How to Write a Great Novel – Online Course

4.61 out of 5
(37 customer reviews)

$400.00

  • Massive Learning: comprised of 8 core modules and 31 extended lessons, the course delivers huge value-for-money, and takes 100+ hours to complete.
  • Write-as-you-Learn: through a series of focussed practical exercises and quiz-based-learning that ensures you absorb all the information being delivered, users write a full novel while taking the course.
  • Theory & Practical: our online novel writing course consists of a combination of theory and practical exercises.

 

  • 31 Lessons: including; Tension Building; Varying the Narrative; The Importance of a Title; Developing Great Characters; Preparing to Submit your Novel; Self-Publishing and many more (see full breakdown below).
  • Work-from-Home: learn at your own pace and in your own time from home, and earn a certificate in creative writing on completion.
  • Lifetime Access: purchase the course and receive lifetime access including updates and bonuses!

READ THE FULL COURSE BREAKDOWN BELOW!

 

Description

How to Write a Novel Online is Writing & Dreams’ flagship course, and aims to systematically build your storytelling knowledge and skill set.

Our course delivers the information and exercises to enrich your novels – whether you’re a complete beginner or an intermediate writer looking to take your work to a professional standard.

Norman Mailer - Bad day - Copy

The course is split into 8 modules, spread over 29 lessons.  It is designed to put an early emphasis on selecting strong concepts for your book, before looking at major structural and character topics, and then drilling down to on-the-page story execution.

 

HOW TO WRITE A NOVEL COURSE MODULES

MODULE A – Preparation is Key!

Lesson 1 – Getting Organised
Lesson 2 – Finding Inspiration
Lesson 3 – Genre
Lesson 4 – The Idea
Lesson 5 – Writing Methods

MODULE B – Building Blocks of your Story

Lesson 6 – What All Stories Need
Lesson 7 – A Question of Style
Lesson 8 – Critical Research

Ernest Hemingway - Prose

MODULE C – Developing Your Idea

Lesson 9 – Plot & Theme
Lesson 10 – Conflict
Lesson 11 – The Setting
Lesson 12 – Developing Great Characters

MODULE D – The Deep Planning Phase

Lesson 13 – Beginning, Middle and End
Lesson 14 – Chapters & Scenes
Lesson 15 – What’s in a Title?

MODULE E – Writing the First Draft

Lesson 16 – Varying the Narrative
Lesson 17 – Dialogue
Lesson 18 – Tension Building
Lesson 19 – Go For It!

Raymond Chandler - Man with gun

MODULE F – What Happens Next?

Lesson 20 – Now What?
Lesson 21 – Revisions
Lesson 22 – Second Draft & Beyond
Lesson 23 – Legalities

MODULE G – Submission

Lesson 24 – Preparing for Submission
Lesson 25– How to Submit
Lesson 26 – People to Impress

MODULE H – The Final Step

Lesson 27 – Doing a Deal
Lesson 28 – Marketing Your Book
Lesson 29 – Self-Publishing


how to write a novel online courseWe can take you from ‘idea to novel’ if you follow the lessons closely, complete the exercises, and develop your novel alongside your learning.

You can choose to study the entire course before working on a project, or you can incrementally use the lessons to help write your novel – whichever works best for you!

Focusing on both the writing process, and the industry writers find work in, our How to Write a Novel course aims to heavily de-mystify the process by which people become professional writers, and help new scribes navigate the sometimes precarious early years of the novelist.

**4 Great Reasons to take our How to Write a Novel course**

  1. Our courses have received a 98% positive rating – we like to think these customer reviews say it all.
  2. Many writing courses are designed by people with limited industry credentials, often on the periphery of the business. Ours, are not.
  3. This is one of the very few online novel writing courses devised by a current, industry-trusted book editor presently analysing novels for the top companies.
  4. Finally – it’s a harsh truth for many graduates but the industry pays little attention to BA and MA degree courses in creative writing. You can spend 3 years of your life and thousands of dollars on something that will not carry any weight with anyone. It is far smarter and kinder on your wallet to take an online course, absorb storytelling theory, read tons of books, and WRITE very, very hard. The quality of your writing IS your CV…

Check out our other great courses and products below!

