276 courses

Novel Writing

Writing a Novel (Evening)

A comprehensive six-month writing course for the serious writer, with access to some of the biggest names in publishing.

Level

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Advanced

What do these levels mean?

Location

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London

Length

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6 month +

Tutors

Richard T. Kelly, Sarah May, Nikesh Shukla

By Application

Start Date

Tuesday 23 Jan 2024

Application Deadline

Sunday 14 Jan 2024

£4350
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Female novelist writing on her laptop
Fiction Development, Novel Writing

Writing a Novel (Online)

A serious but flexible course for committed writers, with access to leading industry experts and round-the-clock support from our team.

Level

i
Advanced

What do these levels mean?

Location

i
Online

Length

i
6 month +

Tutors

Sarah May

By Application

Start Date

Monday 29 Jan 2024

1 more start date available

Application Deadline

Monday 15 Jan 2024

£2750
Apply

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Person writing in notebook
Novel Writing

Writing a Novel (Daytime)

A comprehensive six-month writing course for the serious writer, with access to some of the biggest names in publishing.

Level

i
Advanced

What do these levels mean?

Location

i
London

Length

i
6 month +

Tutors

Shelley Weiner, Joanna Briscoe

By Application

Start Date

Tuesday 30 Jan 2024

Application Deadline

Sunday 14 Jan 2024

£4350
Apply

28 spaces left

Details
Image of a woman with peach hair and a white shirt writing in her notebook at a table
Poetry

Advanced Poetry

If you’re a committed aspiring poet hoping to take your writing to the next level, join Daljit Nagra and Rachael Allen for this six-month course at the home of British poetry.

Level

i
Advanced

What do these levels mean?

Location

i
Online

Length

i
6 month +

Tutors

Rachael Allen, Daljit Nagra

By Application

Start Date

Monday 03 Oct 2022

Application Deadline

Sunday 18 Sep 2022

£2500
Book Now

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Details
Image of a woman with peach hair and a white shirt writing in her notebook at a table
Poetry

Advanced Poetry

If you’re a committed aspiring poet hoping to take your writing to the next level, join Maurice Riordan and Richard Scott for this six-month course at the home of British poetry.

Level

i
Advanced

What do these levels mean?

Location

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Online

Length

i
6 month +

Tutors

Maurice Riordan, Richard Scott, Rachel Long, Daljit Nagra, Don Paterson, Denise Riley

By Application

Start Date

Monday 05 Feb 2024

Application Deadline

Sunday 14 Jan 2024

£2750
Apply

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Novel Writing

An Introduction to Writing a Novel (Newcastle)

An introduction to Faber Academy's six-month writing course for the serious writer.

Level

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Improving

What do these levels mean?

Location

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Newcastle

Length

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1-5 days

Tutors

Richard T. Kelly, Preti Taneja

Start Date

Tuesday 05 Dec 2023

1 more start date available

£
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Collection Review

Collection Review

Put your poems through their paces with an in-depth evaluation of your entire collection.
By Application
£500
Close-up of a woman writing in a notebook on hillside
Fiction Development, Novel Writing

Create Brilliant Characters

Discover the secrets of successful character creation, and try out failsafe techniques to bring your own characters to life.

Level

i
Improving

What do these levels mean?

Location

i
Online

Length

i
4 weeks

Tutors

Tom Bromley

Start Date

Monday 12 Sep 2022

£120
Book Now

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Details
Close-up of a woman writing in a notebook on hillside
Fiction Development, Novel Writing

Create Brilliant Characters

Discover the secrets of successful character creation, and try out failsafe techniques to bring your own characters to life.

Level

i
Improving

What do these levels mean?

Location

i
Online

Length

i
4 weeks

Tutors

Tom Bromley

Start Date

Monday 13 Sep 2021

£120
Book Now

4 spaces left

Details
Close-up of a woman writing in a notebook on hillside
Fiction Development, Novel Writing

Create Brilliant Characters

Discover the secrets of successful character creation, and try out failsafe techniques to bring your own characters to life.

Level

i
Improving

What do these levels mean?

Location

i
Online

Length

i
4 weeks

Tutors

Tom Bromley

Start Date

Monday 14 Mar 2022

£120
Book Now

Sold Out

Details
Close-up of a woman writing in a notebook on hillside

Create Brilliant Characters

Discover the secrets of successful character creation, and try out failsafe techniques to bring your own characters to life.

Tutors

Tom Bromley

Start Date

Monday 17 Jan 2022

£120
Book Now

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Details

Find the right people to tell your story

Characters are at the heart of memorable fiction. Readers want to meet people they can go for a drink with or fall in love with or shout at. Characters they feel they know – or wish they knew. This four-week course helps you understand the conventions of writing characters and shows you how to create more engaging characters to keep your readers hooked. It will expand your range of techniques and challenge you to experiment with your writing.

