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Online tutored courses

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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 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.

Online course

Browse our upcoming online tutored courses

Beginner courses — 12 weeks

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.

Calendar

Tuesday 7 May

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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.

Calendar

Tuesday 7 May

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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.

Calendar

Tuesday 7 May

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Scriptwriting: An Introduction (Beginner)

This course is an all-encompassing introduction to scriptwriting and is designed for writers who are just starting to explore a variety of script forms: TV, film, theatre and radio.

Calendar

Tuesday 7 May

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Intermediate courses — 18 weeks

Crime Fiction: The Next Chapter (Intermediate)

Join expert tutor Nicola Upson for an 18-week in-depth online creative writing course which will will lead you through the elements of writing a crime fiction novel.

Calendar

Monday 20 May

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Develop Your Historical Fiction (Intermediate)

Join Lucy Hughes-Hallett, award-winning cultural historian and novelist, for an 18-week in-depth online creative writing course.

Calendar

Monday 20 May

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Intermediate/Advanced courses — 8 weeks

Mapping the Self: Life Writing (Intermediate/Advanced)

In this life writing course, we will examine new ways to write about the self, and the importance of sharing our stories with the world.

Calendar

Tuesday 28 May

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Revise and Refine Your Novel (Intermediate/Advanced)

Learn to self-edit your manuscript with a critical eye in this online tutored writing course with Santanu Bhattacharya, author of ‘One Small Voice’.

Calendar

Monday 17 June

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Write the Perfect Opening to Your Novel (Intermediate/Advanced)

A strong opening is the essential spark that will grab the attention of readers, agents and editors. Find out how to get your first few pages right with Okechukwu Nzelu.

Calendar

Monday 24 June

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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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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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