A year-long course combining expert teaching, peer support, and access to publishing professionals. Develop your novel and create a professional submission package.
Testimonials
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I just wanted to say a thank you. I've grown so much as a writer since joining the Novel Studio. The feedback I've received from the tutors on the course gave me the confidence to write the short story and enter the contest. Getting feedback from my peers was a welcome bonus.
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Applying for The Novel Studio was one of the best decisions I've made. The structure of the course allowed me to fit it around my job, but also gave me the space to focus on my writing. The classes were engaging, informative and helped me to shape my idea into a fully-fledged novel. I've recently signed with an agent, who I met due to the anthology we sent out at the end of the course.
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I benefited enormously from being able to develop my novel in an environment that was both demanding and supportive, and my writing improved considerably over the course. The tutorial guidance is excellent and sensitively applied. The standard of students is very high, and one of the best benefits was forming a long-term relationship (and friendship) with such talented fellow-writers.
- Course overview
- What will I learn?
- Assessment and certificates
- How to apply
- Eligibility
- Recommended reading
The Novel Studio Course overview
Please email Emily Pedder to apply.
The Novel Studio: Develop your Novel – from Idea to Professional Submission Package
The Novel Studio has guided writers to publication for over twenty years, with an impressive track record of published alumni across all genres. Now offering both in-person (London) and online delivery, our intensive year-long programme provides the expertise and support you need to develop your novel and create a professional submission package.
Who is it for?
This is for anyone planning to write a novel and seeking professional feedback and development within a supportive environment. It will suit those wanting to join a community of writers and interested in links with agents and publishers; plus those looking for a course which welcomes all adult fiction, including literary fiction, science fiction, fantasy, crime, historical and commercial fiction.
Find out more about our Fiction writing courses
Timetable
Through 30 weeks of intensive training (two evening sessions per week), your learning journey will take you through:
Term One: Foundations
- Research and Development
- Explore the art of plotting and planning
- Develop your novel concept through structured guidance
- Receive focused feedback on your developing ideas
- Fiction Forms
- Analyse successful novel structures across genres
- Understand narrative frameworks
- Position your work within the current market
Term Two: Craft Development
- Workshop Sessions
- Learn professional critique techniques
- Participate in structured peer review sessions
- Receive detailed feedback on your work-in-progress
- Fiction Techniques
- Understand essential craft elements
- Develop character, voice and dialogue
- Learn about pacing and narrative drive
- Appreciate stylistic choices available in contemporary literature
Term Three: Industry Focus
- Publishing Industry Insights
- Meet agents, authors, and editors
- Understand the current publishing landscape
- Prepare for the industry showcase
- Final Workshop Series
- Ongoing development of your work-in-progress
- Professional editing techniques
- Final polish and presentation for assessment
Benefits
- One-to-one personalised tutorials with each tutor each term
- Training in Public Reading: Through structured rehearsals, you’ll gain confidence in reading your work to a live audience
- Industry Showcase: Present your work to agents at our end-of-year event
- Anthology Publication: Your work will be professionally edited in an anthology and sent out to all UK-based literary agents
- Professional Network: Join our community of published alumni
- Expert Guidance: Learn from published authors and industry professionals
The Captain Tasos Politis Scholarship We're committed to supporting diverse voices. The Captain Tasos Politis Scholarship provides full funding for two talented writers from low-income households.
Established Track Record
Many of our alumni have secured major publishing deals, been shortlisted for prestigious awards, and established successful writing careers. Ready to join them? View our published alumni
Delivery Options
London Studio Experience
- Face-to-face workshops in central London
- Direct networking opportunities
- In person writing community
- Access to London literary events
- Intensive feedback structure
Online Studio Experience
- Live virtual workshops
- Digital resource access
- Online writing community
- Virtual networking events
- Same intensive feedback structure
What will I learn?
Term 1: Foundations
- Research and development This module looks at the processes involved in plotting, planning and researching a novel, and allows students time to develop their ideas within the group.
- Fiction forms Students will be encouraged to consider their work within a narrative framework by exploring the structures of varied literary and commercial novels.
Term 2: Craft Development
- Workshop one This module supports students as they begin to write the first draft of their novels, and guides them through the process of reviewing others’ work-in-progress. Students' work is circulated in advance and then constructively critiqued in weekly workshops, facilitated by the tutor.
- Fiction techniques This module teaches students key aspects of craft and enables them to apply these techniques to the development of their own novels.
Term 3: Industry Focus
- The publishing industry
This module familiarises students with the publishing industry, with visits from an agent, author and editor, and culminates in an end-of-year reading to invited industry guests. - Workshop two
This is a continuation of Workshop One with specific reference to revising and editing.
By the end of this comprehensive programme, you'll have:
- Three polished chapters ready for submission
- A professional-standard synopsis
- A compelling blurb
- A crafted submission letter
- Public reading experience through our industry showcase
- Publication in our annual anthology sent out to all UK-based literary agents
- Direct connection to agents and publishers
- A complete roadmap for finishing your novel
Transferable skills
You will also gain the following:
- Demonstrate a capacity for independent judgement and thought
- Practise skills in critical reasoning and appreciation
- Produce written work to a stipulated length and deadline.
- Understand, question and apply a range of alternative perspectives to your novel writing.
Assessment and certificates
Teaching
Classes take the form of group activities workshops, masterclasses and tutorials.
