Writing the Past (eight-week course)
Learn and develop ways of writing confidently about the past. Whether you are writing fiction or non-fiction, this course will focus on helping you to develop your tools and techniques to create authentic depictions of historical worlds and lives.
Ready to bring the past to life?
When writing about the past, whether you want to write a historical novel, a memoir, a biography, or a work of broader history, the approaches and skillsets are the same. This eight-week online creative writing course focuses on world-building and constructing narrative, and through it you will learn and develop skills in conducting research, how to successfully use research in writing, how to create an authentic narrative voice, and how to write compelling settings and characters (whether real or imagined). Whether you’ve already started writing and need guidance to move forward, or you have an idea you’ve always wanted to develop, this course will provide you with the essential tools to progress confidently.
Through a combination of inspirational lessons, engaging exercises, and practical assignments, you’ll learn how to realistically represent people, places and events of the past, build characters, structure narratives, find your writing voice, and craft your style. You’ll achieve meaningful progress with personalised one-to-one feedback from your tutor, tailored specifically to your work.
This course will cover…
- What makes good history writing, using examples to think about the different ways that history can be compellingly presented and represented.
- How to conduct research into the past and how to apply it to your writing without getting bogged down in detail.
- Exploring techniques around world-building such as creating atmosphere and layering your narrative: what does it look like, smell like, feel like?
- Honing your research to find your story.
- How to find your style and how to create an authentic voice within the world you’ve created.
Start date
Monday 1 June
Location
Online
Length
Eight weeks (please see course schedule below)
Price
£300*
*Payment plans available. Drop us a line at [email protected] to find out more.
Course format
This course is delivered weekly (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 submit two assignments directly to your tutor for personalised feedback and guidance, due at the end of week three and week six.
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.
Course programme
Week one – What makes good history writing?
This week, you’ll start to think about what good history writing is. Using examples from fiction and non-fiction, you will explore different techniques and styles and begin to analyse what works and what doesn’t, how is the past brought to life, what do writers do to make their writing authentic to the story and remain accessible. It will use this as a springboard through which to approach your own story going forward.
Week two – How to conduct research
Whether you are writing a novel, a memoir, a biography, or a work of broader history, you will start from the same point. What are the questions you are asking? What are your sources? How do you find them? This week will teach you about how to conduct your research, and also offer tips on note keeping and keeping track of your research.
Week three – Turning research into writing: Voice and perspective
Who is telling your story and how will you develop their voice? This week will provide the building blocks for the next two weeks of ‘turning research into writing.’
Week four – Turning research into writing: World building
Drawing on your new research skills, this week will look at how to write about the past in a way that retains its authenticity and speaks to us now. You will develop skills around creating a setting and integrating the language of the time with your own expression.
Week five – Turning research into writing: Characters and action
Following on from constructing worlds, this week will look at constructing characters and events. You will ask and answer questions like, who are your characters? How are you presenting them? And learn skills in presenting actions and events while keeping your narrative focus.
Week six – Finding your narrative style
This will look at what to do when you have your research and your characters and are building the narrative. It will suggest techniques around writing and editing you work to maintain consistency and fluidity.
Week seven – Feedback
Breeze will spend the next week reading and returning your 3,000-word excerpt with feedback.
Week eight – Tutorial
In the final week of the course, you will have a one-to-one tutorial with Breeze to discuss your writing and next steps.
Live sessions
There will be two live sessions for this course, which will take place over Zoom. Timings to be confirmed.
Meet the tutor
Dr Breeze Barrington is a writer and cultural historian specialising in women’s history and stories. Her first book, The Graces: The Extraordinary Untold Lives of Women at the Restoration Court, was published by Bloomsbury in July 2025.
Breeze is a Bye-Fellow at the University of Cambridge, an Associate Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and has previously taught Biography/Non-Fiction at the University of East Anglia, as well as courses in seventeenth century literature and culture at Queen Mary, University of London.
As an arts writer and critic, Breeze has written for the Financial Times, the TLS, Apollo Magazine, The Art Newspaper, CNN Style, Art UK, and BBC History Magazine, and has appeared on podcasts including BBC History Extra, the TLS Podcast, Not Just the Tudors, Talking Tudors, and the Colnaghi Foundation. She has also worked as a script consultant for Working Title and Monumental Pictures.
She is represented by Curtis Brown Literary Agency.
Hear from former students
Got a question?
If you still have questions, get in touch with the learning team by emailing [email protected] or call (+44) 01603 877177 between our working hours of 9am – 5pm GMT, Monday to Friday. We’re here to help!