Beginners' Writing Courses | Faber Academy (2024)

Fiction Development, Novel Writing

Writing YA

Spend three months in expert company, learning the key skills any YA writer requires.

Tutors

Penny Joelson

Fiction Development, Novel Writing

Getting Started: Beginners' Fiction

Everything you need to call yourself a writer – discipline, craft skills and a great group of people to work with – in one online writing course experience.

Tutors

Ashley Hickson-Lovence

Fiction Development, Novel Writing

Kickstart Your Novel

Take your writing to the next level, and develop both the technical skill and the narrative momentum to really get stuck into your novel.

Tutors

Katherine Stansfield, Judith Bryan

Poetry

Writing Poems

A playful, supportive three-month poetry course for beginners and aspiring amateur poets, with two of the best practitioners and teachers in the country.

Tutors

Richard Scott, Julia Copus

Fiction Development

Getting Started: Beginners' Fiction

An introductory course for the writer who is ready to commit to beginning to write seriously. Start your story today!

Tutors

Mick Jackson

Fiction Development

Getting Started: Beginners' Fiction (Daytime)

A twelve-week creative writing course for beginners. Playful, serious and fun, it asks what writing is and why we do it.

Tutors

Sue Gee

Fiction Development

Start to Write

A no-excuses, let’s-get-going, beginners' creative writing course to kickstart your writing life.

Tutors

Richard Skinner, Sarah May

Poetry

Start to Write Poetry

Kickstart your writing life with a specially designed day of learning, writing and discussion from the home of British poetry.

Tutors

Victoria Adukwei Bulley

Penny Joelson

Ashley Hickson-Lovence

Katherine Stansfield

Judith Bryan

Richard Scott

Julia Copus

Mick Jackson

Sue Gee

Richard Skinner

Sarah May

Victoria Adukwei Bulley

Inspiring surroundings, excellent tutor, supportive fellow participants. I learnt a great deal about character, plot, voice, narration and language.

There’s no “right” way to start writing – it really is about taking that first step and writing that first line! It could be that you start straight away with a project of your own; a poem or a short story or a novel. Or you can use creative writing exercises and prompts to provide some structure (you can find ours [here]). In either case, the most important thing is: don’t be afraid of it not being perfect. No-one’s first draft of anything ever is. You hone your voice and prose over time, by continuing to put words on the page and experimenting with techniques and styles to find what works best for you. Beginners’ writing courses will offer a good introduction to those technical elements, as well as a constructive place to start getting feedback on your work.

You don’t need any experience to take these courses – they’re designed as an introduction to your chosen discipline and are suitable for complete beginners. In terms of skills, being an enthusiastic and eclectic reader will always serve an aspiring writer well – when you read a book you enjoy, try and think about what in particular you liked about it, and whether there are qualities you might also like to see in your own work. And paying attention to the world around you is also a good habit to have. Listen out for interesting snippets of overheard conversation and watch out for images or scenes that catch your eye – you never know where inspiration may strike!

Absolutely. With all of our courses, we usually say that the level is something of a confidence thing rather than based entirely on experience. If you feel like you need to get a solid grounding in the foundations of your chosen genre before moving on to something more advanced, these courses will help you do that.

Get comprehensive editorial feedback on your manuscript from our experienced readers – whether it’s still a work-in-progress or you’re preparing to submit to literary agents.

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We offer a range of mentoring options if you’d prefer to work one-on-one with an established writer to help you shape your project and realise your writing ambitions.

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