The Basics of Creative Writing

$ 895.00

The Basics of Creative Writing Course

15% Off!  December Special

**Apply and pay by 15 December. Start now or before the end of January.

Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
Special offer now closed

The Basics of Creative Writing Course

15% Off!

 December Special

**Apply and pay by 15 December. Start now or before the end of January.

Days
Hours
Minutes
Seconds
Special offer now closed

This course is a fast, effective way to gain the skills required to write any form of fiction

A rigorous creative writing course
for both beginners and seasoned writers

The Basics of Creative Writing Course provides breakthrough writing techniques required for fiction. Practise your skills in 40 writing assignments, with feedback on each from an award-winning writer.

Whether you want to sell the stories that you produce, enter writing competitions, or simply write for the pleasure of it, this course is a powerful way to achieve your writing goals.

The Basics of Creative Writing Course Gives You...

No Automated Marking

We use traditional methods of assessing work, as editors at publishing houses would. No generic feedback!

A Flexible Schedule

Work wherever and whenever you want. You can easily fit our courses around work and other commitments.

Relevant, Usable Content

Easy-to-digest course notes that capture a lifetime of writing experience, ready for you to apply to your own writing.

Ongoing Assessment

Your writing is assessed continuously as your course progresses.

Expert, Individual Feedback

Get prompt, honest, detailed feedback on every assignment from an award-winning writer. We focus on your unique writing strengths.

No Peer Reviews!

You will only be assessed by your tutor, a leader in their field. No more guessing and wondering how to write; you'll be guided line by line.

Master the Basics of Creative Writing at NZ Writers College

Jump-start your fiction writing project

Developed and refined over many years, this course offers a unique opportunity to benefit from years of writing experience in just four months.

You will work with an award-winning author for the duration of the five-module course. It is this one-to-one, professional feedback and mentoring that brings about the most noticeable improvements to your writing.

Work through your 200-page course manual and complete 40 writing assignments, with feedback on each writing exercise.

Don’t waste time making the same mistakes and doubting your writing ability. Let your expert tutor guide you through the potential pitfalls of fiction writing and show you how to bring your writing to life.

Master the Basics of Creative Writing

Jump-start your
fiction writing project

Developed and refined over many years, this course offers a unique opportunity to benefit from years of writing experience in just four months.

You will work with an award-winning author for the duration of the five-module course. It is this one-to-one, professional feedback and mentoring that brings about the most noticeable improvements to your writing.

Work through your 200-page course manual and complete 40 writing assignments, with feedback on each writing exercise.

Don’t waste time making the same mistakes and doubting your writing ability. Let your expert tutor guide you through the potential pitfalls of fiction writing and show you how to bring your writing to life.

'I could not have found a better college. The course was wonderful in every respect.'

Gill Palliser, Basics of Creative Writing Course

Course Overview

COURSE FEE (On Special)

$ 895

Price includes GST

NUMBER OF ASSIGNMENTS

40

The assignments vary in length.

NUMBER OF MODULES

5

These modules include around 200 pages of course notes.

COURSE DURATION

4

Work at your own pace – up to a maximum of four months.

START DATE: ANYTIME

Working with an individual tutor means you can start the course at any time.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

  • Excellent grammar knowledge is essential.
  • Computer skills, e-mail and Internet access required.
  • No previous tertiary qualification required.

 

Our Graduate Students' Successes

We are proud of our graduates who have achieved success. Here are a few among dozens of our creative writing success stories.

Tutors for this Course

Helen Brain

I’ve been writing for 25 years, and teaching creative writing for 11. I’ve seen over a thousand students graduate from my courses, and have an exceptionally high completion rate.

I’m very interested in the craft of writing and believe that this is something that can be learned and practised so that the story that appears on the page correlates more closely with the story in your head.    

I love teaching one-on-one, and supporting my students as they stretch themselves creatively and technically.

