For emerging nonfiction writers ready to leap in and get serious, this course begins with a focus on the creative essay and builds towards core competencies essential for embarking on a nonfiction book project. We will take your writing from the planning stage, through chapter by chapter drafting, to sketching out a detailed proposal for a publisher to consider.

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Page one, chapter one: this is where you start. In a close-knit supportive group, this 12-week course will nurture you through the fast and furious stage of committing the first words of your novel to paper.

For emerging novelists ready to dive in and make the commitment to complete a full manuscript, this rigorous Masters-equivalent course will guide you through the process of executing your novel, developing essential skills in writing and composition, as well as establishing a dedicated writing practice.

YA fiction is amongst the bestselling genres in Australia, read avidly by teenagers and adults alike—but how do you start writing for this highly engaged community of readers? In this special course, you will carefully study YA’s complex set of rules and conventions, while working towards completing a full first draft of your manuscript.

Equipped with a reader’s report on your full manuscript, author and editor Sophie Cunningham will lead you through the process of re-drafting your novel, by focusing on key ideas and strategies from plotting to characterisation and style. Over six fortnightly sessions, you’ll workshop your re-drafts and stress-test the decisions you’ve made, exploring what works and what could be made stronger in your novel.

Over the course of six months, you’ll submit newly written or revised material for constructive feedback from fellow Writing a Novel graduates and your tutor. Between fortnightly workshop sessions, you’ll have access to our zoom channel for a “shut up and write” session with your peers, where you can write material for your next workshop session and maximize the value of the bi-weekly workshops.

In an intimate group of ten writers, Lauren Chater will guide you through a workshopping process designed to strengthen the opening chapter of your work-in-progress, at the level of the line, the paragraph, and the story, giving you skills you can continue to apply to your manuscript as a whole.

Project plan your manuscript with one-on-one consultations with a leading writer.

You will be paired with a leading author for a series of fortnightly one-on-one consultation sessions to discuss your work, and help you negotiate the roadblocks and challenges you might be facing.