online
online

Stay The Course – Finish Your Draft

w/ Emily O'Grady + Richard Skinner

Stay the Course is an exclusive online program designed for alumni of Writing a Novel (of any graduating year) to help students keep up momentum, maintain a sense of community and maximise their writing time. This is a chance to stay on track with your word count and finish your manuscript, ahead of submitting to an agent or publisher.

Thursday 7 November 2024 – Sunday 30 March 2025

$1100 / $935 (alumni)


For some students, there is a strong desire to continue with the structure and collegiality that Writing a Novel provides, while they begin to write more independently. Stay the Course – Finish Your Draft is designed to keep you productive and accountable in the months after the course, to help you work through any issues you might face on the way to completing your full manuscript, and to accompany you over the finish line.

Across 5 months, you will attend monthly online ‘check-in’ sessions with acclaimed novelist and Writing a Novel director Emily O’Grady. You will also join an open online forum for ongoing communication and support, featuring monthly exercises and prompts from Emily. You can work at your own pace through the monthly lessons and exercises, while always keeping in touch through the private class forum. You will also be able to partake in two one-on-one sessions, with Emily or, if available, your original Writing a Novel tutor.

The program will open with a masterclass taught by Richard Skinner, Director of the Fiction Program of the Faber Academy, UK, and culminate in an Industry Weekend, featuring conversations with guest writers and editors about the process of finishing a manuscript, and a series of sessions with a leading literary agent, who’ll provide invaluable tips and tricks to help your manuscript stand out when it comes time to finally hit submit.


Writers you'll be working with:

Emily O’Grady

Emily O’Grady is a writer from Brisbane. Her debut novel, The Yellow House won the 2018 Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award and was shortlisted for the 2019 Ned Kelly Award for Best First Fiction. Her work has been published in Meanjin, Kill Your Darlings, The Big Issue fiction edition, and New Australian Fiction 2021. She holds a PhD in Creative Writing from Queensland University of Technology, where…

Richard Skinner

Richard Skinner is the author of three novels, all published by Faber & Faber, three books of non-fiction and three poetry collections. His work has been nominated for prizes and is published in eight languages. His most recent novel, The Mirror, is two short novels set side by side, described by the Daily Telegraph as…

Course outline

1 x 1.5 hour masterclass with Richard Skinner, Director of Fiction at Faber Academy, UK

Thursday 7 November 2024, 6.30 – 8pm

5 x 2-hour “check-in” sessions with Emily O’Grady:

Monday 11 November 2024, 6.30pm – 8.30pm
Monday 9 December 2024, 6.30pm – 8.30pm
Monday 20 January 2025, 6.30pm – 8.30pm
Monday 17 February, 6.30pm – 8.30pm
Monday 17 March 2024, 6.30pm – 8.30pm

2x 30-minute semi-structured one-on-ones. Time and date to be scheduled w/ tutor and student.

Full day conversation series: Saturday 29 March 2025 – 10am – 3pm

10am: Identifying and fixing narrative problems
11am: When you think you’re finished but you’re not: Approaching your novel as an editor would
12pm: Lunch break
1pm: Working with editors, publishers, publicists.
2pm: Dealing with rejection and success.

Agent discussion day: Sunday 30 March 2025 10am – 2pm

10am: What is an agent?: Learn about the publishing industry and the role of an agent in an author’s career.
11am: Preparing the pitch: How to approach agents and present the strongest query package.
12pm: Lunch Break
1pm: Hitting submit: Questions to ask when querying and what happens after signing with an agent.

How to Book