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37 reviews for How to Write a Great Novel – Online Course

  1. 5 out of 5

    ralzin331 (verified owner)

    A simple course that informs you about all the basics of writing a novel.

  2. 4 out of 5

    Linda (verified owner)

    My novel is complete and I’m now preparing to send it off. I’m finding the last section of this course is providing me with plenty of information to assist me with this. If I’m lucky enough to be gievn a deal I do now have some information to help me close it without using a lawyer, and I even have some ways to market my book which I hadn’t considered. Overall this is a well written and well planned course. I was given a lot of information to help me finish my novel. I do sometimes find it hard to concentrate when I study alone but it was interesting and I can go over every module at my leisure.

  3. 4 out of 5

    Jason (verified owner)

    My novel had a great deal of dialogue when I started it. I was well aware it was too much but then I added great swathes of description which just ruined it. I also hadn’t realised until I read the section all about ‘dialogue’ that the manner in which some of my characters spoke, wasn’t consistent. I paid a lot of attention to this section and I’m very happy how that I have the right mix of dialogue and descriptive text.

  4. 4 out of 5

    Liam (verified owner)

    I was having a real problem with my chapters. They were either too long or way too short. Now I can see what I need to do to make them more even, and make sure that they have the right build up of drama and tension as well. This is a thorough course but I am now working on a final draft.

  5. 5 out of 5

    Jay (verified owner)

    I’ve always felt like there was a novel inside me, I just didn’t know how to get it out. This course cut a path for me, step by step, showing me exactly what I needed to do and how to avoid the pitfalls along the way. I’m anxious to get started on the process, as this has been a dream of mine for most of my life!

  6. 5 out of 5

    Joe

    My novel was literally all over the place. Notes here, scraps of paper there and ideas I’d not even written down. Thank goodness the first thing this course taught me was how to get organised. Not only practically but how to plot and plan my characters, storyline, setting and every other little detail that goes in to a novel. I’m still working out the final details but now I know which direction my story will take rather than making it up as I go along.

  7. 4 out of 5

    Terry

    Thanks to this course my plot became a lot less one dimensional. I picked up lots of tips and advice on how to develop it so there are sub plots to keep the reader interested as well. The only thing I can fault is maybe a way of figuring out the difference between so many that the story becomes over complicated and too few so it’s bland and uninteresting. I did learn a lot overall and I am glad I invested in this course.

  8. 5 out of 5

    Rob (verified owner)

    I set about outlining a story, plot and some characters and their personality traits. I thought I had everything planned but it seems I did not. There is so much more to making sure your characters play important roles in a novel and more importantly, that they play just the role you want them to. After completing this course I re wrote all my notes and my novel really is taking shape now.

  9. 5 out of 5

    Samantha (verified owner)

    Before I started this course I had about 4 characters. When I finished I had a whole lot more and they all had definite characteristics and personalities. I had a lot of help with this from this course and I can see for myself how this has given my novel a lot more depth and made it a lot more interesting.

  10. 5 out of 5

    Steve (verified owner)

    I just wanted to leave you a review to thank you for the help. I decided to publish my novel on amazon to test it and I’ve sold a few copies. I am absolutely over the moon. It’s a great way to gauge your work thanks to any reviews (once of which was particularly helpful). I’m now making a few changes and referring back to what I learned.

  11. 5 out of 5

    Alice (verified owner)

    The legalities of a book have always put me off from actually attempting to publish. I’ve read various articles about it and I’ve still been afraid. I don’t know if this is just clearer on this course or because it was all part of a bigger picture, but this time I understand enough to give me confidence to send my finished novel off. I’m also looking at an ebook now I know what I need to do.

  12. 4 out of 5

    Sam (verified owner)

    When I started my novel I just hoped that some people might want to read it. They were my only concern. After finishing this course I now realise that there are people I need to impress that I really was not aware of, but it does make total sense. It’s not altered my novel drastically, but it has made me think a little more about how I intend to market it.

