Writing Your Novel – Six Months
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Writing Your Novel – Six Months
If you’re working on a novel and want to take your writing seriously, get the best out of your work-in-progress and learn how to pitch to agents and publishers with confidence, then our flagship six-month course is for you.
Join a group of 15 writers for weekly in-person teaching sessions at a central London location. We’re excited to be offering two brilliant author-tutors for this course – meaning you’ll get two experienced teaching perspectives focused on your work across six months. The first half of the course will be taught by Ali Shaw and the second by Laura Barnett. Your tutors will help you to maximise your potential through weekly writing workshops, one-to-one tutorials and teaching sessions.
You will also have the opportunity to engage directly with industry professionals, with the opportunity to share the opening of your novel informally with the agent teams at Curtis Brown and C&W at the end of the course.
Laura gave a full spectrum of useful feedback, from close line reading to structural suggestions, not afraid to challenge me and push towards a better approach. It was a pleasure talking about my writing with her; her honesty and openness about her own work was empowering.
Tutors
Ali Shaw
Ali Shaw is an award-winning novelist, short story writer and creative writing teacher. His novels are The Trees, The Man who Rained, and The Girl with Glass Feet, which won the Desmond Elliott Prize, was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award. His books have been translated into fifteen different languages, and his short fiction has appeared in multiple newspapers, magazines, and on BBC Radio 4.
Laura Barnett
Laura’s first novel, The Versions of Us (2015) was a number-one bestseller, it has been translated into 24 languages, and was shortlisted for Debut of the Year at the British Book Awards. She’s had three further books out since then: Greatest Hits (2017), which features an accompanying musical soundtrack by Kathryn Williams; Gifts (2021), a novel in short stories; and This Beating Heart (2022). Her fifth novel, Births, Deaths and Marriages, will be published in 2025. She delivered a TedX talk on originality in fiction, and worked as a writing mentor for the charity Arts Emergency. She is a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Manchester Metropolitan University’s Writing School. Laura has taught many novel-writing courses for CBC in London and online, and she currently mentors members of our alumni community.
What does this course give you?
- Live teaching sessions in London: Ali and Laura will teach on a variety of novel-writing topics in dynamic sessions on Weds evenings. The tutors will also set homework tasks to further your learning.
- 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.
- Writing workshops: Across the course, you'll get three dedicated workshops centring on 3,000-word extracts from your novel-in-progress. 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 25-minute, one-to-one tutorials (one with Ali and the other with Laura). Tutorials will be based on 3,000-word extracts of your novel-in-progress. Use these tutorials to address your specific concerns about your writing. Near the end of the course all students will also get a 45-minute one-to-one with an experienced CBC editor or a Curtis Brown/C&W literary agent. They will read a 6,000-word extract from your novel-in-progress plus your synopsis.
- 4 industry masterclasses: These special sessions will feature guest literary agents, authors and publishers. Industry experts will talk about writing, editing and submissions process, they will draw on their experience of real-life publication journeys. There will also be opportunities to ask questions.
- Guest tutor sessions: Two acclaimed authors will lead two evening teaching sessions (as listed on the schedule). They'll share wisdom from their writing career and set relevant tasks for the group. Prize-winning author Diana Evans is one of the guest tutors for this course, the other guest tutor is TBD.
- Synopsis & agent letter feedback: We’ll draw on our expertise to give you the vital ingredients needed for a great synopsis and the all-important pitch letter. Individual feedback will come from experienced members of the CBC editorial team and/or a Curtis Brown/C&W literary agent.
- End of course submission: At the end of the course 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 CB 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 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.
Masterclass speakers
Students will be attend live sessions with the literary agents at Curtis Brown and C&W, published authors and an editor from a major publishing house,
Course schedule
All teaching and workshop sessions will take place on Wednesday evenings (unless otherwise stated below). Classes will be held at a central London location (Asia House) from 7pm to 9pm. Guest speaker sessions will take place on Monday evenings from 7pm to 8.30pm, either in London or via Zoom. The exact dates and times of guest masterclass sessions are subject to change.
Classes may be moved from London to Zoom depending on circumstances, with prior notification to all concerned.
We are passionate about the safety and comfort of our students and continue to closely monitor the ongoing Covid-19 situation – you can read the current version of our Covid protocol here. The protocol is reviewed, ongoing throughout the duration of the course, and our students and staff will be kept fully informed of any amendments made in their interests.
INSPRATION & READING AS WRITERS
Weds 7 Sept, 7–9pmOPENINGS I
Weds 14 Sept, 7–9pmOPENINGS II
Weds 21 Sept, 7–9pmIndustry Masterclass
Monday 26 Sept, 7pmWRITING FROM LIFE
Weds 28 Sept, 7–9pmSTORY, PLOTTING & PLANNING I
Weds 5 Oct, 7–9pmSTORY, PLOTTING & PLANNING II
Weds 12 Oct, 7–9pmVOICE & NARRATIVE POINT OF VIEW
Weds 19 Oct, 7–9pmOCTOBER HALF TERM
No teaching session Weds 26 Oct.PLACE & SETTING
Weds 2 Nov, 7–9pmSynopsis Online
Mon 7 Nov – Sun 13 NovIndustry Masterclass
Weds 9 Nov, 7pmGuest Tutor Session I
Weds 16 Nov, 7–9pmGuest Tutor Session II
Weds 23 Nov, 7–9pmCHARACTERISATION I
Weds 30 Nov, 7–9pmCHARACTERISATION II
Weds 7 Dec, 7–9pmDESCRIPTION, TONE & STYLE
Weds 14 Dec, 7–9pmWINTER BREAK
No teaching until the new yearDIALOGUE
Weds 4 Jan, 7–9pmBUILDING SUSPENSE
Weds 11 Jan, 7–9pmENDINGS I
Weds 18 Jan, 7–9pmIndustry Masterclass
Weds 25 Jan, 7–8.30pmENDINGS II
Weds 1 Feb, 7–9pmEditing & Rewriting
Weds 8 Feb, 7–9pmAgent Letter & Pitch Workshop
Weds 15 Feb, 7–8.30pmConclusion
Weds 22 Feb, 7–8.30pmEND OF COURSE SUBMISSION
Mon 2 Mar
Course fees
The course fee of £3,190 (inc VAT) per student is payable, in full, by bank transfer or cheque before the start of the course. 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).
The CBC team will select applicants based on the quality of the writing sample provided. The deadline for applications is midnight, end of day Sun 31 Jul, and we will respond to applicants by Thurs 4 Aug.
We read all application material promptly after the closing date and make our selection of students swiftly at that time. However if you require an earlier response from us in order to be able to take part in this course, please email us with full details and we will consider and respond on a case by case basis.
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.
Get the best out of your novel with expert tuition and advice from publishing professionals on our flagship writing course in London.
Tutor
Ali Shaw
Laura Barnett