Writing YA & Children’s Fiction – Three Months

Select Date

Applications

Start Date

16th Feb 2026

End Date

26th May 2026

Application Deadline

9th Feb 2026

Applicant Notification

10th Feb 2026

Price on Acceptance

£1800

Apply Now

Writing YA & Children’s Fiction – Three Months

Advanced

Length

3 months

Location

Online

Writing Goal

Develop your writing

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Writing YA & Children’s Fiction – Three Months

Develop imaginative and original YA, Middle Grade, and children's fiction on this advanced online course.

Tutor

Catherine Johnson

Length

3 months

Location

Online

Writing Goal

Develop your writing

Learn from the award-winning children's and YA author.

Advanced

Learn how to write compelling fiction for teenagers and children. This intense three-month course is designed for writers eager to hone their craft and take writing for young readers seriously.

Marisa Linton, author of The Binding Spell

The course marked the moment when I took my writing future into my own hands and developed a new direction. It was just what I needed.

Marisa Linton
Author of The Binding Spell

Suitable for those working on a YA (14+), teen (11–16) middle grade (8–12) or young fiction (7+) novel (learn more about the types of children’s fiction here). You will join a group of 15 writers taught by Catherine Johnson, prize-winning YA and children’s fiction author and much-loved creative writing tutor. You'll discover how to create characters that resonate with your target audience and shape an engaging narrative arc, as well as key writing techniques – from point-of-view and dialogue to world-building and plotting.

With weekly teaching and workshopping on our interactive platform, plus one-to-one tutorials, and guidance from industry experts, this course will help you develop your craft and understand how your story fits within the YA and children’s fiction market. Our compact three-month schedule and online learning environment make this course ideal for writers with busy calendars in need of flexibility, as well as comprehensive advice and an energetic burst of motivation.

You’ll also attend an exclusive live industry masterclass on Zoom featuring insights from a top children's author and a leading literary agent specialising in children's fiction. When the course ends, you’ll be given the opportunity to share your work with literary agents from Curtis Brown and C&W.

Over 280 of our students have gone on to become commercially published authors, including TikTok sensation and bestselling author Cynthia Murphy (Last One to Die, Win Lose Kill Die and The Midnight Game). Other previous students of our Writing YA & Children’s Fiction course include Penny Chrimes (Tiger Heart), Rachael Fernandes (The Mercury in Me), Michael Mann (Ghostcloud) and Jenny Pearson (The Super Miraculous Journey of Freddie Yates). Whether you're in the early stages of writing, halfway through a first draft or embarking on a major rewrite – this course will give you the push you need to get the most out of your novel for younger readers.

Tutor

Catherine Johnson

Catherine Johnson has written over 20 books for children and young adults, including Sawbones, which won the Young Quills Prize for best Historical Fiction in the 12+ category and was nominated for the Carnegie medal in 2015. Her book Freedom won the 2019 Little Rebels Award for Radical Children's Fiction.

Read our interview with Catherine to discover more about her writing and approach to teaching creative writing.

