Novelist 101

In order to complete the degree, the students have to publish a certain number of literary works and submit a dissertation on literary creation by the end of the two-year program.

"Our aim is to foster serious literary writers instead of market-oriented writers. So we have designed a lot of courses on the humanities besides courses on writing techniques," says Zhang.

Having seen about 45 students graduate from its creative writing master's program at Fudan University in the past three years, Wang Hongtu, who's in charge of the program, points out although the craft of writing is teachable to some extent, the university still cannot guarantee that it will produce successful writers.

"The artistic character of a person is hard to teach, and those who don't have such a character usually won't go far in their literary career," says Wang. "As most of our students are the only child in their families, the lack of life experience also limits the depth of their works."

"Last but not least, the passion for literary creation and the feel for language are not transferable. The teachers may have some influence on their students, but what really matters lies deep in one's own heart."