Creative writing workshops

Get reading with our monthly Book Club with a stand-out title chosen for members to read and discuss. Stay on top of what’s hot with readers now with the workshop focusing on the latest books hitting the bestseller lists and winning awards. 

All are welcome to join the online monthly session to hear from published book-to-movie writer Katie Khan as she explores the pitch, plot, characters, craft elements and treatment choices made by an internationally published author. The Book Club workshops offer participants the chance to share their thoughts on the main character energy of a great book and what they liked most or least about this month’s book choice.

And guess what? We also run a Book Club workshop for those writing for children or young adults too!

Your chance to ask the questions! 

The workshop hosted by one of our editors, all with experience from a major Big Five publishing house. Participants can ask questions on all aspects of the publishing process, from where to start with revising your manuscript to the realities of publication. In this in-depth writing workshop, you’ll explore the importance of a good hook for all genres of fiction and how to prepare the perfect submission package.

Find out more about our team of professional editors here.

Join bestselling author Libby Page every month at the writer’s workshop for those writing Romance and UpLit.

You’ll explore a range of creative writing craft skills for this popular fiction genre with a focus on character development and building chemistry. With writing prompts and practical writing exercises, there’s also the opportunity to share personal experiences and some of your own work – but no pressure; listening is fine too!

A recent workshop looked at the first lines of famous UpLit novels. What makes a great beginning to a Romance and UpLit novel? What are some of the most common ways of opening a story in these genres? Previous workshops have included LGBTQIA+ love stories, tools to write memorable eccentric characters, conflict in Romance and UpLit, the role of sex scenes and how to write them. Come along for some very happy writing.

The Children’s Fiction Workshop is led by the bestselling author of middle grade books for children, Piers Torday. 

What makes a great idea for a children’s book? What makes an adult pick up a book for a child, and a child pick up a book for themselves? As adults writing for children, how much do we need to write for an imaginary child reader? If you already have that great idea, how do you present it? What’s your hook?

In monthly workshops, you’ll look at one-liner log line ideas, hooks, plans, synopses, blurbs, and tricks and tips to make all these things not only more pleasurable to write but geared towards making your children’s book the best it can be.

Join the bestselling author of YA fiction Alice Kuipers for these hour-long writing workshops in which students work in small groups to deep dive into all things YA.

Focusing in on books specific for young readers, each month you will learn one aspect of craft specific to creating your YA novel.

Recent topics include point of view for YA stories and what YA readers are looking for, along with habits of successful YA authors. How does a perspective change shift the plot? How do you write point of view to maximize suspense and increase pacing? Do YA writers of Fantasy use a particular point of view? What about contemporary YA? How can you make a teen perspective feel realistic and relevant?

In each workshop, we take time to look at recent YA books and answer questions specific to you and your YA writing.

The Historical Fiction Workshop takes a deep dive into an aspect of the craft in hand every month, allowing Historical Fiction writers to read from their work in progress too.

Some stories and characters seem to lend themselves quite easily to a snappy hook; others are harder work! For those wrestling with dual-timeline novels and similarly complex structures, the task can seem daunting. The Historical Fiction Workshop is here to help! On call are our publishing editors invited as guests to help with the devil of the detail, plus special classes dedicated to aspects of research into the history of an era. How do you write using era-appropriate language without it becoming too hammy? Would a novel still be classed as historical when covering multiple time periods? Where’s the cut-off point between what’s history and contemporary? The complexities of writing in this genre are explored in these monthly workshops and what’s more, working together means you have a pool of shared resources to make your research a breeze.

Our fierce and fabulous team of professional book editors are on hand with a special clinic to raise the roof on your story’s pitch or hook.

This is an online workshop in our community where writers are invited to submit their pitch to the team, who then select several to review and revise. You will receive feedback, guidance to create a keener focus and new ideas to help you with a tip-top revised pitch to use in your query letter to hook the attention of literary agents and publishers. Keep an eye on The Novelry Live for details of the next Pitch Party!

Once a month, on a Sunday, our Founder and Course Director, Louise Dean, offers an hour-long writing workshop to which all community members are invited. Don’t be shy; come and say hi!

