Ron Said:

What are creative writing courses like in University?

We Answered:

In all of them that I took the process was almost identical:

Each class we'd get a writing assignment related to whatever the class was about (poetry, short story, fiction, whatever) to produce something within some specification. It might be a 500 word short story or a short poem. But it was always very specific. Part of the class (or out of class reading) would be about the mechanics of writing and particularly of fiction/creative writing related to the class.

We'd either pass them around class to be read or read them aloud on the day they were due. Then our classmates would be invited to comment on them. Sometimes (especially at upper level) the comments get brutal - those are professionally helpful. In lower level courses the comments are usually "I liked it, it makes me happy" sort of useless critique.

Then the professor would grade them (usually before the next class) and return them all filled with more useful comment like "commas don't go here" or "your antagonist isn't very well defined. Maybe you should explore ...." and an occasional "this just isn't up to standards, rewrite it and I'll grade it again." This is the critique you need to develop your writing - don't expect them to be all "fluffy bunny". If it's particularly good then you might get invited to submit it to the campus (or wider audience) literary magazine.

In most upper levels everyone gets an A or B because the courses have already self-selected for those that can write. In other words, the people that can't write don't pass the lower-levels and find a new artistic endeavor before 3rd year.