  13. 5 out of 5

    Ellie

    There are quite a few quotes from other writers throughout this course. I found when I got to one, they did inspire me and they also made me refer to that person’s work to get some ideas or further inspiration from them.

  14. 5 out of 5

    Sarah (verified owner)

    After a module you get a quiz and as a quiz freak I did all I could to get 100%. They had the desired effect, too, because I did go back and refer to a few topics to go over the information in them again. Even though I will review each section as I write, this also acts as a revision aid.

  15. 5 out of 5

    Tom (verified owner)

    I’ve always associated certain styles of writing with certain types of novel. It never occurred to me to change the style and therefore change the overall tone of the novel. This section has me playing around with lots of different narrative and descriptions. As a result my historical novel now has a humorous twist which really does make it a lot more appealing to a reader.

  16. 4 out of 5

    Raj (verified owner)

    Very happy overall with the course. There is a lot to take in which can be quite confusing at times. If course the advantage here is that you can work at your own pace. I was very pleased to see a section about self-publishing. This is very much the modern way to get your novel ‘out there’ and now I understand more about how to do this. Thank you for putting such an informative course together.

  17. 5 out of 5

    Stuart (verified owner)

    I’d completed a rough first draft but I knew it still needed a lot of work, which is why I purchased this course. From the very first module, ‘Getting Organised’, I already knew my novel would be improved. Organisation was severely lacking so my plot was a little ‘raggedy’ and even I could see flaws in my characterisation. I’m trying to implement every module as I go along which is taking time, but I am very happy to do this if it means I have something I can send of in the hope of getting it published.

  18. 5 out of 5

    Paul (verified owner)

    How do you research a novel? I had some idea and I’d been doing it my way but then I got some wonderful ideas and suggestions from this course. It really opened up what I could do with my plot and characters and has given my novel a whole new lease of life.

  19. Josh (verified owner)

    I’ve had the idea for a novel for a long time but never got round to actually sitting and writing it. I always felt that inspiration came from reading other works and from things that happen around you but now I know there are so many other ways I can get ideas from. I felt everything was covered in the course and it certainly left me thinking. I thought I had the plot and characters worked out but after reading this course I now know that I wasn’t even halfway there. I’m well on the way to finally finishing my novel and when I have, I know how to go about submitting it.

  20. 4 out of 5

    Alison (verified owner)

    Everyone knows that a good novel needs a beginning, middle and an end but when you come to sit down and write one, it’s not that simple. I found my ending was too long or too short and altering that made the middle too short. Thanks to this course I was able to find the right balance, which naturally helped the novel as a whole. There are a couple of minor things that I felt hadn’t been covered but they might just be something I was looking for. I would recommend this to someone looking for guidance with any novel they’re planning to write.

  21. 5 out of 5

    Kat (verified owner)

    I had a completed novel. Or so I thought. I knew I needed to rewrite a few sections and make sure everything was in the right order. I read the section about revisions and 2nd drafts first which was a real help, even if it made me realise just how much of the rest of my novel still needed work. Everything I needed to make my novel better was here. Very happy with the course.

  22. 5 out of 5

    Paul (verified owner)

    It wasn’t until I started this course that I realised my setting wasn’t quite how I’d intended. Without realising it was moving from one to another and was making the whole story disjointed. There is a module as part of this course which explains settings and how they should (and should not) work and this really helped me to focus on what I was doing.

  23. 5 out of 5

    David (verified owner)

    My novel is well under way thanks to this course. I’m now concentrating on the marketing section. There are so many different markets now and so many people writing that it’s good to see that a section has been included to get your novel noticed. This is a very helpful section.

  24. 5 out of 5

    Andy (verified owner)

    I struggle with narrative. I find it very difficult to make my characters speak in different ways or let the characters talk in different styles. This course as a whole helped me to develop my novel and it includes a section designed to help specifically with narrative. This is a bonus for me and has improved everything about my novel, as my characters are now much more realistic.

  25. 5 out of 5

    Caron (verified owner)

    Obviously when I ordered this course I just needed help. I got that and I’m really happy with all the extra advice in there too. What was particularly interesting was the section on writing methods. I realise that everyone uses a different method which suits them best, but this was fascinating. There are so many different ways of writing a novel that I actually adapted a few in to the way I write already and it is working for me. My novel is a long way from finished but I’m very happy now with how it’s coming along.