Achievements:

  • Over 60 books published for children, young adults, 1997 – 2019
  • Here be Lions, a memoir, published 2006
  • Fiery Spiral trilogy acquired by US publisher Catalyst Press 2018
  • Ibby South Africa Honours list multiple years
  • ATKV Award for her teen novel Tamara
  • Three of her books have been selected for the SACBF Honours List
Creative Writing tutor at NZ Writers College

Nerine Dorman

Nerine Dorman is an author and editor of science fiction and fantasy currently. Her novel Sing down the Stars won Gold for the Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature in 2019 and The Percy Fitzpatrick Award for Children’s and Youth Literature in 2021. Her YA fantasy novella, Dragon Forged, was a finalist in the Sanlam Prize for Youth Literature in 2017.

Her short story On the Other Side of the Sea (Omenana, 2017) was shortlisted for a 2018 Nommo award. Her novella The Firebird won a Nommo for ‘Best Novella’ in 2019. Her short fiction published in numerous anthologies. In addition, she is a founding member of the SFF authors’ co-operative Skolion.

Nerine Dorman on Goodreads

Course Curriculum

Module 1

Components of Fiction

  • 20 practical lessons on the basics of creative writing
  • Learn the components of fiction – description, action and dialogue
  • Task: Complete and submit 20 short exercises on these components

 

Module 2

Learn How to Write Scenes

  • Learn how to write balanced scenes using description, action and dialogue
  • Learn from the experts, analysing scenes from the world’s best fiction writers
  • Discover how to build up a scene step by step
  • Task: Analyse scenes from established writers, focusing on description, action, dialogue, mood and pace

 

Module 3

Write Your Own Scenes

  • How to begin writing
  • How to edit and rewrite
  • Task: Write a 1200-word scene from a prompt; submit a synopsis, backstory, setting and scene plan

Module 4

The Writing Life

  • Where to next with your writing?
  • A few necessities for writing well
  • Commit to writing
  • How to improve your drafts
  • Task: Edit and rewrite your scene; submit the second draft of your scene

 

Module 5

Opportunities for Writers

  • Over 80 pages of local and international writing opportunities
  • Task: Submit the third and final draft of your scene

 

Bonus session!

Attend a group video meeting

Helen runs four Google Meet face-to-face sessions per year for all of her students. You will be invited to attend while you are on the course. This is not compulsory (but a lot of fun).

What Our Students Say

Camilla MilfordBasics of Creative Writing
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Helen is a magnificent tutor who masterfully responds with the right critique that automatically inspires you to improve, despite any shortcomings you might have. It is a well-rounded course that touches on all the necessary aspects of writing for beginners, without being too overwhelming. It was a wonderful journey of discovery that changed me. I can’t go back to who I was before – the writing world beckons. Thanks to The Writers College I can now move forward with certainty to achieve my goals with practice, sound knowledge and the right guidance from the courses provided here.
Leigh Smidt-HartBasics of Creative Writing
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I truly discovered my passion for creative writing. The course has given me confidence and equipped me with the tools to begin my journey into the world of creative writing. Nerine was open and engaging from the onset ... She was firm and fair and gave sound advice and guidance. She helped me discover my creative voice after nearly a decade of working in news.
David JansenBasics of Creative Writing
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My tutor was wonderful and I learnt a great deal from the feedback she gave me. In my opinion, this was the true value of the course because the feedback I received was insightful and I was able to apply it to successive stages of the course. My experience was wonderful, thanks to my tutor, and well worth the cost of the course.
James MortleyBasics of Creative Writing
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Overall, the course more than met my expectations. It offered a great overview of creative writing, with a diverse range of challenging exercises and good exposure to different writers. This combination was both engaging and fun. Working on the final scene was particularly rewarding in terms of receiving good developmental input to ensure that the final draft was of good quality. Working with Helen was brilliant. She is great at giving encouragement and a good critique so that good opportunity is provided for development. It was a fun, rewarding and challenging experience.
Carol HookBasics of Creative Writing
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The Basics of Creative Writing Course offers everything. It’s been an incredible journey for me. I love writing, and learning to understand specific skills has been truly wonderful. Helen is exceptional. She answered my questions when I struggled with certain areas of the course and gave me confidence and the will to keep writing. She is a very motivational tutor. My experience at The Writers’ College has taught me a side of writing to remember for the future. Thank you for everything.
Alex LovellBasics of Creative Writing
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The course was wonderful. I feel my core creative writing skills have been properly reinforced and my confidence in my writing is better than ever. Working under Helen’s tutelage was excellent. Without her help, I feel my writing would not have been as fine-tuned as it is now. Highly recommend the course to anyone looking to improve their writing skills.
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Get These Additional Benefits

