Starting to Write Your Novel

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Package

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Starting to Write Your Novel

New Edition

Bestseller

Length

6 weeks

Location

Online

Writing Goal

Start writing

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Starting to Write Your Novel

Get your novel off the ground – with our support, you'll develop your idea, plot and plan your story, and write a confident opening.

Tutor

Anna Davis

Length

6 weeks

Location

Online

Writing Goal

Start writing

An exciting new edition of our original online course for beginners, trusted by over 2,500 budding writers

New Edition

Bestseller

We’ll help you develop a compelling story and begin writing with confidence.

A brilliant introduction to all the fundamentals of fiction writing – I frequently dip into the notes I made on the course, even now!

Samuel Burr
Author of The Fellowship of Puzzlemakers

Perhaps you’re bursting to get your story down on paper but unsure of how to structure it and write it well – or maybe you’re yet to discover an idea you can feel passionate about. All you need to take this course is the desire to write a novel and the willingness to give your best time and attention to this great endeavour.

We’ll give you all the tools you need to take the seed of a story and grow it into something much bigger. By the end of the six weeks, you’ll have written at least the first few thousand words, and have made all the important decisions to enable you to move forward with confidence.

Tutor

This course features pre-recorded teaching videos from the tutor, alongside written tasks and resources to support your learning. Please note you will receive feedback on your writing from the course editor rather than your tutor.

Anna Davis

Anna Davis is the founder and Director of the Curtis Brown Creative writing school. She is the author of five acclaimed novels which have been published in twenty languages. She has been a journalist and Guardian columnist, as well as a Curtis Brown literary agent. She taught creative writing at the University of Manchester and in many other settings before founding Curtis Brown Creative in 2011.

Editor

Each week, the course editor will provide brief written feedback on several students’ practical assignments. All students who post in the forum will receive feedback on one writing task during the course. Editors listed may change. All CBC editors are experienced authors and/or publishing professionals

Tracy Buchanan

Tracy Buchanan is a bestselling author whose books have been published around the world, including chart-toppers Wall of Silence, My Sister’s Secret and No Turning Back. Before becoming a full-time author, Tracy worked as a travel journalist, visiting and writing about countries around the world. When she isn’t spending time with her family and friends, Tracy now spends her days writing with her dog on her lap or taking walks in forests.

Anthony Trevelyan

Anthony Trevelyan was born in Lancashire. His first novel, The Weightless World, was published in 2015 by Galley Beggar Press and longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize in 2016. He contributed a work of short fiction (‘Young Love’) to the Refuge collection co-produced by Salt Publishing and Galley Beggar Press in 2015, with all proceeds going to aid organisations on Kos; his story ‘Repossession’ was included in Dostoevsky Wannabe’s Cities: Manchester chapbook in 2018. His second novel, Claudia, was published by Sceptre, also in 2018. Anthony lives with his wife, Gemma, and their Bichon, Casper. He teaches English and Creative Writing at Aquinas College in Stockport.

WHAT DOES THIS COURSE GIVE YOU?

Our bestselling course has been given a major upgrade with brand-new teaching videos, a new module, substantially updated notes and new tasks. Enrol now to experience the supercharged edition of this much-loved course, available from September 2025.

Video modules: Work through six modules comprising teaching videos and substantial notes by Anna Davis. Topics covered include hunting down an idea, plotting your story, developing characters, writing their dialogue, finding your narrative perspective, and nailing that all-important first chapter.
Writing tasks: Weekly writing tasks to help you explore and understand the teaching topics and progress your novel. Weekly posts to the forum from Anna will reinforce these lessons.
Resources & notes: You’ll get access to expansive resources and teaching notes with case study examples from classic and recent fiction, including over 40 writing prompts to help you generate ideas, guides to the three-act structure, plotting, building characters, narrative point of view, writing dialogue and much more – plus a list of recommended reading.
Professional feedback: An expert CBC editor will post to the group and give brief written feedback on several of the students' practical assignments every week, with all students receiving feedback on one of their writing tasks. Students are also given the option to purchase additional end-of-course feedback from our expert editors.
Student forum: Find your writing community on our private student forums. Upload your completed writing tasks, give and receive peer-to-peer feedback, and discuss the week’s topics with your fellow students and the CBC team.

WHAT’S NEW ABOUT THE UPGRADED EDITION?

A module on how to write zingy dialogue – completely new to this course.

All six modules include . . .

Substantially improved and expanded materials from our Founder and Managing Director Anna Davis. Every teaching module has been revisited, rethought and boosted with new topics and new techniques.
Brand-new teaching videos with higher production values than the originals, in which Anna presents her new and revised teaching materials.
New and revitalised writing tasks and prompts.
Lots of new and revised resources to enrich the module content, plus updated case studies.

COURSE SCHEDULE & DELIVERY

Our online courses are designed for flexible learning. Allocate your own study time and take part from wherever you are in the world. Each week, we recommend spending at least four hours on the course. It’s also important to be planning and working on your novel throughout the six weeks.

Week 1
Inspiration & ideas
More
Week 2
Plotting, planning & story
More
Week 3
A question of character
More
Week 4
Narrative voice & point-of-view
More
Week 5
Dialogue
More
Week 6
Writing your opening
More

ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK

All students will be given the option to purchase feedback on their final task from a CBC editor.

CBC report: For an additional fee of £155, you can obtain a detailed 500-word report on your work (of up to 3,000 words) from one of our editors.
CBC report + tutorial: For an additional fee of £260, you can obtain a 500-word report from one of our editors and have a 30-minute video or telephone tutorial with them to discuss your work.

Do you want to know more about the contents of our end-of-course reader reports? Click the button below to download and read an example report.

View Example Report

Our How to Write Your Novel Series

This is the first course in our popular How to Write Your Novel series, designed to take you from your first idea to final draft. It is followed by Write to the End of Your Novel and Edit & Pitch Your Novel – take the courses in succession or choose the right course for your current stage in the writing process. All three courses have been updated with brand-new videos, expanded resources and revitalised teaching materials (available from September 2025).

View Courses

GIFT THIS COURSE

Encourage your writerly friend or loved one to get creative! We have £250 digital gift vouchers available, enabling you to buy any six-week online course as a present.

Buy Voucher

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