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Study an online tutored creative writing course with National Centre for Writing and University of East Anglia

Looking for a high quality, in-depth writing course that fits around your busy schedule? Want to develop the technical skills and routine to achieve your writing goals? Searching for a welcoming and supportive community of writers?

Our flexible, online creative writing courses are designed in partnership with the prestigious creative writing school at the University of East Anglia and delivered by award-winning tutors and industry experts.

Whether you’re just starting out or you’re an experienced writer taking the next step in your career, we’re here to offer a structured period of learning and development.

Our practical and carefully supported 12 and 18-week writing courses are aimed at developing work-in-progress, honing your writing skills and boosting your confidence.

Alongside regular critique and meaningful feedback from your tutor, these longer-form courses, conveniently delivered online, offer a chance to share work with your writing peers and build your identity as a writer. 

They also provide a unique opportunity for you to receive personalised, one-to-one feedback on your writing each fortnight. 

Browse our upcoming courses below, or read on to learn more about why an NCW course may be perfect for you.

Browse our upcoming online tutored courses

How to Write Fiction (Beginner)

Learn the tools and techniques for writing compelling fiction with an online creative writing course designed for new writers and anyone wanting to write more regularly.

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Monday 12 February

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Kickstart Your Poetry (Beginner)

Join us on a journey into the transformative world of writing poetry. On this 12-week online creative writing course you’ll read inspiring poets, explore how poems take shape, and begin to write poems.

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Monday 12 February

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An Introduction to Crime Writing (Beginner)

Join Julia Crouch for an online creative writing course that will teach you how to write a crime novel.

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Monday 12 February

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Creative Non-Fiction: An Introduction (Beginner)

Explore biography, reportage, nature writing or many other flourishing forms within the genre, on this 12-week online creative writing course.

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Monday 12 February

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Tell Your Story Through Memoir (Beginner)

In this online creative writing course you will develop a practical understanding of how to write a memoir and feel confident and comfortable with the notion of feeling vulnerable.

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Monday 12 February

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Screenwriting: An Introduction (Beginner)

This course is an all-encompassing introduction to screenwriting and is designed for writers who are just starting to explore television drama and film scripts.

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Monday 12 February

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How to Write Romantic Fiction (Beginner)

This course is an all-encompassing introduction to romantic fiction and is designed for writers who are just starting to explore writing romance novels.

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Monday 12 February

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Develop Your Fiction (Intermediate)

This intermediate course builds on the expertise acquired at an introductory level, providing more depth and a wider range of reading and approaches to fiction.

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Monday 12 February

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Develop Your Poetry: Challenge & Experiment (Intermediate)

This next-level poetry course is designed for poets to push themselves further through experimentation, challenge and feedback.

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Monday 12 February

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Memoir: The Next Chapter (Intermediate)

Join Jenn Ashworth for an 18-week in-depth online memoir writing course, designed in partnership with UEA.

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Monday 12 February

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Why study with National Centre for Writing?

National Centre for Writing has been supporting writers to develop their craft for over 25 years. Our online tutored courses are developed in partnership with University of East Anglia, home to the prestigious School of Literature, Drama and Creative Writing, which boasts award-winning alumni including Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan and Anne Enright. Our course tutors are all published writers, many of whom have studied or taught at UEA themselves.

 

While there are many online courses available to you across the world, ours are unique in offering:

  • One-to-one feedback on up to six assignments, directly from your course tutor
  • A tailored learning experience with 15 students maximum
  • Flexibility to progress through the course anywhere, any time
  • Support and structure to develop a writing routine
  • Skills and knowledge to improve the craft of writing
  • Confidence in your ability as a writer
  • Opportunity to join our NCW Alumni, an international network of like-minded writers and translators

 

How do courses work?

We have partnered with digital learning platform Teachable to host our self-paced courses. The platform is accessible across a range of devices, simple to use, and does not require any specialist equipment.

We want to make sure that you get the most out of our tutored online courses and feel confident that you’re choosing the right course. Each course contains a mixture of teaching content, reading to prompt discussion, writing exercises for you to hone your skills, and group and one-to-one feedback.

Click to read more about how they are structured and what equipment you may need.

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Success stories

‘I enjoyed the way the course was set up. Two weeks is the right length of time for each module; even working full time, it was manageable and it encouraged me to be focussed and disciplined in writing.’

— Shona Lowe

‘The tutor was friendly, knowledgeable, helpful, and approachable. Her feedback was always pertinent and helped me to grow as a writer. She often made very helpful suggestions for relevant books to read and ways to develop my writing.’

— Jilly Shipway

‘The encouraging constructive feedback, and the next steps in the second Zoom meeting, gave me more confidence than anything else I’ve done in learning creative writing.’

— Barry Norton

‘Making up stories had felt like an indulgence before, the course gave it validity. It looked after me as I went through the scary process of exposing my creativity to others and taking in feedback, so that I gained a more realistic understanding of my skills and the confidence to develop further.’

— Sarah Barton

The way the courses were structured made it possible for me to do them along with my work and other commitments. I found the feedback very encouraging and for the first time I started to think of myself as a writer. Now I am doing a creative writing MA at Manchester Metropolitan University which I wouldn’t have considered if I hadn’t done the courses with National Centre for Writing.

Boben Benjamin

Meet the tutors

Our online tutored writing courses are designed and delivered by award-winning tutors and industry experts. All are published writers, and many have studied or taught at the University of East Anglia.

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NCW Academy Bursary Programme

We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to tell stories, whatever their background. Each year, we offer free places on selected courses and workshops to writers who otherwise could not afford to attend. Please find details of any current bursaries on individual workshop and course listings. Find out how to apply below.

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Academy alumna Fiona Gell shares her experience writing memoir Spring Tides

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Megan Bradbury ‘s action plan for aspiring writers

Five tips for keeping your readers gripped

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Got a question?

If you still have questions, get in touch with the learning team by email [email protected] or phone (+44) 01603 877177 between our working hours of 9am – 5pm BST, Monday to Friday. We’re here to help!

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