Do you have a novel-in-progress? Are you in need of support, community and assessment? If the answer is yes, you’re invited to join award-winning author/editor/educator Leone Ross online for five weeks to stress-test the basics and get that novel you’re working on to the next level. 

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“Leone is incredible. I couldn’t have got my novel to where it is now, without her..”  

- novelist Nikesh Shukla

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This carefully curated fiction writing course is for a small group of 8-12 writers at various stages of novel drafting – started but ‘stuck;’ draft 1 done – and not quite sure where to go next; draft 2 in need of assessment; or some other stage! Wherever you are in the process, this is the course to help you make real progress. 

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Writing a novel is a very special kind of commitment. It is the fiction writing task that takes the most time, and requires the most faith. It’s a hugely satisfying, rewarding undertaking, but if you don’t have the right tools – a strong foundation, a good understanding of narrative arc building, scene construction and characterisation – it’s a creative challenge that can be overwhelming. 

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This five-week course will help you strengthen the foundation of your novel, provide you with a series of necessary questions to ask yourself along the journey and expand your creative toolkit with techniques you can use for the rest of your writing life. 

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Each session includes group discussion and writing exercises – framed by a formal lecture provided in advance. We will explore: where you are now, and what is needed to get you to the next draft; characterisation for novel writing; narrative foundation, including arc building and scene construction; the urgent matter of point of view; and setting/place. You will meet with your tutor for a 40-minute one-to-one session. There will be set reading: Keith Ridgeway, Alice Walker, Okwiri Oduor, Diana Evans and Ian McKewan – and writers will be asked to read novella The Long Walk by Stephen King, in advance. 

 

Course Outline:

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Session 1 – And Where Are You Now?  Assessing Your Progress/Building a Novel Practice

One of the most common errors  in novel writing is treating the form as if it is limitless, when just like any other creative form, boundaries are essential. This first session stress-tests the basics, by reducing your work in progress to its basics. Is your novel premise strong and interesting? Do you know where the book is going? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Where do you need support? We begin to build community, assess progress, reconsider strategy and set goals. 

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Session 2 – Characters For Novels & Point Of View Essentials

How do we prepare a character to take their place in a novel? In this session we will review some of the most effective ways to make characters feel real on the page. This includes archetypal characterisation, building a powerful psychological base, providing a character with momentum and goal writing for characters. The session includes the serious question of how many point of view characters are best for your novel and whether your choice of first or third person is most effective for the story. 

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Session 3 – Place & Setting

World building is the process of creating an authentic setting or place, where people exist. It’s not just reserved for speculative fiction! Every novel should build a world that works for its story – which means it should be an effective vehicle for your ideas. This session teaches you to build and improve on the detail and specificity of your novel’s environment, history and culture.

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Session 4 – Foundation Arc Plotting: Orientation, Conflict & Change 

“Once upon a time a thing happened and then life was never quite the same again.” Yes! This is the heart of our craft, the reason humans gather around campfire – for the change that comes as a result of the events in a story. This session considers the laying of a narrative foundation by considering how beginnings, middles and endings are plotted. 

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Session 5 – Micro Arc Plotting – Building Scenes

Now that a strong foundation and an overarching plot has been built, we consider the basic building blocks of narrative writing – scene construction. This session includes modal writing – action, summary, background, description, dialogue and interiority. 

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Your one-to-one 40-minute tutorial with Leone will be scheduled when the course begins.

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All activity takes place on Zoom, and the 2-hour workshops include a comfort break.

Writers are asked to always attend with their cameras ON to encourage connection and participation.

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NOTE: The course is for writers who have already begun to research and write their novel, and should have at least 5,000 words written so far. It is also suitable for writers who have finished several drafts and would like to pause and assess their progress. Please note: The tutor might suggest you will benefit from a different course than the one you apply for, although ultimately the decision is absolutely yours. 

Course Dates: Sundays Nov 1, 8, 15, Nov 29, Dec 6. There is a BREAK on Nov 22nd

The first session is 30 mins longer – and begins earlier: 3.30-6pm

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"The lectures were excellent…packed full of a Maestra’s tools and fermented wisdom …invaluable, and all recorded so we can return and return…Leone’s vast life and world-class writing /editing experience infused everything,

as well as her humour and honesty…"

- writer Alinah Azadeh

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About the Facilitator:

Leone Ross FRSL is a novelist, short story writer, editor and educator. Her third novel, This One Sky Day, was nominated for the Women’s Prize, the Goldsmiths Prize, and the Ondaatje Prize, among others — and named a New York Times Editor’s Choice. Her short fiction has been widely anthologised and her first short-story collection, Come Let Us Sing Anyway, prompted the Times Literary Supplement to call her ‘a pointilliste, a master of detail...’. In 2021, she won the Manchester Prize for Fiction for a single short story. Ross has facilitated writer’s voices for 35+ years, as editor and creative writing tutor up to PhD level. She has taught variously for Cardiff University, Roehampton University, Goldsmiths University, The City Literary Institute, the Faber Academy and the Arvon Foundation and judged the Mslexia Prize, the Bridport Prize and the VS Pritchett Prize for Fiction. Ross is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and the Higher Education Academy. She is the editor of Glimpse: A Black British Anthology of Speculative Fiction, published in 2022.

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Ticket Costs:

General Admission: £640 

This can be paid in two instalments: a non-refundable deposit of £100 with remaining balance due by Oct 25th.

If you are a member of Leone's mailing list, the discounted fee is £540. Your email will be checked at registration, so please provide the email you used to sign up!​​

Please note that all tickets are non-refundable.

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In order to be considered for this course, you'll need to complete a short application form and submit a writing sample of 500-1000 words of your novel project.