Writing Fantasy
Applications
Writing Fantasy
Work on epic fantasy fiction with dedicated online teaching and feedback from British Fantasy Award-winner and bestselling author, Lucy Holland.
Tutor
Lucy HollandLength
9 weeksLocation
Online,ZoomWriting Goal
Develop your writingWrite a fantasy novel with layered storytelling, a fictional world as real and complex as our own, and characters you’d follow into battle. Whether you aspire to write high fantasy like Brandon Sanderson, romantasy like Sarah J. Maas, historical fantasy like R.F. Kuang, or cosy fantasy like Travis Baldree, this high-level course will give you the tools and insights needed to construct original, engaging and believable narratives.
Having Lucy Holland as a tutor has also been amazing, she is incredibly perceptive and brilliant. She really knows how to get you and the wider group thinking about the choices you have made for your story and how you can improve them.
British Fantasy Award-winner Lucy Holland (also writing as Lucy Hounsom) will guide you through the essential elements of the genre – from using and subverting traditional tropes to worldbuilding and creating a diverse cast of characters with genuine depth and intrigue – crucial for sustaining your story over the course of a novel or series.
You’ll join a group of 15 fantasy authors for flexibly timed weekly writing workshops on our bespoke online learning platform, plus live group teaching sessions via Zoom covering important genre-topics, and an in-depth one-to-one tutorial with Lucy towards the end of the course.
Course runs from 7 October to 9 December 2025.
Tutor
Lucy Holland
Lucy Holland is the author of The Times bestselling Sistersong, a finalist for the Goldsboro Books Glass Bell Award and the British Fantasy Award for Best Novel in 2022. Her second historical fantasy novel Song of the Huntress is published by Pan Macmillan in 2024. Writing as Lucy Hounsom, she is the author of the Worldmaker Trilogy. Her first book Starborn was shortlisted in the 2016 Gemmell Awards for Best Fantasy Debut. She worked for twelve years in corporate account sales for Waterstones Booksellers before becoming a full-time author. Lucy co-hosts the intersectional feminist podcast ‘Breaking the Glass Slipper’, which won Best Audio in the 2019 British Fantasy Awards. She has given talks and workshops for various organisations, including the British Library, MCM ComicCon, Cymera Festival, Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival, and the universities of Exeter, Bath Spa and Royal Holloway. In June 2024, she was selected by UNESCO Cities of Literature as one of the ILX10: rising stars of UK Writing.
What does this course give you?
- Live teaching sessions on Zoom: On six Tuesday evenings, Lucy will welcome the group for a 90-minute Zoom class, covering topics of significance to fantasy writers, such as how to find your story, worldbuild organically, and manipulate genre tropes to powerful effect.
- 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. We have developed a bespoke learning platform exclusively for our students. Here you can give and receive feedback, and discuss the week’s topics with your fellow students and tutors. Many of our former students have found their trusted readers with us – and form strong working friendships with classmates which go on long after the course is over.
- Writing workshop: You’ll get a dedicated workshop centring on a 3,000-word extract from your novel-in-progress. Workshops offer in-depth feedback from your fellow students and tutor, and are also designed to help develop your self-editing skills.
- 1-to-1 tutorial: You'll get a 45-minute, one-to-one tutorial with Lucy, based on a 3,000-word extract from your novel-in-progress. Use this tutorial to address your specific concerns about your writing.
- Author masterclass: Join a live Zoom session with a fantasy author and literary agent for a special Q&A. The discussion will cover the process of planning, writing and editing a fantasy novel, as well as submitting to literary agents.
- End of course submission: All students will be invited to submit the 3,000-word opening from their novel, plus a synopsis, to be shared with the agent teams at Curtis Brown and C&W. This is not a formal submission but a chance to give the agents a taste of your work at this stage. When you are ready to formally submit – no matter how long after your course has finished – the CBC team will give you guidance and support with your submission to the Curtis Brown and C&W agents.
- Alumni services: You’ll be given access to a range of exclusive writing services, available only to the alumni of our selective courses, which you’ll be able to access after your course finishes. These services include individual mentoring, editorial reports on your completed novel and submission reports on your ‘pitch package’. Read more about the opportunities available to our alumni here.
Course schedule
This course will be delivered via our private online Learning Platform and in live teaching sessions on Zoom. Please note that precise dates of sessions and details of course speakers are subject to change.
Finding the story
Tues 7 Oct – Fri 10 OctWorldbuilding – Setting
Tues 14 Oct – Fri 17 OctWorldbuilding – Character
Tues 21 Oct – Fri 24 OctWorkshopping
Tues 28 Oct – Fri 31 OctWorkshopping
Tues 4 Nov – Fri 7 NovWriting across genre
Tues 11 Nov – Fri 14 NovWriting the Other
Tues 18 Nov – Fri 21 NovGuest speaker session
Tues 25 Nov – Fri 28 NovReaching the end + course conclusion
Tues 2 Dec – Fri 5 DecEnd-of-course submission
Tues 9 Dec
COURSE FEES
The course fee of £990 (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?
Please apply with the first 3,000 words of the novel you’d like to work on during the course, and a synopsis of no more than a page (both need to be in the same document, as you can only upload ONE file in the application below).
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 2025, 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.
SCHOLARSHIP PLACE
There's one scholarship place available for this course. This scholarship will award one talented speculative writer with limited financial means a place on our nine-week online Writing Fantasy course. Deadline Sunday 21 September.
Breakthrough Scholarship for Fantasy Writers with Low Income