  26. 5 out of 5

    Jess (verified owner)

    Having written short stories for sometime I decided to look into writing something bigger. The concept of a novel is totally different to the writing I’ve done so far and I found the section on narrative and dialogue to be of particular use. I found I was either using all dialogue or none at all, so it was very useful having some advice and tips on how to get the right balance.

  27. 3 out of 5

    Holly (verified owner)

    I am happy I purchased this course, though I do not know if I would recommend it to a friend seeking help in writing. Much of the course is quotes from authors and without feedback from an instructor one can be left feeling uncertain if they are truly learning well the point. I understood there was no instructor from the beginning, it’s just a point I would like to relate. I ended up knowing 90% of the information being “taught” so this was disappointing to me. I did however like that this course does not end at the end of your writing, but takes you through Industrial Script’s best knowledge of how to get published and how to present your work.

  28. 5 out of 5

    Kyle (verified owner)

    It was perfect for what I wanted; that being a thorough nuts and bolts approach to converting the creative process to something marketable. It provided me with a number of action items that I didn’t previously consider from a plot and character development standpoint, as well as from a “take it to market” standpoint.

  29. 5 out of 5

    Noel (verified owner)

    I found the learning material to be concise and to the point. There were many good examples of the lesson being taught, and links to other useful resources. I was able to work at my own pace, and the quizzes were helpful in confirming my learning. I look forward to applying the newly learned and the recently reinforced knowledge of writing in the writing of my own novel. This training has bolstered my resolve and armed me with the tools to complete that task.

  30. 4 out of 5

    Keri (verified owner)

    I found this course to be informative and knowledgeable about the creative process. It helped me fill in the blanks where I haven’t been yet, and gave some good advice that helped me get through a hard rewrite.

  31. 4 out of 5

    Savanna (verified owner)

    Concise, easy to understand, and very informative. I loved taking this course on my own time and learning so much from it! Thank you!

  32. 5 out of 5

    tlhisle@gmail.com (verified owner)

    This novel writing course is one of the best investments I have ever made! Straight to the point learning and easily comprehendable. I recommend this course to anyone interested in writing their own novel or to anyone that is just interested in how the writing process should be done! Thanks Industrial Scripts.

  33. 4 out of 5

    Tracy (verified owner)

    I thoroughly enjoyed this course! It was eye-opening, insightful and invaluable! The lessons were layered very well, from the beginning of your book idea, all the way to having your book in print and on the market. It’s an A-Z how to write your novel, and do it well. I would highly recommend this course to anyone considering writing their own novel. A bang up job Industrial Scripts!

  34. 5 out of 5

    tiffany (verified owner)

    A time saver! This course was to the point! No wasted time as I read each lesson! So much information given. Industrial Scripts knows what they are talking about. I was able to gain all the information I needed from this online course. I was able to keep my mama duties and work on my book and the same time! Complete life saver!!! Highly recommend! Thank you I.S. I am now more motivated to get my vision of telling my story out in the open!!!!

  35. 4 out of 5

    Mary (verified owner)

    I would say this course was very good. It gave me a lot of information and inspired me to begin thinking of my next novel in a more organized fashion. The explanations in each lesson were clear and informative and the quiz at the end of the lesson were very easy to pass. The exercises included with each lesson will help me when I’m at each stage. I like the fact that I will be able to retrieve the information when I need it.

  36. 4 out of 5

    Victoria Carrington

    While leading the development of this course, I have tried to inspire, motivate and educate new writers in equal measure to put them in a confident position to complete their first novel. The lessons take you from a flicker of an idea, through the important planning stages, to getting crafted words on the page and finally submitting the result of all your hard work. Enjoy the journey!

  37. 5 out of 5

    Industrial Scripts

    Novel writing can be a tough, long and lonely road, but with our online course you can work within a tight structure and give yourself the best shot of nailing that brilliant first draft. The course takes around 80 hours to complete, and we think it’s a must for all aspiring authors.

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