Finish Your Novel – Eight Months
Applications
Finish Your Novel – Eight Months
Reach the end of your tricky first draft on this advanced course, with help and advice from three expert author-tutors and a supportive peer group.
Tutor
Joanna GlenTutor
Suzannah DunnTutor
Jacob RossLength
8 monthsLocation
Online,ZoomWriting Goal
Develop your writingGet all the way to the end of that tricky first draft on this advanced course, with help and advice from three expert author-tutors and a supportive peer group.
This course was so useful… I finished my first draft just as the course ended, and now I'm working through it again, applying strategies and advice from all three tutors.
Our eight-month advanced course is designed for writers already at work on a novel who feel like they would benefit from a structured course plus a supportive peer group as they write. The course also includes dedicated writing time to ensure you continue to make steady progress on your novel throughout the eight months. We'll provide dedicated advice on your work-in-progress and teaching on useful topics from expert tutors, and smattering of deadlines to help you get all the way to that oh-so-elusive ending.
This course will run from 6 October 2025 to 21 June 2026.
Tutors
Joanna Glen
Joanna Glen is a novelist who lives in Brighton. Her first novel, The Other Half of Augusta Hope, was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award in 2019, and this was followed by All My Mothers in 2021, both books set partially in the hot south of Spain. Joanna is a passionate hispanophile who read Spanish at the University of London, with a stint at the Faculty of Arts in Córdoba. During her career in education, Joanna taught Spanish and English to all ages, was a School Principal in London, a visiting lecturer and education adviser. Alongside her writing, she continues to coach on a range of topics and to mentor. Her third novel comes out in Spring 2024.
Suzannah Dunn
Suzannah Dunn is the author of two collections of short fiction and thirteen novels, of which her first, Quite Contrary, won a Betty Trask Award, and The Confession of Katherine Howard was a Richard and Judy pick. Her latest, Levitation for Beginners, was shortlisted for the Nero Novel of the Year 2024.
She has decades of experience of tutoring and mentoring writers of all levels of confidence and skills in a range of settings, for example at the Arvon Foundation and for five years as programme director of Manchester University’s MA in Novel Writing. For some years now she has tutored regularly online for Curtis Brown Creative.
Jacob Ross
Jacob Ross is a novelist, short story writer, editor and anthologist. Ross tutors Narrative Craft internationally. His crime novel The Bone Readers won the inaugural Jhalak Prize in 2017. His literary novel Pynter Bender was shortlisted for the 2009 Commonwealth Writers Regional Prize and selected as one of the British Authors’ Club’s top three Best First Novels. Ross’s collected short fiction Tell No-One About This was listed by the 2017 Bocas Literary Prize among the best Caribbean fictional works. His most recent crime novel Black Rain Falling was published in spring 2020. Jacob Ross is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and Associate Fiction Editor at Peepal Tree Press.
What does this course give you?
- Flexible study: Teaching for this course is entirely online, meaning that you can take part from anywhere in the world, at a time that suits you. The course is delivered via interactive forum discussions with your tutor and fellow students hosted on our bespoke learning platform, which we have developed exclusively for our students. The ‘live’ elements of this course (taking place at set times) are the nine Zoom sessions led by the tutors, the special industry masterclass and your one-to-one-tutorials. Timings of these sessions will always be confirmed in advance.
- Live teaching sessions on Zoom: Each tutor will lead three Zoom teaching sessions, covering topics such as how to get rid of writer's block, how to inject pace into your writing and how to deepen your characterisations and nail that pesky plot.
- A community of writers: Our selective applications process means that you will be writing your novel in a peer group of 15 students working at a high level. Many of our former students have found trusted readers with us and formed strong working friendships that go on long after the course is over.
- Writing workshops: Your work will be workshopped by the group three times during the course. Workshops centre on 3,000-word extracts from your novel-in-progress, and discussion takes place on our learning platform with students and the tutor posting written comments across the week. These sessions offer in-depth feedback from your student group and tutor and are also designed to help develop your self-editing skills.
- One-to-one tutorials: You'll get three 30-minute one-to-one tutorial (one with each tutor), during which you can address specific concerns about your writing. Tutorials will be based on 3,000-word extracts from your novel-in-progress and will address your specific concerns and questions.
