Helpful, but not very much.

I recently completed the 5-course specialization in creative writing. For the most part the course material presented was good, especially the courses on plot, on setting, and on style. The course on characterization was a little vague. From the syllabus, it looked like it would be a good course, but the instructor did not follow the syllabus and was often very unfocussed in her presentation.

The weakness with this specialization is that all the feedback to the writer is provided by peers in the course. This I found very disappointing. Many of the other students were honestly very poor writers, and as a result, the feedback I received on my assignments was very superficial. In addition, rather than being able to learn from reading the writing of others, I found for the most part that the pieces submitted by others were very lacking.

If you take this course, know that it will provide you some good information about writing fiction, but the feedback you receive on your assignments will not help you learn. You will need to find another peer group of writers to help you with that.

I enjoyed Amy Bloom's teaching style and the way she relayed the message across. It really felt like being with a friend at a coffeeshop, analyzing different parts of books and stories that we've read and commenting on them. It was casual, comfortable, and very informative. The assignments allowed me to experiment and unlock new ways of getting and utilizing inspiration for characters, and for giving my characters a proper and interesting depth.

Estoy verdaderamente agradecida por la oportunidad de desarrollar mis habilidades trabajando en conjunto con personas que compartimos una misma pasión: escribir.

I see a marked improvement in both my confidence and skill as a writer from each of these classes.

Amy Bloom was amazing. I loved her style of teaching. I would absolutely take a class with her again

Have learnt many new tricks and Amy Bloom's talks are absolutely wonderful! Thank you so much!

Amy Bloom is such a caring, conscientious, nurturing teacher, who addresses the class (via video camera) as if only speaking to you. There's a kind of intimacy to her teaching style, and her sincerity and expertise at expressing concepts and examples of character craft allowed her teachings to truly "seat" in my mind. Thank you, Amy.

Not by far as good as the first module (Craft of Plot). This course seemed less planned and structured. The videos were mostly interviews that sort of touched upon the subjects but hardly ever got into detail. The assignments were often vague and harder to understand.

I learned a lot thanks to this course. The teachers are wonderful, and so is the information provided. I can feel my writing improve. Thank you:)