Novel Writing Essentials
Novel Writing Essentials gets you to the first 20,000 words of your novel – with structured deadlines, tutor feedback, and the craft skills to keep you writing long after the course ends.
You will:
Move beyond opening pages and into the structure of a real novel
Build the writing habit that gets your novel out of your head and onto the page
Get tutor feedback on your writing
Sharpen your own craft by giving feedback on other writers’ work
Finally write the first 20,000 words of your novel!
“It’s a funny thing to say but I found I just loved writing and the course forced me to write and not to be afraid. I have had a story in my head for twenty years and now I’m confident it will be written.”
– Kevin Lynch, Novel Writing Essentials graduate
“It’s kickstarted my writing practice in a big way. Given me the confidence to write. Great introduction to novel writing and foundations for creating my own project.”
– Maria Doogan
See more reviews
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- Do you have an idea for a novel or memoir but no clear path from idea to first draft?
- Does the prospect of writing a whole book feel overwhelming?
- Have you got an opening but want a professional eye to check it’s working?
- Want tutor feedback that’s specific to your manuscript – not generic writing advice?
You’ve got a great idea for a novel. Perhaps you already have a few chapters under your belt. But you’re feeling a little stuck – unsure how to develop what you’ve started into a full, compelling book.
This 10-week course is built to get you unstuck. It’s designed with one outcome: helping you reach 20,000 words of your novel, with the structure and confidence to keep going after the course ends
Graci Kim completed Novel Writing Essentials and is now a New York Times bestselling author.
Your creative path
At AWC, we offer five stages of creative support and guidance to help you achieve your novel writing goals. Novel Writing Essentials sits at the third stage – where we help you to take your specific book idea and get it onto the page and on its way.
If it’s your first book, this is a crucial phase of development, helping set the tone from the start. But it’s also useful for subsequent story ideas – as it’s here that all ideas are put under the microscope and issues identified that could save you months of time down the track.
Novel Writing Essentials is not a course for absolute beginners. You should have already completed our Creative Writing Stage 1 and/or Creative Writing Stage 2 courses, or have done a similar introductory course.
Enjoy connecting with your classmates and tutor in real time. This course includes two live Zoom sessions – one on the first day of your course, and the other in your final week (6.30–7.30pm Sydney/Melbourne time both days). These sessions are recorded so if you can’t attend, you can watch the recording at a later time.
Liz Foster completed Novel Writing Essentials. She is now author of The Good Woman’s Guide to Making Better Choices.
Mitch Jennings completed Novel Writing Essentials and is now author of the award-winning crime novel A Town Called Treachery.
Karina May completed Novel Writing Essentials. She is now author of That Island Feeling, Never Ever Forever, and Duck a l’Orange for Breakfast.
This course will suit:
- writers who have a story idea but need structure to actually get a real chunk of it on the page
- writers who need a helping hand to get started, or who have stalled just past their opening
- anyone who needs a deadline to get them writing!
It’s also for you if you’ve written some or all of your novel and want tutor feedback on your work. The course works well as a taster for our Write Your Novel course if you’re considering that path but aren’t quite ready yet.
Snapshot – what to expect from this course
This is a 10-week course built around your story. Each week features targeted theory covering essentials such as:
- how to nail the opening that hooks an editor, agent or reader on page one
- building characters with backstory and motivation that drive the plot
- bringing dialogue alive on the page
- the point of view, voice and pacing decisions that shape your reader’s experience
- plus structural moves that turn a good idea into a page-turner
Alongside the theory, you’ll submit pieces of your writing for feedback from your online tutor at points throughout the course. Each week, you’ll also get the chance to give feedback on the work of other writers in your cohort – and this is where a lot of the real craft growth happens. Working out what makes another writer’s pages tick builds the craft awareness you need to strengthen your own writing.
Follow the writing schedule and you’ll hit 20,000 words by the end of the 10 weeks – which, depending on the genre you’re writing in is, in most cases, is around a quarter of a novel! That’s not a coincidence: 20,000 words is also the prerequisite to apply for a place in Write Your Novel.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q: Do I need to have a clear story idea
A: You’ll need to be working on a single specific project (a novel or memoir) that you’ve already started writing. Ideally, you’ll come in with at least 3,000 words of a story you want to keep developing – if you’ve completed Creative Writing Stage 2, you’ll have that under your belt already.