Is this the right course for me?

This is one of our 'Improving' courses – you don't need to be an experienced writer to take it, but if you're a complete beginner looking for an introduction to creative writing, it might be better to start with one of our starting out courses. This one is ideal if you've got an idea (or several!) for a great story, but are struggling to get the people who'll carry it living and breathing on the page.

Over two fortnight-long sessions, you'll work through guided reading, practical exercises and creative writing prompts. You'll have video introductions to the topics covered from your tutor, and instructions and tips on how to craft a satisfying story.

You'll be joined by a supportive group of fellow writers to read, discuss and feedback on your work, and we'll host forum discussions about hooking and keeping your readers engaged with your setting. We'll give you guidance on how to turn a sharp lens on your creative work and become a better editor of your writing, as well as honing those skills giving feedback to your classmates.

You'll have a special Q&A forum to keep in touch with and post your critical writing questions for your tutor during the four weeks. And at the end of the course, you'll find carefully curated additional reading and resources so you can take your interests further, as well as the opportunity to produce a piece of writing of up to 2,000 words based on one of the exercises you've worked on during the course.

    This course is formed of two fortnight-long sessions. During the two weeks, you can work through the session's materials at your own pace, at a time that suits you – you don't need to be online at a particular time. You'll be able to join in discussions with your classmates on the forums, and post some of your own writing in order to get feedback from them.

Course Programme

Session 1

Monday 17 January – 30 January

Where do great characters come fro...

Session 2

31 January – 13 February

Five secrets of fantastic characte...

See remaining sessions

Course Programme

Create Brilliant Characters

Session 1

Monday 17 January – 30 January

Where do great characters come from?

We look at four different ways of creating characters, studying extracts that draw on these methods and then experimenting with writing in each of the different styles. You will post some thoughts on your reading and short extracts of writing to the forum for class discussion.

Session 2

31 January – 13 February

Five secrets of fantastic characters

In this session, we’ll look at how to bring characters to life on the page using description, back story, inconsistencies, reader-engagement techniques and change. You will work on one longer piece of writing in preparation for your final submission of up to 2,000 words. You might polish or rework a piece you worked on in Session 1 or develop something new based on what you’ve learned. You will post your final piece to the forum for comment from your peers.

Tutor

rachael-allen-tutor

Rachael Allen

Rachael Allen’s first collection of poems, KINGDOMLAND, is published by Faber & Faber. She is the co-author of a number of collaborative...

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Rachael Allen
daljit-nagra

Daljit Nagra

Daljit Nagra has published four poetry collections with Faber & Faber. He has won the Forward Prize for Best Individual Poem...

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Daljit Nagra
Maurice3

Maurice Riordan

Maurice Riordan was born in Co. Cork. His first book, A Word from the Loki (1995), was nominated for the T. S. Eliot Prize...

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Maurice Riordan
richard-scott-tutor

Richard Scott

Richard Scott was born in London in 1981. His pamphlet Wound (Rialto) won the Michael Marks Poetry Award 2016 and his poem...

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Richard Scott
Rachel Long.

Rachel Long

Rachel Long’s debut collection, My Darling from the Lions was published by Picador in the UK, in 2020, and by Tin House, in the US, in 2021. It was shortlisted for...

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Rachel Long
richard-t-kelly-tutor

Richard T. Kelly

Richard T. Kelly is the author of the novels Crusaders (2008), The Possessions of Doctor Forrest (2011) and The Knives (2016)...

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Richard T. Kelly
preti-taneja-tutor

Preti Taneja

Preti Taneja is a writer and activist. She has taught writing in prisons, worked with arts practitioners around the world mediating their own...

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Preti Taneja
tutor-4-min

Tom Bromley

Tom Bromley is an author, editor and ghostwriter. He has written ten books under his own name, both fiction and non-fiction...

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Tom Bromley
daljit-nagra

Guest Tutor

Daljit Nagra

Daljit Nagra has published four poetry collections with Faber & Faber. He has won the Forward Prize for Best Individual Poem...

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Daljit Nagra
Don Paterson

Guest Tutor

Don Paterson

Don Paterson is the author of numerous works of poetry and non-fiction; his writing has won many awards, including the Whitbread Poetry Prize, the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, the Costa Poetry Award, all three Forward Prizes...

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Don Paterson
Denise Riley b&w

Guest Tutor

Denise Riley

Denise Riley’s books are War in the Nursery: Theories of the Child and Mother (1983), ‘Am I That Name?’ Feminism and the Category of 'Women' in History...

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Denise Riley

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