Holly is an alum of Leeds Beckett University, who studied BA (Hons) English & Creative Writing. In this blog, Holly shares how studying her course at Leeds Beckett helped her to get to where she is now, working as an author and bid writer.

Course: BA (Hons) English & Creative Writing

Tell us a bit about yourself and what you've been doing since you graduated.

After earning my degree, I began working on my debut contemporary literary fiction novel, Twin I Twin II, alongside starting my career as a copywriter for a dental technology company.

The idea for my book existed for a while before I started university, however my course kickstarted the process since we had the option to submit a creative portfolio for our dissertation, which became the foundation of my book. Once I graduated, I began restructuring the existing chapters into an extended story before fleshing out new chapters to form my novel.

Amid rounds of editing and querying publishers, I started my current role as a bid writer for an assessment software company, which allowed me to further develop my professional writing skills.

What have been the highlights of your career so far?

Signing my publishing deal with The Conrad Press was, of course, a huge highlight for me. Another major milestone was starting my bid writing role, as it allowed me to expand on my literary skills and explore writing further outside of a more creative environment. In turn, this supported the editing process of my novel, as I was able to balance professionalism with creativity more effectively.

Tell us about your job. What does this entail and did studying at Leeds Beckett help you get there?

As a bid writer, I craft written responses to tender opportunities from awarding organisations, national governing bodies, credentialing organisations, and educational institutions. Alongside my job, I've been writing and editing Twin I Twin II during evenings and weekends. This involves extensive proofreading, rewriting and formatting, as well as reading and listening aloud to strengthen the flow.

How has your experience studying at Leeds Beckett influenced you and your career?

My studies at Leeds Beckett have had a huge impact on my overall career - without the English & Creative Writing course I wouldn't have learnt and refined the valuable skills that enabled me to transform my ideas into a novel.

The course also opened up a wide range of career opportunities, providing me with transferable skills that can be applied to many different creative and professional industries.

What attracted you to study your course at Leeds Beckett University?

I grew up near Leeds and have always loved the city for a multitude of reasons. This prompted me to explore the courses available at Leeds Beckett when it came to determining my preferred university.

I found the English & Creative Writing course attractive due to the balance between content. This balance provided me with the opportunity to polish my technical literary skills while having the freedom to express myself creatively.

When I visited during an open day, I was impressed by the university itself as well as the friendly and professional staff members, and that finalised my decision.

What did you enjoy about your course and what advice would you give someone thinking about studying this course?

The course had a great level of variety between more analytical and critical study, as well as creative and experimental work.

My advice to anyone considering the English and Creative Writing course would be to go for it. Not only can you apply your own ideas to the course and refine them through workshops and collaborative feedback opportunities, but the skills you develop increase your employability across a wide range of sectors. For me, this meant that I had the knowledge to write Twin I Twin II alongside building my professional writing career, with both skill sets complementing each other well.

What's next for you?

Twin I Twin II is scheduled for publication in 2025, so my primary focus will be working with the marketing and PR team to create a press release and promote my book. Alongside this, I plan to continue sharpening my bid writing skills and begin planning my second novel early next year.