conduct creative research work
- gain industry experience
- produce content for professional-standard digital and print publications
- work on studio projects
Through this hands-on approach, you’ll develop and extend your style and craft, producing professional-standard publications for web and print before you graduate.
We also encourage you to pursue opportunities for writing and editing in new media, including for our own international writing journal, Verandah.
Career opportunities
As a creative writing graduate, you will have the practical skills to work with interdisciplinary teams in writing, film, drama and new technologies. Career opportunities include:
- author
- book editor
- copyeditor
- copywriter
- journalist
- magazine editor or writer
- publisher
- scriptwriter
- speechwriter
- technical writer.
You may also choose to transition into fourth-year solo projects in Deakin's selective Honours program, or postgraduate studies in creative writing research and production.
For more information go to DeakinTALENT
Participation requirements
Reasonable adjustments to participation and other course requirements will be made for students with a disability. More information available at Disability support services.
Mandatory student checks
Any unit which contains work integrated learning, a community placement or interaction with the community may require a police check, Working with Children Check or other check.
Fees and charges
Fees and charges vary depending on your course, the type of fee place you hold, your commencement year, the units you choose and your study load.
Tuition fees increase at the beginning of each calendar year and all fees quoted are in Australian dollars ($AUD). Tuition fees do not include textbooks, computer equipment or software, other equipment or costs such as mandatory checks, travel and stationery.
Use the Fee estimator to see course and unit fees applicable to your course and type of place. Further information regarding tuition fees, other fees and charges, invoice due dates, withdrawal dates, payment methods is available on our Current students fees website.
Course Learning Outcomes
| Deakin Graduate Learning Outcomes | Course Learning Outcomes |
| Discipline-specific knowledge and capabilities | Apply knowledge of creative writing modes and theories and their production in the context of professional, historical, cultural and stylistic frameworks, including skills in composition, editing, presentation and aspects of publication |
| Communication | Communicate through writing that is technically and aesthetically proficient and demonstrates awareness of, or ability to extend, established writing conventions to produce works that communicate effectively using suitable written forms and techniques |
| Digital literacy | Employ a range of generic and industry-specific digital technologies for the research, production and presentation of creative materials, including technologies for the innovative generation or dissemination of work, or those required in various professional contexts |
| Critical thinking | Demonstrate competencies in the production of texts and discourses informed by rigorous research, close reading, critical thinking and analysis, and by selecting and applying the appropriate creative writing forms and conventions |
| Problem solving | Analyse and respond creatively to editorial or publishing briefs or opportunities by employing creative and professional writing or communication strategies to identify, solve or reframe aesthetic, theoretical or real-world challenges and limitations |
| Self-management | Demonstrate responsibility for personal learning through autonomy, accountability and a continued commitment to learning and skill development, as a reflective practitioner in the Professional and Creative Writing industry and scholarly and other contexts |
| Teamwork | Actively participate and make constructive contributions to processes of creative and critical collaboration within or across disciplines, sharing of peer feedback in writing workshops and online forums, and demonstrate professional and ethical negotiation with collaborators and colleagues |
| Global citizenship | Demonstrate ethical global citizenship and awareness of cultural diversity and social responsibility when engaging in scholarship and in professional roles and community collaborations |
| Approved by Faculty Board December 2014 | |
Course rules
Students must complete 24 credit points as follows:
- 9 credit points of core units
- 3 credit points chosen from course elective listing A
- 6 credit points chosen from course elective listing B
- 6 credit points of open elective units
- no more than 10 credit points at level 1
- a minimum of 6 credit points at level 3
- AAI018 Academic Integrity (0-credit-point compulsory unit)
Course structure
Level 1
| ALL101 | The Stories We Tell: Inventing Selves and Others |
| ALW101 | Writer's Toolkit: Craft and Creativity |
| ALW102 | Writing Spaces: Paradigms and Provocations |
Level 2
| ALW223 | Creative Nonfiction: Inquiry, Integrity, Vulnerability |
| ALW225 | Designing Fictions |
| ALW227 | Scriptwriting: Character, Action and Reaction |
Level 3
| ALW394 | Writing Project |
| ALW395 | Writing Lives: Emerging Forms and Contemporary Practices |
| ALW396 | Producing Digital Anthologies: From Concept to Publication |
Course electives
Complete three 1-credit point units chosen from List A below:
| ACI102 | Digital Photography |
| ACP109 | Improvisation for Theatre |
| AGS101 | Sex and Gender: Ideas That Changed the World |
| ALL102 | From Horror to Romance: Genre and Its Revisions |
| ALL153 | Literature for Children and Young Adults |
| ALM101 | Making Social Media |
| IND101 | Introduction to Aboriginal Studies |
| IND102 | Aboriginal Australian Stories and Songlines |
ACG103 Design Skills [No longer available for enrolment]
Complete six 1-credit point units chosen from List B below including a minimum of three level 3 units:
Level 2
| ADT202 | Web Interface and Design [replaces ADV201] |
| ALL255 | Fantasy Literature |
| ALL256 | Gender, Sex and Literature |
| ALW200 | Freelancing in the Arts |
| ALW205 | The Role of the Editor |
| ALW242 | Poetry: Events in Language |
| ALW251 | Writing for Games: Designing Quests and Characters |
| IND203 | Caring for Country |
IND201 Aboriginal Knowledges and Experiences: Historical Journeys-Contemporary Perspectives [No longer available for enrolment]
Level 3
| ACC317 | Communication and Creative Arts Internship A |
| ALL375 | Shakespeare Today: Sex, Race and Politics |
| ALL376 | Classics and Trash |
| ALL381 | Nature, Climate, Transformation |
| ALW352 | Writing and Publishing for Young People |
Electives and Majors
Plus 6 credit points of general elective units
We suggest students complete at least 4 units in a subject area different to their degree, preferably a linked sequence of study in the same area. This choice can include units from any degree in the University but is best chosen from the subject areas in the Bachelor of Arts. Electives can be used to:
- Explore fields of study and ideas that inspire you. You may consider history, literary studies, philosophy, creative arts such as photography, film and so on, gender studies, children's literature, journalism, design, language (other than English) or other fields.
- Complete a 4 unit suite that complements the main study.
- Complete a number of units that have some degree of coherency by completing at least two units in one area of study.
Note: Regarding majors, students who wish to graduate from the Bachelor of Creative Writing with a parallel major can be in consultation with the course director to plan the necessary course structure. Ideally, this is done in the early trimesters of your degree and before completion of any course electives or general electives.
Work experience
Elective units may provide the opportunity for Work Integrated Learning experiences.
Other Course Information
Course duration - additional information
Course duration may be affected by delays in completing course requirements, such as accessing or completing work placements.
Further information
Student Central can help you with course planning, choosing the right units and explaining course rules and requirements.
- Contact Student Central
Other learning experiences
There will be opportunities throughout the course for students to engage with real briefs/submission opportunities and industry professionals, in the form of Guest Lecturers and international exchange initiatives when available. These experiences will be integrated into unit assessment, where students will access content/tasks to more closely connect the learning experience with industry practices.