Read interview with Catherine

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 alongside pre-recorded teaching videos on our bespoke learning platform, which we have developed exclusively for our students. The forum discussions are lively and every week there will be insightful writing chats and workshop feedback threads with posts from your tutor and student group. The only ‘live’ elements that take place at set times are the Zoom industry masterclass and your one-to-one-tutorials. Timings of these sessions will always be confirmed in advance.
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 their trusted readers with us – and form strong working friendships with classmates which go on long after the course is over.
Expert teaching: Catherine will post weekly teaching notes and lead discussions on a variety of novel-writing topics on our interactive online learning platform, and set homework tasks to further your learning. Through the teaching, workshopping and tutorials, she will work with you to help you write the story you want to tell.
Teaching videos: Across 12 teaching modules, videos and notes will be made available on our learning platform, covering a range of topics such as worldbuilding, characterisation, point-of-view and rewriting. All delivered by Catherine.
Writing workshops: Your work will be workshopped by the group twice 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.
1-to-1 tutorials: You'll get two 45-minute, one-to-one tutorials with Catherine (via phone call or Zoom). Tutorials will be based on 3,000-word extracts of your novel-in-progress and will address your specific concerns and questions.
Industry tutorial: To help you prepare for the next stages of the writing and pitching process, all students will have a 45-minute one-to-one with an experienced CBC editor or a member of the Curtis Brown/C&W agenting team (via phone call or Zoom). They will read and provide feedback on up to 6,000 words from your novel-in-progress plus your synopsis.
Guest speaker masterclass: Join a special live Zoom Q&A with a leading literary agent and a children's author. They will talk about writing, editing and the submissions process, drawing on their experience of real-life publication journeys – with a specific focus on the marketplace for YA, Middle Grade and children's fiction. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions.
Synopsis & agent letter advice: We’ll give you the vital ingredients needed for a great synopsis and pitch letter. Individual feedback will come from experienced members of the CBC editorial team and/or a Curtis Brown/C&W literary agent – delivered via the learning platform.
End of course submission: All students will be invited to submit their 3,000-word novel opening, plus a synopsis, to be shared with the agent teams at Curtis Brown and C&W as well as a select group of agents from other UK-based agencies. This is not a formal submission but a chance to give the agents a taste of what you’re working on. When you are ready to formally submit – no matter how long after your course has finished – the CBC team will provide guidance and support with your submission to the Curtis Brown and C&W agents.
Alumni services: At the end of your course, you’ll be given access to a range of services, available only to the alumni of our selective courses. These services include exclusive discounts, guidance on getting your ‘pitch package’ ready and help submitting your book to Curtis Brown and C&W literary agents. Read more about the opportunities available to our alumni here.

MASTERCLASS SPEAKERS

Students will join a live Zoom sessions with a Curtis Brown literary agent and a children's author.

Steph Thwaites, Curtis Brown literary agent

Steph ThwaitesRead bio →

Struan MurrayRead bio →

Course schedule

WEEK 1 – INTRODUCTION
Mon 16 Feb – Sun 22 Feb
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WEEK 2 – BEGINNINGS
Mon 23 Feb – Sun 1 Mar
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WEEK 3 – CHARACTERISATION
Mon 2 Mar – Sun 8 Mar
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WEEK 4 – POINT OF VIEW
Mon 9 Mar – Sun 15 Mar
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WEEK 5 – WORLD-BUILDING
Mon 16 Mar – Sun 22 Mar
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WEEK 6 – EVERYTHING MATTERS
Mon 23 Mar – Sun 29 Mar
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WEEK 7 – SYNOPSIS
Mon 30 Mar – Sun 5 Apr
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WEEK 8 – DIALOGUE AND DESCRIPTION
Tues 7 Apr – Sun 12 Apr
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WEEK 9 – PLANNING, PLOTTING AND DREAMING
Mon 13 Apr – Sun 19 Apr
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WEEK 10 – CHILDREN’S WRITING TROUBLESHOOTING
Mon 20 Apr – Sun 26 Apr
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WEEK 11 – ENDINGS AND RESOLUTIONS
Mon 27 Apr – Sun 3 May
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WEEK 12 – EDITING AND REWRITING
Tues 5 May – Sun 10 May
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WEEK 13 – END OF COURSE SUBMISSION
Tues 26 May
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COURSE FEES

The course fee of £1,800 (inclusive of VAT, please note that additional fees may apply if you’re based in a country with a higher VAT rate than the UK) 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 to the application form).

The CBC team will select applicants based on the quality of the writing sample provided. We may start reading and responding to applicants ahead of the final deadline and we therefore advise people who are keen to join this course to apply early. The final deadline for applications is 10am (UK time) on the application deadline date.

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.

Select Date

Applications

Start Date

16th Feb 2026

End Date

26th May 2026

Application Deadline

9th Feb 2026

Applicant Notification

10th Feb 2026

Price on Acceptance

£1800

Apply Now

280+

former students with publishing deals

95%

of students would recommend us to a friend

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