Home Study Course Started A 22-Year Writing Career

Heather Burnside took a home study Creative Writing Course with The Writers Bureau in 1999. 22 years on Heather is still writing and has recently signed another threebook deal with Aria Fiction at Head of Zeus.

Can creative writing really be taught? Manchester based author, Heather Burnside, is proof that it can. She says, “the skills I gained on The Writers Bureau’s course have been invaluable. During my studies I learnt writing techniques that have stood me in good stead as an author and copywriter. It gave me the knowledge and confidence to pursue writing as a career.”

The course is very practical and students are encouraged to submit work to publications as soon as their tutor feels they are ready. This means students can start earning from their writing very quickly. The Writers Bureau take this side of the course very seriously and even offer an amazing money back guarantee if students don’t earn their fees back from published work by the end of their studies.

“The flip side to this is that I became inundated with work at various points in the course,” explains Heather. “This is because, if you have an article accepted by a magazine then it makes sense to follow it up with another while your name is fresh in the editor’s mind.”

During the course Heather wrote the first three chapters of her book, Nightclubbing, drawing on her experiences of growing up on one of the toughest estates in Manchester. At the time she approached several publishers but no offers were forthcoming. Undaunted, she continued writing articles as well as setting up a writing services business offering proofreading and copywriting.

Even though she was enjoying her work, Heather’s heart lay with writing a novel. So, after a while, she dusted off her original manuscript, reworked it, changed the title and her first gritty crime novel, Slur, was created. She independently published it on Amazon in 2014, shortly followed by two more books making up the The Riverhill Trilogy.

In 2016 Heather was signed to Aria Fiction at the Head of Zeus. They published her second set of books, The Manchester Trilogy as well as republishing The Riverhill Trilogy and, most recently, the Working Girls Series.

“I’m sure that without The Writers Bureau I would never have had the confidence to self-publish my first novel. They taught me valuable skills, which I put to good use every time I write. I am now lucky to be earning a living doing something I love, and it all started when I studied the Creative Writing Course.”

For those wanting to explore creative writing as a career option then The Writers Bureau Comprehensive Writing Course is a good place to start. It covers all types of writing from articles to short stories, novels to scripts so people can discover what they’re good at and where their passions lie. Information is free and you can enrol on a 15-day trial to make sure the course is for you. Visit their website or call them today! You never know where it will take you. www.writersbureau.com 0800 856 2008. Please quote EE122