Creative Writing Courses

Online writing courses that could change your life

Creative writing is a joy - and it could, just possibly, one day become your job.

The main thing that holds new writers back is a worry about the unknown: just how do you structure a story? Or bring a character to life? Or make sure that your writing style is good enough?

Our courses are designed to teach you those things in a way that encourages, informs and inspires. We have courses for every range of ability and experience - and they're designed to be simple, friendly and intimate. We keep our class sizes deliberately small, to make sure that you and your work always feels important.

And do check out the lovely feedback we get from clients. We're blushing.

Work from home, at times that suit you

Our online writing courses are easy to fit into your life. Everything we do - videos, lectures, discussions, homework and feedback - can be accessed online at any time of day or night. You can participate when you have a spare five minutes. You can study or do your homework when you have a spare hour or two.

Our online course environment is incredibly easy to navigate. All our courses are hosted in a private area of The Word Cloud. If you want to see how that works, just pop over and take a look. It really couldn't be easier.

Choosing your creative writing course

Wondering which course to pick? Browse from the list below, then click through to explore the ones that interest you.

"I'm a total beginner."

How To Write A Novel - 6 week course - £295 - (info)

If you're the sort that likes to begin at the beginning, then our six week course is for you. Run by bestselling author, Jessica Ruston, you'll learn about how to get ideas, structure a story, write powerful characters, and bring your work to market. The course will provide a rogorous grounding in the basics - but also encourage and inspire. Read more.

"I'm a confident beginner."

How To Write A Novel - 10 week course - £395 - (info)

Some writers are keen to tackle the art of writing in real depth. Perhaps you've written creatively already, or perhaps you're well-read and confident in the basics of the art. Either way, our ten week course with Rebecca Connell will explore subjects such as voice, inner worlds, self-editing and other aspects of the craft that can't be investigated fully in the shorter course. Read more.

"I want to write for children."

Writing for Children - 6 week course - £295 - (info)

Writing for children is a uniquely delicious occupation - but that doesn't mean it's easy! Our Writing for Children course is taught by two professional children's authors (Lil Chase and Michael Ford) and will take you through all the skills you need to get started with confidence. Unlike most courses, we won't just talk about inspiration and story-telling, we'll also give you a realistic sense of what it takes to get published - and how to get there. Read more.

"I want to write about my life."

Writing from Life - 6 week course - £295 - (info)

One of the best routes into writing is through our personal experiences and memories; some of our most interesting material comes from our own lives. From getting ideas to structure, character, dialogue, description and voice, this course will help you to research and write about real life, whether memoir, biography, travel, reportage or fiction, and will explore ways of using that material to tell great stories. With award-winning travel writer, Helena Drysdale. Read more.

"I've written my novel and have started to edit it."

How To Self-Edit Your Novel - 6 week course - £295 - (info)

 If you've already written (or part-written) your novel or creative non-fiction manuscript, you'll know that you've set yourself one heck of a challenge. Our inspirational (nay, mind-blowing) course on self-editing will propel you to entirely new levels of insight, confidence and purpose. Run by the hugely popular Emma Darwin and Debi Alper, this course is a must for any serious writer. Students from this course often become each other's "editing buddies", thereby giving you a priceless resource far after the end of the course. Read more.

"I want mentoring from first idea to final draft."

The Complete Novel Course - (info)

 Huh? You want what exactly? You want a prize-winning author to sit down with you and work with you from the very start of your project right through to a third (and possibly final draft)? You want to work at your own pace, have one-to-one contact throughout, get prompt and detailed responses to your concerns and queries - then get helped to find an agent at the end, assuming that your novel is good enough? Well, OK, then. We'll see what we can do.

"I hate novels! I want to write a screenplay."

How To Write a Screenplay - 6 week course - £295 - (info)

 Screenwriting is a joyous and liberating activity, but it's also the most technical area of writing. Your storytelling needs to be fluent and gripping - but you are writing with pictures: a blueprint for a movie. Getting that right demands imaginative power and rigorous technique. Our course (taught by pro screenwriter, Amber Trentham) will help you achieve the latter and release the former. Read more.