The Novel Studio

Please email shortcourses@city.ac.uk 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.

Choose Your Studio Experience

• London Studio: Immerse yourself in our central London writing community with face-to-face workshops and direct networking opportunities
• Online Studio: Join our prestigious programme from anywhere in the world, with full access to our intensive development process and virtual writing community

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.

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
• Fictional 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
• Fictional 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

• Direct Agent Access: All applications are automatically considered for the Novel Studio Competition, with the top three manuscripts reviewed by Lucy Luck, literary agent at C&W Agency
• 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. Our scholarship provides full funding for a talented writer from a low-income household.

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

Novel Studio Literary Agent Competition

Read the full competition terms, conditions and information.

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.
• Fictional 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.
• Fictional 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.

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 fictional 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

This course is by application only. Please email shortcourses@city.ac.uk to apply.

Applications will open on 10^th February 2025, with a deadline by 5pm on 30 May 2025.

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.

Interviews will take place in July 2025, unless otherwise stated.

To apply, please email short courses with:

• 2,000 words of your own fiction (short story or novel extract)
• Copy of CV.

Prospective students must be willing to have their writing workshopped as part of the group and to engage actively in critiquing 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 good level of spoken and written English to enrol on this course.

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.

1. Athill, Diana, Stet. London: Granta
2. Blake, Carole, From Pitch to Publication. London: Macmillan
3. Boylan, Clare (ed.), The Agony and the Ego: The Art and Strategy of Fiction Writing Explored. London: Penguin Books.
4. Brande, Dorothea, Becoming a Writer. London: Macmillan
5. Forster, E.M., Aspects of the Novel. London: Penguin Books
6. Gardner, J., On Becoming a Novelist. New York: Norton
7. Greene, Graham, A Sort of Life. London: Penguin Books
8. Hiney, Tom and Macshane, Frank (eds.), The Raymond Chandler Papers: Selected Letters and Non-Fiction 1909-1959. London: Penguin Books
9. King, Stephen, On Writing. London: Pocket Books
10. Leader, Zachary (ed.), On Modern British Fiction. Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. Lodge, David, The Art of Fiction. London: Penguin Books
12. Prose, Francine, Reading Like a Writer. Harper Collins
13. Steinbeck, John, Journal of a Novel: The East of Eden Letters. London: Penguin Books
14. Taylor-Guthrie (ed.), Conversations with Toni Morrison. University of Mississippi Press
15. The Paris Review Interviews: Women Writers at Work (1999) London: Harvill Press
16. Woolf, Virginia, A Writer's Diary. London: Penguin Books.