While I enjoyed the instructor, lessons and exercises of this course, I was very disappointed in how it was conducted. There was little to no interaction on the forums during the class, so pertinent questions went unanswered and there were many instances where I was simply left to assume or guess in order to continue with the course. The help center was only so helpful, no fault I suppose of their own, but instead how Coursera is set up. Certain vital links were missing, links that were necessary to lessons and assignments but the most frustrating aspect of the experience was that each assignment rested heavily on peer evaluation amongst the class-- and not only did I receive little to no feedback from fellow students, but I was unable to meet the requirement of completing three peer evaluations for each assignment because there were not enough submissions. This is either because there were not enough students enrolled in the course, or because those enrolled did not submit or there was something blocking the communication between us. Whatever the reason why the issue occurred, it did have a large impact on the enjoyment of the class and what I took away from it. I would like to continue with Coursera and am reaching out to you with the hopes that something can be done to remedy this unfortunate and, I'm hoping, rare instance of the Coursera experience. Thanks so much for any consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you.

Racquel Postiglione

Mr Sayrafiezadeh is missing in action, I will probably not receive my Certificate within the four weeks of the course, despite I submitted my assignments in two and did my peer-reviews in three!

I would like to have your help and avoid I pay for a second month of tuition.

Mr Sayrafiezadeh has never taken part to any discussion, never moderated nor replied to any of the forum requests/questions (I encourage you to scroll down the comments on the forum in the last five/six months. Not once, Mr Sayrafiezadeh has replied to anyone reaching out for him), links or documents he mentions in his videos are in facts not attached to the materials provided for the course. No email/contact other than his personal website is available on the course.

Moderating the Forum is crucial to keep people engaged and have the course at pace. Even more, when the final grade depends upon the peer-reviews. I am dissatisfied.

The course instructor is fine and provides good exercises to improve writing however, two of the sessions relied on a pdf that was missing so those 2 sessions were more or less worthless. Despite the poor quality, I was motivated to write and I learned something so all is not lost, hence the two stars. However, for a paid course, I expect better. It should also be made clear that the only reviews a learner will receive are peer reviews - there is absolutely no tutor/learner interaction. There is also a major issue with having to complete 3 peer reviews when the learner is told repeatedly that there are no reviews available! Very frustrating. Finally, although I enjoyed this course and learned something, Coursera needs to be aware that there are many other excellent sources of online learning and if they want to maintain their reputation (or improve it!) they need to up their game and improve the content quality and accuracy. I did complain about the transcript errors and was told someone would reply to me in 24 hours. That was a month ago so I'm not optimistic that anyone even read the complaint let alone dealt with it. Contact with Coursera is extremely difficult, a deliberate strategy no doubt.

Great course! I loved the idea of approaching story-telling as filmmaking. The background of the teacher distilled into the lessons, and I felt I learned a lot of stuff from a refreshing point of view. The only downside was all the interviews with Amy Bloom, whom I find tedious. Other than that, excellent course!

Interesting way to look at memoire writing and I enjoyed the interviews. But there was something that I was missing. Can't quite put my finger on it. Maybe the psychological angle.

The two stars are for the quality of the instruction. For each of the four parts of this course. The rest of it is truly reprehensible. The focus seems to be on getting people to sign up and pay up. Obviously, for the price one can't expect any feedback from the instructors but peer feedback is a disaster. Most of the people I've had to review or who have reviewed my submissions have enormous difficulty with the English language. Some of them can't write a straight sentence in English. On the site we are asked to make allowances for the fact that English may not be the first language of the students. But this is a writing course—writing in English. People who cannot write in English should not be enrolled in this course. But Coursera seems to care only about taking in the fees. I'm surprised that the instructors—all of them successful, critically acclaimed writers and poets—should sign on to a project where bringing in the money (enrolling people in the thousands) seems to be the priority.

This was a most useful course. I particularly liked "What can we learn from Fiction?", "The most important person...", I want to know what happens next", Judging a Story by its Opening Line and second line", "The Joys and Pitfalls of Dialogue" and what we lose when we only speak aloud". Of course Amy Bloom has very helpful suggestions also.

I expect to be reading these pearls of wisdom quite often. I joined this Specialization to help me with my first book which is a memoir that I hope will help others. This Specialization has really helped me.

It's a wonderful course for the newbies. it helped me improving my level of brainstorming for a writing piece. I am very thankful to the organizer for providing us a free learning tool on coursera. I am motivated to be one of good writer to inspire my society through my writing. I will highly reccomend to all the new bie to listen and watch all the videos, go through all the assignment and try to write. Thanks

I have successfully completed 16 writing assignments over the past four months. I have had to stretch my mind, my memories, my skills beyond what I thought possible at the age of 80! The professors were able to inspire my imagination in ways that no other writing course has ever done. Bravo and thank you.

Instructor was great! His approach, based on his background in acting, was very helpful. The way he used examples from students and other writers was really useful in making his points. My mind usually wanders during online courses, but didn't here.

Again the instructor Said Sayrafiezadeh, did a great job. I enjoyed the course tremendously.

Coursera again, gets no stars, as they are not living up to their end of the bargain. Happy to take the money, but not to provide the neccessary framework.

Said Sayrafiezadeh speaks about writing to 'sell' the book to the casual visitor at the bookstore. My acid test for a great book is indeed the opening line of the book. It is good to learn that this is a skill that authors must master.

I really enjoy taking the course that Coursera offers. This is the second creative writing course that I have taken with them. The instructors are great. I'm sure to walk away with valuable tools that I can use in the future.

Very interesting and engaging! I learnt a lot about writing about myself, which is actually very difficult. This course provide a great start for someone who are looking for something like this.

I really enjoyed this course, I learned a lot through simple and clear approach. the method of teaching with Mr. Said was genuine and artistic; which what writing is all about.

O​bviously with the limited amount of time allotted to this course not everything could be covered in depth but it did prompt me to explore more about the topics covered.

Certain other activities like phrasing and use of vocabulary while writing memoirs can be included in this course. It was a fantastic course

This class series was clearly presented and I learned a great deal that I will take with me and continue to used to improve my writing.

Wonderful Assignments

Creative and enriching. I now think I can learn how to write. Before the class I felt I would never be a writer.

Muy dinámico y entretenido para poder desarrollar nuestras capacidades como escritor.

The insights gave by Mr Said Sayrafiezadeh helps a lot in my writings. Thanks a lot.

Said is an incredible teacher. He speaks with such insight and passion. Inspiring.

It is a good course. I learnt many simple yet valuable lessons on writing.

Accurate, resourceful, I learned great tools that I will apply for sure.

Thank you for professor Saiid for such a wonderful course