
Writing Crime Fiction
KICKSTART A NEW CRIME IDEA AND HONE YOUR WRITING SKILLS
This four-week online course guides you week by week as you create a new idea for a crime novel. Start by finding a setting, choose a central character, then bring them to life in a first chapter.
You’ll delve into the conventions of crime fiction and learn how to inject more suspense into your writing with practical exercises and weekly feedback.
Suitable for:
- crime writers looking to jumpstart a new idea or central character
- writers in other genres who want to experiment with crime or thrillers
- anyone who wants to add more suspense and pace to their writing.
NEXT COURSE
Start date: 6 June 2022
Duration: 4 weeks
Skill level: All
Session length: Weekly
Sessions: 4
Price: £350 (inc. VAT where applicable)
BOOK MY PLACE
The course is suitable if you:
- Write crime fiction and would like to broaden your palette of techniques
- Enjoy reading crime fiction and want to start writing it
- Are keen to master suspense and add intrigue to your plotlines and characterisation
- Would like to explore a new genre and assess your potential
- Want to join a friendly and supportive group of learners
- Can dedicate 5-7 hours per week for the duration of the course
As you work through the sessions, you’ll develop a new crime story while working within a supportive community of fellow writers keen to share their experiences with you.
You’ll learn from:
- Videos, podcasts and reading suggestions from tutor, Tom Bromley
- Examples from masters of the craft, including Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson
- Exclusive interviews and tips from award-winning crime writer Sarah Hilary and others
- Practical writing exercises to help you experiment and practise your crime writing
- Guided discussions with your group
- The opportunity to share your work and give and receive feedback from fellow writers
- Mid-course live chat with a guest author
You’ll need:
- 5-7 hours per week to work through the course
- A notebook and pen or pencil, if you like to make notes by hand
- A laptop or computer* with:
- A reliable broadband internet connection
- Speakers or headphones
- The latest version of Google Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Edge, or Safari
- Microsoft Word. If you don’t have this you can download Open Office free
- Adobe Reader, latest version. Download free
- QuickTime Player, latest version. Download free
*You can access the course from a tablet or smartphone, but we recommend using a laptop or computer, as this makes it easier to share your work files with your writing group.
After your course, you can join our online alumni where you’ll meet our growing network of past students. The alumni is a friendly group of writers who support each other as they continue to explore and develop their writing.
Within our online alumni area you can:
- Rejoin your classmates on a private forum and access an archived version of your course materials and forum posts
- Meet alumni from other courses and groups and share your work for feedback on our alumni critiquing forum
- Join in on discussions about reading, writing, editing and ideas on our general discussion forum. This is also where we share news and useful info
- Retain access to our resources area, which has interesting and informative links
- Chat with other people online using the alumni area live chatroom. We also host live chats with guests here
Commission a report on your work
If you’d like to receive a personalised, detailed report on your final piece of writing from your course tutor, this is available at an extra cost. You’ll receive detailed written feedback assessing your ideas and writing, plus advice on what steps to take next.
Taking things further
If you’d like to continue on to another Professional Writing Academy course, we’ll give you a discount. Please get in touch for more details.
Ready to start writing?
(Non-refundable)
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