Across the course, you’ll submit pieces of your writing for feedback from your tutor.
Q: How many people are there in the course with me? Are they all experienced writers?
A: This course isn’t for absolute beginners – everyone should have foundation skills from our Creative Writing Stage 1 or Creative Writing Stage 2 courses, or similar prior experience.
Q: What should I expect to get out of this course?
A: If you have the beginnings of a novel, Novel Writing Essentials gives you structured deadlines, targeted theory and tutor feedback on selected sections of your manuscript – strengthening your opening chapters. If you follow our suggested writing schedule, this will get you to 20,000 words of your novel. You’ll come out with crucial story direction and a solid foundation to build the rest of your novel on. The course also leaves you with a much sharper sense of what makes writing work – the kind of craft awareness that changes how you read and revise your own pages.
Q: Is this course suitable for memoir writers?
A: For novel-length memoirs, yes. However, if your story’s themes are deeply emotional, it can be best to complete a full first draft first – to allow some emotional distance from your work before casting an analytical eye over it. To learn the fundamentals of writing true stories, we recommend checking out our Personal Storytelling and Memoir Writing course.
Q: What about children’s books? Is it suitable for these?
A: Yes, if you’re writing junior, middle-grade, or YA fiction (not picture books). This course will help you develop your opening chapters and build on the techniques you learnt in a foundation course such as Writing Middle Grade Fiction. If you do want to write picture books, we recommend Writing Picture Books and its subsequent Masterclass instead.
Q: I’m a busy parent and work full-time. Can I fit this in?
A: Most of our students are busy people just like you! The course is flexible – you’ll need about 4–5 hours each week, not necessarily all at once. This includes time for your own writing, but as every writer is different, you may need to adjust the time you set aside each week depending on your writing process and what works best for you.
Q: What’s the next step after Novel Writing Essentials?
A: Providing you come out of the course with a manuscript of at least 20,000 words, you’ll be able to apply for our Write Your Novel course – which is built to help you complete your first draft through deadlines, advanced theory and tutor feedback.
How does the online course work?
When you enrol:
- You’ll receive login details to access your online course.
- Your course contains 10 modules, each with audio lessons and handouts.
- One module is released each Monday over the 10 weeks of the course.
- There are no set class times – complete each module when it suits you during the week.
- In the first and last weeks of the course, you’ll join your tutor and classmates for live Zoom sessions.
- You’ll receive tutor feedback on four pieces of your writing submitted across the course.
- Each week, you’ll also have the chance to give feedback on the work of other writers in your cohort – the workshopping element of the course, and one of the most powerful ways to sharpen your own craft.
Reviews of Novel Writing Essentials
“This was truly a magnificent course that I will be recommending to anyone who wants to kick-start their novel writing. I have actually found the motivation and inspiration to write!”
Elyse Harrison
“I thought I had learned loads on other courses. This one is head and shoulders above anything else I have done.”
Caroline McAleer
“Something that caught my attention was how much I didn’t know about the craft of writing. I loved this. It was great to delve into different POVs, story structure, character descriptions, and pace. These are the things we don’t often learn, even in university.”
Stephanie Wilson
“If you have a great story in your head but are struggling to move beyond the first few chapters, this course can help by providing constructive criticism (and praise) from a peer group and tutor. I found it was not only motivational but it also gave me the confidence to navigate what I expect will be a frustrating and fantastic road ahead!”
Olwyn Jones
What you’ll get out of this course
Novel Writing Essentials is a vital stepping stone – helping you find like-minded writers and become part of the larger writing community. Many of our students continue meeting with classmates long after the course is over – with some groups meeting regularly for many years after the end of the course!
In warm fuzzy terms, you’ll exit the course with a clearer, fuller idea of how to move your manuscript forward and make it shine, and with a support crew at your back. More practically, you’ll have your characters locked down, the structural bones of a real novel on the page, and the sharper craft instincts you’ve built by working with other writers’ pages along the way. Most importantly, you’ll have your 20,000 words (or close to it) – you’ll be a quarter of the way through a standard novel length, and have the prerequisite for the next stage of our novel writing pathway, Write Your Novel.
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Duration 1
This is an online course
Starts: Wednesday 28 October 2026
Duration:
10 weeks of lessons. Note there will be a 2–week break over Christmas Allow 4–5 hours per week
Feedback on your writing:
Yes
With: Nat Newman $850 | |||||
