Writing Your Novel – Six Months

£2,800

6 months

Online

Applications

Start Date

19th Feb 2024

End Date

29th Jul 2024

Application Deadline

21st Jan 2024

Applicant Notification

25th Jan 2024

Apply Now

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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 Lisa O’Donnell and Cathi Unsworth, 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 200 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.

This course runs from 19 Feb 2024 to 29 Jul 2024.

The impact was immense. Learning to read as a writer, acquiring a toolbox of skills to manage and ever-changing plot, characters and narrative, seeing how other students worked and gaining confidence in my ability

Alex McCarthy
Author of The Unbroken Beauty of Rosalind Bone

Tutors

Lisa O’Donnell

Having returned to her native Scotland after working as a screenwriter in LA, Lisa O’Donnell sat down to write her first novel The Death of Bees, which was published by Windmill in 2012. The book, a razor-sharp black comedy about family values that follows the orphaned children of two Glasgow drug addicts as they rebuild their lives with the help of a caring neighbour, won the Commonwealth Book Prize in 2013. Her second novel Closed Doors is another tale of lost innocence set during the 1980s on the author’s childhood home island of Rothesay. She is currently working on her third novel.

Cathi Unsworth

Cathi Unsworth is the author of four crime novels, most recently That Old Black Magic; plus two further (non-genre) novels, all published by Serpent’s Tail. Her novel Weirdo was translated into seven languages and longlisted for the 2014 Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year, the 2014 Gran Prix de Littérature Policiére, the 2013 Gordon Burn Prize and the 2013 New Angle Prize for Literature. Her novel Without the Moon was The Times' Crime Book of the month upon publication.

Read our interviews with the course tutors to discover more about their writing and approaches to teaching creative writing.

Read interview with Lisa

Read interview with Cathi

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 only ‘live’ elements of this course (taking 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: Lisa and Cathi 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 Lisa and Cathi, 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 Lisa and one with Cathi). 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 Curtis Brown/C&W literary agent 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 exclusive writing services, available only to the alumni of our selective courses. These services include one-to-one mentoring, full manuscript reports and submission reports on your pitch package. Read more about the opportunities available to our alumni here.

VIDEO SPEAKERS

Course modules include exclusive pre-recorded teaching videos from these expert author-tutors.

Laura BarnettRead bio →

Anna DavisRead bio →

Suzannah DunnRead bio →

Lisa O’DonnellRead bio →

Andrew Michael HurleyRead bio →

Simon IngsRead bio →

Nikita LalwaniRead bio →

Christopher WaklingRead bio →

MASTERCLASS SPEAKERS

Join live Q&A sessions with top UK literary agents, authors and publishers.

Lucy BarkerRead bio →

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.

MODULE 1 – INSPIRATION AND READING AS WRITERS
Mon 19 Feb – Sun 25 Sept
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MODULE 2 – OPENINGS
Mon 26 Feb – Sun 10 Mar
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MODULE 3 – WRITING FROM LIFE
Mon 11 Mar – Sun 17 Mar
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MODULE 4 – STORY, PLOTTING & PLANNING
Mon 18 Mar – Thurs 28 Mar
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EASTER BREAK
Fri 29 Mar – Sun 7 Apr
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MODULE 5 – VOICE AND NARRATIVE POINT OF VIEW
Mon 8 Apr– Sun 14 Apr
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MODULE 6 – PLACE AND SETTING
Mon 15 Apr – Sun 28 Apr
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MODULE 7 – SYNOPSIS
Mon 29 Apr – Sun 5 May
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MODULE 8 – CHARACTERISATION
Tues 7 May – Sun 19 May
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MODULE 9 – DESCRIPTION, TONE & STYLE
Mon 20 May – Sun 26 May
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MODULE 10 – DIALOGUE
Tues 28 May – Sun 9 Jun
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MODULE 11 – BUILDING SUSPENSE
Mon 10 Jun – Sun 23 Jun
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MODULE 12 – ENDINGS
Mon 24 Jun – Sun 30 Jun
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MODULE 13 – EDITING AND REWRITING
Mon 1 Jul – Sun 7 Jul
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MODULE 14 – AGENT LETTER/PITCH WORKSHOP
Mon 8 Jul – Sun 14 Jul
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MODULE 15 – FINAL QUESTIONS
Mon 15 Jul – Sun 21 Jul
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MODULE 16 – END OF COURSE SUBMISSION
Mon 29 Jul
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Course fees

The course fee of £2,800 (inc VAT) 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).

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 21 Jan, and we will respond to applicants by Thurs 25 Jan.

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.