Ready to master the techniques of creative non-fiction writing?
Creative non-fiction blends the art of storytelling with facts, allowing you to shape narratives that are engaging and authentic to others. It enables you to explore personal experiences, societal issues, and historical events through a vivid, compelling lens — transforming ordinary moments into extraordinary narratives.
In this 12-week online course, you’ll explore a variety of forms within the creative non-fiction genre, including biography, reportage, and more. Whether you’ve already started writing and need guidance to move forward, or simply have an idea you’d like to develop, this course will provide you with the essential tools to progress confidently.
Through a combination of insightful lessons, interactive exercises, and practical assignments, you’ll learn how to convey information effectively, structure compelling narratives, and articulate your unique perspective. Experience meaningful progress with personalised one-to-one feedback from your tutor, Ed Parnell, tailored specifically to your work.
This course will cover…
- Discover your non-fiction niche – explore what draws you to creative non-fiction and begin writing from real life with a 500-word piece.
- Master the art of research – learn practical techniques for gathering material and staying organised.
- Develop interviewing skills – conduct an interview with someone close to you and explore the ethics of representing real lives.
- Bring people and nature to life – craft vivid, empathetic portraits of characters and experiment with writing about the natural world.
- Write with a strong sense of place – explore how setting shapes story and complete an assignment rooted in personal or historical geography.
- Find your voice and shape your story – produce a 1,500-word final piece and learn how to expand your work into a book-length narrative.
Designed for writers with no prior formal training, the course focuses on the foundational skills needed to structure and write compelling creative non-fiction. Under the expert guidance of your tutor, you’ll receive personalised feedback on up to 3,000 words of your writing. Additionally, you’ll have a one-to-one tutorial to discuss your work in depth and explore your next steps as a writer.
Hear from former students
Start date
Monday 21 September
Location
Online
Length
12 weeks (please see course schedule below)
Price
£495*
*Payment plans available. Contact us at [email protected] to find out more.
Meet the tutor
Edward Parnell
Edward Parnell has an MA in Creative Writing from the University of East Anglia. He’s been the recipient of an Escalator Award from the National Centre for Writing, and has taught Creative Non-Fiction with us since 2020. His second book, Ghostland: In Search of a Haunted Country, a work of narrative non-fiction was published in hardback in the UK during October 2019 by William Collins, and subsequently released in the UK and US in paperback in October 2020. The book was shortlisted for the PEN Ackerley Prize 2020 for memoir and autobiography.
Read about Ed’s experience writing his mixed-genre book Ghostland: In Search of a Haunted Country →
Course programme
Please note, the module order and/or content of the course may be subject to change.
Module one – Why Write Non-Fiction
In this module, you’ll look at why you want to write non-fiction and think about what the specific type of non-fiction it is that you might be interested in writing. You’ll also look at the ways you can find a story and, for your assignment, you’ll work on the beginning 500-word piece of writing inspired by the world around you.
Module two – Research (part one)
This module begins to tackle the thorny world of research for a piece of creative non-fiction. You’ll be led through some different methods for beginning your research and you’ll learn some tips for making sure you don’t end up with a huge mess of material at the end. There’s not a marked assignment for this module but various writing exercises and also your first one-to-one meeting with the course tutor.
Module three – Research (part two)
In this module, you will focus on interviewing, a crucial skill for any non-fiction researcher whose work is set in the present day or needs to include living people’s memories of the past. You will also consider the ethics of interviewing, looking at how to balance your obligations to your interviewee and the reader. For your assignment, you will be asked to interview someone you are close to, to find out something you didn’t previously know about them.
Module four – Writing About People
In module four, you will look at how to create an in-depth portrayal of a character that makes the reader feel they know them – a vital skill across all fields of non-fiction, from travelogue to history. You’ll consider what makes up a personality and look at how to get inside your character’s head so that the reader empathises and appreciates their complexity.
Module five – Place
In this module, you’ll examine how to describe the locations that form your narrative’s settings, and how to manage the interplay of your people and places. You’ll discuss how they influence one another and drive the narrative arc of your story. For the assignment, you’ll write a biography about a person who defines a place, or write about a location that has a special significance for you.
Module six – Finding your voice and telling your story
For the final module, you will pull together everything you’ve learned to produce a 1,500-word piece of non-fiction on a topic of your choice. You’ll also look at how you might start to go about creating a book-length narrative, and the way the skills you’ve learnt in this course can transfer to long-form creative non-fiction.
Live sessions
There will be two live sessions for this course, which will take place over Zoom.
Timings for these sessions will be confirmed shortly.
Course format
This course is delivered across six fortnightly modules (see course programme below). The majority of the content is presented in text form via Teachable, allowing you to progress through the material chapter by chapter at your own pace. You will have two weeks to complete each module, after which you will submit an assignment directly to your tutor for personalised feedback and guidance.
The course also includes up to two live Zoom sessions: a welcome session in the first module, followed by a one-to-one tutorial with your tutor later in the course.
Click to find out more about the course structure and the equipment you may need.
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!