- Industry masterclass: This special live Zoom session will help to demystify publishing. Two Curtis Brown literary agents will answer your questions, speaking exclusively to you about writing, editing and the submissions process, and share real-life publication journeys.
- Alumni services: At the end of the course you'll be offered access to our exclusive alumni services (such as our full manuscript report, which will be available at a discount for three months after the course ends, discounted from £750 to £700 for a manuscript of up to 90,000 words – £35 extra for each additional 5,000 words). Read more about the opportunities available to our alumni here.
- Help submitting to agents: We’re committed to helping you submit the novel you worked on with us to literary agents at Curtis Brown and C&W. Whenever you’re ready – no matter how long after your course – we want to hear from you.
STAGE 1 WITH JOANNA GLEN – WEEK 1
Mon 6 Oct – Sun 12 OctWEEK 2
Mon 13 Oct – Sun 19 OctWEEK 3
Mon 20 Oct – Sun 26 OctAUTUMN WRITING BREAK
Mon 27 Oct – Sun 2 NovWEEK 4
Mon 3 Nov – Sun 9 NovWEEK 5
Mon 10 Nov – Sun 16 NovWEEK 6
Mon 17 Nov – Sun 23 NovWEEK 7
Mon 24 Nov – Sun 30 NovWEEK 8
Mon 1 Dec – Sun 7 DecWINTER WRITING BREAK
Mon 8 Dec – Sun 4 JanSTAGE TWO WITH SUZANNAH DUNN – WEEK 1
Mon 5 Jan – Sun 11 JanWEEK 2
Mon 12 Jan – Sun 18 JanWEEK 3
Mon 19 Jan – Sun 25 JanWEEK 4
Mon 26 Jan – Sun 1 FebWEEK 5
Mon 2 Feb – Sun 8 FebWEEK 6
Mon 9 Feb – Sun 15 FebFEBRUARY BREAK
Mon 16 Feb – Sun 22 FebWEEK 7
Mon 23 Feb – Sun 1 MarWEEK 8
Mon 2 Mar – Sun 8 MarSPRING WRITING BREAK
Mon 9 Mar – Sun 19 AprSTAGE THREE WITH JACOB ROSS – WEEK 1
Mon 20 Apr – Sun 26 AprWEEK 2
Mon 27 Apr – Sun 3 MayWEEK 3
Tues 5 May – Sun 10 May (Bank holiday on Mon 4 May)WEEK 4
Mon 11 May – Sun 17 MayWEEK 5
Mon 18 May – Sun 24 MayMAY WRITING BREAK
Mon 25 May – Sun 31 MayWEEK 6
Mon 1 Jun – Sun 7 JunWEEK 7
Mon 8 Jun – Sun 14 JunWEEK 8
Mon 15 Jun – Sun 21 JunINDUSTRY MASTERCLASS
Tues 16 Jun, 7–8pm (Zoom)
Course Fees
The course fee of £1,700 (inc VAT) per student is payable, in full, by bank transfer or debit/credit card before the start of the course. (Please note, card payments will incur an additional transaction fee.) However, if you are unable to pay the full fee upfront, let us know and we can arrange an instalment plan.
Ready to apply?
This course is suitable for anyone who is working seriously on a novel, irrespective of whether you’ve studied with us before. Former students of our three- or six-month Writing Your Novel courses (online or in London) will be given automatic entry to this course – on a first come, first served basis – on completing the application form. All applicants should already have produced at least 15,000 words of their first draft.
We will be reading and responding to applicants throughout the application window. We, therefore, advise people who are keen to join this course to apply early.
The final deadline for applications is midnight, end of day Sunday 21 September, and we will respond to applicants by Thursday 25 September 2025.
The CBC team will select applicants based on the quality of the writing sample provided.
If you encounter any problems during the application process, or have any more questions about the course, please email help@curtisbrowncreative.co.uk for assistance.
Still deciding?
If you’re thinking about applying for this course and want to know if it’s the right fit, book a free 15-minute phone consultation to discuss your needs.
Consultations will take place on Tuesday afternoons (14.00 to 17.00) or Friday mornings (10.00 to 13.00). Times listed are UK times.