One-to-one tutorials with the tutors are offered at designated times throughout the course. Students can use this time to discuss their work in progress, share their ideas and plans and consider the deadlines set for their work.
Assessments
The assessment for The Novel Studio is based entirely on course work, which covers aspects of all work undertaken throughout the year. Each module has its own assessment, which is marked by the relevant tutor and overseen by the Course Director. Assessments will include:
- synopsis of novel
- planning document for structuring the novel
- portfolio of writing exercises demonstrating selected fiction techniques
- chapters 1- 4 from novel-in-progress
- blurb and covering letter for agents/publishers.
Certificates
Certificates are awarded to all students who attend 70% of the classes and complete all the module assessments.
How to apply
How to apply
This course is by application only. Please email course director Emily Pedder to apply.
Applications will open on 10th February 2026, with a deadline by 5pm on 30 June 2026.
Please specify in your email if you are interested in the in-person or online delivery.
If you want to be considered for the Novel Studio Scholarship, please mark your email subject heading: Captain Tasos Politis Scholarship Application. Deadline for the Novel Studio Scholarship is 5pm on 9 June 2026.
Interviews will take place online in June, July and August 2026, unless otherwise stated.
To apply, please email Emily Pedder with:
- 2,000 words of your own fiction (short story or novel extract)
- Copy of CV
Eligibility
Prospective students must be willing to have their writing workshopped as part of the group and to engage actively in reading and commenting on the work of their peers.
Ideally students will also have completed at least one creative writing course.
Acceptance onto the course is determined by interview and a novel extract of no more than 2,000 words.
English requirements
You will need a very good level of spoken and written English to apply for this course.
Recommended reading
This is a background reading list. It is not prescriptive, so students can dip into any of these books at any point in the course. The tutors will refer to a range of novels throughout, as and when it is key to the course and the students' own writing.
- Athill, Diana, Stet. London: Granta
- Blake, Carole, From Pitch to Publication. London: Macmillan
- Boylan, Clare (ed.), The Agony and the Ego: The Art and Strategy of Fiction Writing Explored. London: Penguin Books.
- Brande, Dorothea, Becoming a Writer. London: Macmillan
- Forster, E.M., Aspects of the Novel. London: Penguin Books
- Gardner, J., On Becoming a Novelist. New York: Norton
- Greene, Graham, A Sort of Life. London: Penguin Books
- Hiney, Tom and Macshane, Frank (eds.), The Raymond Chandler Papers: Selected Letters and Non-Fiction 1909-1959. London: Penguin Books
- King, Stephen, On Writing. London: Pocket Books
- Leader, Zachary (ed.), On Modern British Fiction. Oxford: Oxford University Press
- Lodge, David, The Art of Fiction. London: Penguin Books
- Prose, Francine, Reading Like a Writer. Harper Collins
- Steinbeck, John, Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters. London: Penguin Books
- Taylor-Guthrie (ed.), Conversations with Toni Morrison. University of Mississippi Press
- The Paris Review Interviews: Women Writers at Work (1999) London: Harvill Press
- Woolf, Virginia, A Writer's Diary. London: Penguin Books.
Tutors
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Emily Pedder
Course Director
Emily Pedder’s short fiction has been published widely and has won several prizes, including a Commonwealth short story award and a Ruth Rendell short story award.
Emily has an MA in Writing from Sheffield Hallam, where she founded Matter, a literary anthology. She is a firm believer in the importance of mentoring emerging writers and the power of a good edit, and has worked extensively with writers across the UK for more than 20 years. Emily course directs the Novel Studio, which she co-founded, as well as heading up the writing short courses at City St George’s. More recently she set up an editorial consultancy: The Book Edit.
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Rebekah Lattin-Rawstone
Novel Studio Tutor
Rebekah is a prize-winning writer, editor and creative writing teacher with a PhD in Creative Writing from the Open University, fully funded by the Open-Oxford-Cambridge Doctoral Training Partnership. She is represented by Emma Shercliff of Laxfield Literary and her novel All The Hollow Places, about the last day in the life of explorer and political officer, Gertrude Bell, is on submission to publishers.
Rebekah has worked as a creative writing lecturer in several settings for well over ten years, devising and delivering workshops for City St George’s, University of London, City St George’s Short Courses, Bishopsgate Institute, Emmanuel College Cambridge, Pembroke College Cambridge, The Guardian, the Isle of Wight Literary Festival and the Graham Greene Festival.
Rebekah founded City Writes, a termly event set up to showcase the creative writing talent of students and alumni of City St George’s, University of London's short creative writing courses.
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Kiare Ladner
Novel Studio Tutor
Kiare Ladner’s first novel, Nightshift, was published by Picador (UK, 2021) and HarperCollins (USA, 2022). A story of obsession set in London’s liminal world of nightshift workers, the book explores ambivalent female friendship, sexual attraction and lives that defy easy categorization.
Her short stories have been published in anthologies, journals, commissioned for radio and shortlisted in competitions, including the BBC National Short Story Award 2018.
Kiare completed The Novel Studio in 2010 (then the Certificate in Novel Writing). She went on to get funding from David Higham towards an MA (Prose Writing) at the University of East Anglia. After that she received funding for a PhD (Creative Writing) at Aberystwyth University. She was given Curtis Brown’s HW Fisher Scholarship in 2018. In addition to writing, she tutors and mentors other writers of all levels, both in London and on the Creative Writing MA at the University of East Anglia. Now at work on her second novel, you can find her in cyberspace here.
