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.

In regards to the specialization, I found the Brando Skyhorse course more "technical" but this course seems to evoke talent from students. The peer grading was a pleasure to do. -leattol

I have learned invaluable skills in creating a setting and description of characters, places, time and location. The course materials were easy to follow, and the assignments were very challenging but overall rewarding.

This course is great. The mix of video, reading, questions to reflect on, assignments that are given on video (not just text) is just perfect. It feels more interactive that way. Amity Gage is doing a great job.

Good exercises, good instruction. The examples and readings were perfect to reinforce what the instructor was talking about.

It was challenging but an experience and after completing it am sure I have skipped my skills

aworesome course !

Fantastic course. Amity Gaige is a good instructor with a lot of good information to share, not mention she is a very beautiful woman.

Another great class! Lectures were insightful, assignments interesting and feedback from classmates helpful.

Favourite one so far!

I really loved this course and could see where I needed to improve and how to do it. The authors/ instructors were very clear and stimulating and I have been reading THEIR BOOKS, too!!!!

Exccellent course content, instructor and exercises!

Professor Gaige is one of the very best teachers that I've had in my entire life. She tries to explain everything in small details and examples; examples that make it crystal clear for the students to comprehend the whole concept; explaining them in such a sincere way, it is hard to believe that you're actually learning something new, but you are.

thanks a lot for your super informative course professor Gaige,

I hope I can use the lessons in my writings.

Amity is an excellent guide. The exercises are fun and match the lessons you are taking. I really enjoyed the course and feel it improved my attention to detail in my writing. I also liked the part about research which before I didn't do much of. Now I am very aware of learning about my settings and subjects before writing about them. Thanks!

I must say we earned this certificate - hard work, interactive and full of bits to chew on. Amity Guage had us participate, think out of the box and on the edge of our creative seats. Well done and a must take.

Each step I take along this specialization gives me more and more to think about. This course continued to expand my knowledge on the writing process and helped me hone my skills a little more.

The course was excellent as was the teacher. I learned a great deal about writing and the weekly assignments really helped me as did reviewing peers work and having them review mine. I would recommend this course to anyone who wants to improve their creative writing.

Excellent exercises. They really pushed me and challenged me to dive in and develop my ability to write and describe a setting. I feel that my observation in the process of writing has been refined - I pay more attention now to details in the setting while imagining a scene.

Great course - the challenges presented force you to write better!

Engaging! Intelligent! Boosting!

I loved this course!

First, Amity is a great teacher.

Second, all courses of creative writing gave me much more than the lessons, they gave me wider horizons and confidence.

This one was so valuable, it made me learn various styles of telling stories, second person and lastly some secrets of how to create my story world.

I have learned so much from this course.And this might be the best of the 5 courses

This course gave a real depth to the importance of describing your character's environment, as a way of deepening and exciting them. excellent work on imagining your characters in the environment

I absolutely loved this course and it taught me how to better describe a setting and where I've gone too much in detail and where I could explore and focus more :) Thanks!