Help Me (x 100)!

The time has come to seek professional help. I want -- need -- to learn more about the process of novel writing. Writers' groups are great for feedback on individual passages, crit partners are good for overall feedback; paid readers are useful, too. But there comes a point (at least for me) where I need someone to tie it all together for me. I want to get better, and I need help.

So I'm applying to a part-time MA programme in Creative Writing at University College London (UCL). It's the best fit for me, as it focuses specifically on novel writing and it's only two nights a week. The aim, by the end of two years, is to have a novel of publishable standard. Along the way, there are talks by contemporary writers as well as agents. Sounds perfect!

One catch: there's only room for 12 to 14 people. When I heard that, I felt like banging my head against my desk and screaming: 'No! Please don't send me a rejection letter! That's the reason I'm applying - to have a chance at escaping the dreaded letter!'

But whatever the chances, I'm throwing my hat in the ring (rather than throwing myself out my office window...). Part of the application process is to write a personal statement: in 200 words, describe why the course would be beneficial to you. I was severely tempted to write Help Me! one hundred times. Surely that would convey just how much I wanted to be in the programme!

Stay tuned to see if I encounter rejection once more...