About New Zealand Diploma In Writing For Creative Industries (level 5) in Whitireia Community Polytechnic

Learn the craft of writing through exercises, workshops, course reading, regular feedback, but most of all through writing itself. Develop skills in genres including short fiction, non-fiction, scriptwriting and poetry. Study on campus or online.

Develop your strengths, your critical eye, your knowledge of how the writing business works, and discover where you fit in the vast landscape of writing. Become part of a vibrant writing community.

Students may write and submit work in English or te reo Māori.

You can enrol on the New Zealand Diploma in Writing for Creative Industries as a one year, full-time diploma, as a part-time student, or as the first year of the Bachelor of Creativity (Writing).

Online students wanting to cross credit into the degree later are required to complete two additional classroom modules: Culture and Contexts and Creative Collaboration I.

On-campus option

This is a one-year full-time programme. It involves eight courses which are worth 15 credits each.  It is delivered over two trimesters.

Short Fiction I: develop an ear and eye for a good story, and learn the craft that can make a good story great. Exercise the imagination every day through writing exercises, learn to critique and edit your work, and hear how a range of writers talk about their work and the writing life.

Short Fiction II: be challenged in technical skill and imagination, in both what you write about, and how you write it. A strong emphasis is given to revising and crafting.

Poetry: develop skills for writing original poetry. Learn about poetic forms, the line break, the poem on and off the page, rewriting and editing. Find poems everywhere and hear some of New Zealand’s own poets share what it means to be a poet today. 

Scriptwriting (Stage and Screen): step into the world of dramatic and visual writing, and develop the craft skills for writing original scripts for stage and film. Workshop short drama scripts with acting students and have sessions with writers, directors and producers, giving you a practical understanding of the New Zealand film and theatre industry.

Non-Fiction: develop skills for writing factual prose for a specified audience and purpose. Write a short personal essay, feature articles, a proposal for a non-fiction book, and a short piece for the web. Learn about the non-fiction publishing industry from those in the business. Add a marketable edge to your writing skills.

If you are doing this programme to gain a formal qualification you will also need to complete the following modules:

Creative Collaboration I: you will be introduced to the collaborative processes of publishing and work in a team on a publishing project.

Culture and Contexts: explore what influences you as a writer and how context has affected other writers. Look at how you write in the light of your history. Develop your reflective and critical thinking. Develop skills for researching and presenting the information acquired. Learn how research fits with creative writing and how academic writing is structured.

Editing: being able to edit your own work well is an essential skill for writers. The editing module aims to improve writers’ general ability to edit their own work to a high standard. It deals with common problems with grammar and style, and includes regular copy-editing exercises.

Academic qualification equivalents

• Completion of All India Senior School Certificate (CBSE) or Indian School Certificate (CISCE).

English language requirements (one of the below):

IELTS:Minimum IELTS 6.0 (no lower than 5.5 in any band), or equivalent
Please note, some Whitireia degree level programmes require a higher level of English language competence. 

TOEFL iBT : 60 - 90

PTE: 40 - 65

Whitireia Community Polytechnic Highlights

Whitireia New Zealand Tuition Fees

New Zealand Living Expenses

In addition to your tuition and insurance fees, you will need between $20,000 and $25,000 per year ($380–480 per week) for accommodation/rent, food expenses, transportation costs, phone bills, internet usage and entertainment. No matter what your tuition or course fee is, the average living expense will be same for everyone. Please note that these amounts are just recommendations, Immigration New Zealand requirement is $15,000 per year plus return airfare or additional $2,000.