Lifetime Course Access

Benefit from free lifetime access to future course updates and access to our writing resources.

Work at Your Own Pace

Our courses work around you. You can pace your course around your busy life.

500+ Bonus Articles on Our Blog

A superb, constantly updated resource with articles on writing and interviews with writers.

Work Opportunities

Top students are invited to join our writers and editors for hire service.

Be the First to Know About Writing Competitions

We'll help you keep up to date with the latest competition announcements

Join a Community of Writers

You will have access to our friendly Facebook community, daily writing tips and writing inspiration.

Risk-Free 100% Money-Back Guarantee

We are so confident that you will love your course that if you’re not 100% satisfied with the quality of our training, simply ask for a refund within 30 days.

Complete the Application Form to Enrol on the Basics of Creative Writing Course

You will receive an approval email and invoice within one working day.

Should your form not submit or you get an error message please let admin know at admin@nzwriterscollege.co.nz

Questions?
We've Got Answers

The course consists of five modules. Detailed course notes covering the content of each module are emailed to you. At the end of each module, you will be required to complete writing exercises. In total, the course includes 40 short writing assignments, all of which count towards your final result. Once the writing assignment has been completed and emailed to your tutor, an assessment and feedback will be sent to you and the module will be considered complete. You will then download the next module from the Student Centre.

Absolutely. You have direct communication with your tutor for the duration of the course. The more questions you ask, the more you will get out of the course.

You will get lifetime access to the course. You will also benefit from future updates and improvements to the course.

For the majority of our courses, only your tutor will see your work. It will remain completely private unless you get it published. The journalism courses might see your work published in the public domain, but you do have the final say as to whether or not this happens.

Students will receive a Writers College Certificate upon successful completion of the course, provided they meet the following conditions:

  • Students must complete all 40 writing assignments
  • The course must be completed within four months of registration
  • Students are expected to attain a minimum average of 50% for the course
  • Basic writing skills are essential.
  • Computer skills as well as email and Internet access are required.
  • No previous tertiary qualification is required.

Because you will work with an individual tutor, you can start your course as soon as your application has been approved. There are no specific start dates as would be the case with a traditional college.

An application is usually approved within one working day. Once we receive proof of payment, your can start your course.

You could be starting your course today!

There is no research required for this course, just planning and writing. The speed at which you work is entirely up to you. You have four months to complete the course (and an extra 21 days if your course runs over the Christmas and New Year break).

You are welcome to finish the course sooner if you want to, but we wouldn’t want you to rush the process too much!

Once your application has been approved, you will receive notification of approval and an invoice via email. As soon as we receive proof of payment, the first module as well as your tutor’s email address and your login details will be sent to you. Your tutor will also be in touch to welcome you.

Any work created on our courses is owned by you. We will never make a claim to anything you produce. We follow the rule that copyright subsists with the creator (you).

'I truly discovered my passion for creative writing. Nerine was open and engaging from the onset ... She was firm and fair and gave sound advice and guidance. She helped me discover my creative voice after nearly a decade of working in news.'

Leigh Smidt-Hart, Basics of Creative Writing Course

Got More Questions?

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