It’s a chance for students to introduce themselves and for members to connect and catch up with each other’s news over a glass of wine or a coffee! Louise will share news of our recent success stories, meetings with literary agency partners, get-togethers in real life in the USA and the UK, and be on hand to answer the finer points of any course questions. Louise will get to know you and your story, and offer participants a few shots of inspiration for the writing week ahead.

Many writers have come to lean on this popular workshop hosted by writing coach Mahsuda Snaith, where the focus is on bringing the joy back to your writing habit. Let’s Play Writing is a fun, craft-based workshop where students are given short writing exercises in breakout rooms as small groups. These workshops are a great way of getting you writing and exploring the craft no matter what genre you’re working in, as well as giving you an opportunity to connect with your fellow writers.

Recent workshops have explored writing dialogue, pacing a scene and character development. How do you make sure that your scenes aren’t so static that your reader becomes bored – or so action-packed that they’re left feeling exhausted? With practical writing exercises and discussion, you’ll be able to see how to give balance to your scenes and create page-turning fiction. What is good dialogue? Are you using too much or too little of it? Is it coming across realistically and revealing what it needs to about your characters?

Join this writing workshop to let your hair down, get new writing tools, have fun with words and get your creativity flowing!

The students on the Advanced Class meet in a special group workshop monthly.

Topics covered range from specific craft sessions on subjects such as character agency, narrative perspective and overwriting to motivational sessions on planning and restarting, as well as sharing work for helpful critique, and guest sessions with our editors. The workshop allows participants to dig into the details from word counts to fonts, pacing to character motivation, setting to how long should a chapter be. Above all these workshops are fun and supportive. The Advanced Class workshops offer the chance to connect with other writers on their writing journey and discuss the highs and lows of their writing career. We’ve all been there, so let’s chat! 

Do drop in! Twice a week.

Problems? Questions? Motivation lacking? Drop into a Story Clinic workshop where you’ll get the chance to ask professional writers for advice and hear how your fellow participants are progressing with their own writing. One of our writer coaches will host the workshop to steer the conversation through aspects of the writing process and offer fast-acting relief to common creative issues. With three Story Clinic workshops running every week, you’ll move past writer’s block fast.

Just ask an author! Troubleshoot any problems in your writing life as they arise and get to know fellow students from around the world.

The monthly workshop gives students of Literary Fiction the opportunity for a deep dive into a famous work using some deconstruction tools, to show you how writing Literary Fiction is a lot simpler than you might think.

Workshops have included a look at the writing techniques of Claire Keegan, Barbara Kingsolver, Colm Tóibín, Yann Martel, Kazuo Ishiguro and the recently re-discovered literary classic Forbidden Notebook by Alba de Céspedes. Workshops allow for participants to read from their work in progress for helpful feedback from students in the group too. Recorded for you to catch up with in your own time!

In these creative writing workshops, students explore Science Fiction and Fantasy and other genre that dabbles in spaceships or the supernatural. Horror and Speculative fiction writers are welcome here!

The monthly writing workshops look at new and classic novels in the genre, the coaches’ own creative writing process, worldbuilding, creating magic systems, the art of setting and atmosphere, and the narrative techniques that will make your SFF tale soar.

The Crime and Suspense Workshop delves into an aspect of this exciting genre in each monthly workshop, all the crucial elements of craft are explored, with a specific slant towards the pacy, page-turning elements of this popular genre.

Sagging middles? Slow starts? Limp endings? No one wants these, but how do we ensure our readers keep turning those pages – every single one of them? It’s our job to keep up the pace, but how do you know when it’s enough or too much? From pulling off a great twist, to nailing a suspenseful opening and satisfying yet surprising ending, each month the class adds something extra to your writer’s toolkit.

There’s the chance to bring questions too and have a catch-up with your fellow participants in a fun and relaxed hour together.

Drop into our live writing workshop by Zoom, hosted by one of our working authors, for a golden hour of uninterrupted writing every day of the week. Students from all around the world will be heads down at their written work, side by side, in a virtual space that offers the cool, calm hush of the library.

Every day at 8 am New York time, 1 pm London time.

Perfect for those seeking to achieve some serious word count.

Online writing workshops are a great way to get back into your story quickly and spend time with those sharing the writing journey. Students who join The Novelry are typically amazed on arrival at the range of classes and online writing workshops available to them every week. More than one member has described The Novelry as ‘like Hogwarts for writers’. Sign up for a course and enjoy more than 40 live workshops every month!