Writing Your Novel – Six Months

Our flagship online Writing Your Novel course is designed for writers who are serious about developing their novel to its full potential.

With weekly teaching and workshopping on our interactive platform, plus one-to-one tutorials, and advice from publishing industry experts, this course will help you hone your craft and make real progress with your story. It’s ideal for those looking for a practical online alternative to a postgraduate creative writing course.

You will join a group of 15 writers tutored by experienced creative writing tutors who have won awards for their books. Teaching will cover how to create a strong narrative arc and convincing characters, as well as key techniques that will help you bring your story to life, from dialogue to description, tone and style.

In addition to the weekly teaching and workshopping – which is flexibly timed so you can take part at a time that suits you each week – you’ll also attend exclusive live industry masterclasses on Zoom featuring insights from authors, agents and publishers. 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 Bonnie Garmus, author of the multi-million copy bestseller, Lessons in Chemistry. Previous students of our six-month online course include Stacey Thomas (The Revels), Anna Bailey (Tall Bones), Elizabeth Lee (Cunning Women) and Alex McCarthy (The Unbroken Beauty of Rosalind Bone). 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.

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 masterclasses 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 trusted readers with us and formed strong working friendships that go on long after the course is over.
• Expert teaching: Your tutors 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, they will work with you to help you write the story you want to tell.
• Teaching videos: In addition to the teaching from your tutors, each module will open with exclusive videos and notes covering a range of topics such as plotting, characterisation, point-of-view and editing – all written and delivered by our expert tutor team (see featured video speakers below).
• 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 two 45-minute, one-to-one tutorials (one with each tutor). Tutorials will be based on 3,000-word extracts from your novel-in-progress and will address your specific concerns and questions. Towards the end of the course, all students will also get a 45-minute one-to-one with an experienced CBC editor or a member of the Curtis Brown/C&W agenting team who will read up to 6,000 words from your novel-in-progress plus your synopsis. Tutorials will take place via phone call or Zoom.
• Three industry masterclasses: These special live Zoom sessions will help to demystify publishing. Leading literary agents, authors and publishers will answer your questions, speaking exclusively to you about writing, editing and the submissions process, and share real-life publication journeys.
• 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 submit formally – 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.

COURSE SCHEDULE & DELIVERY

This course is ideal for people seeking flexibility, so they can write and study at times that suit them. Please note that precise dates of masterclass sessions and details of course speakers are subject to change.

Course fees

The course fee of £2,900 (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. Funds must reach our bank account before the course begins. 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 have just a few places left on the courses starting in September 2025. We will be reading and responding to applicants throughout August. We, therefore, advise people who are keen to join this course to apply as soon as possible.

For the course starting in February 2026, we will read all application material promptly after the closing date and make our selection of students within a week. 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.

The CBC team will select applicants based on the quality of the writing sample provided. The deadline for applications is dependent on which course start date you're applying for. Use the drop down 'select date' toggle to see currently available start dates and their associated deadlines. Be sure that you've selected the right course start date before you click the 'Apply Now' button.

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.

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