Writing Crime & Thrillers – Advanced
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Writing Crime & Thrillers – Advanced
Are you plotting the perfect murder – perhaps in the mode of Tana French, Richard Osman or Abir Mukherjee? Or maybe you’re channelling Patricia Highsmith, Gillian Flynn or Paula Hawkins to craft your suspense novel? On this high-level course for people writing crime fiction and psychological thrillers, Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year award-winning author Sarah Hilary will draw you deep into the workings of your genre and reveal the tricks and techniques that can help you take your novel to the next level.
You’ll join a group of 15 crime/thriller writers, tutored by Sarah, for flexibly-timed weekly writing workshops delivered on our bespoke online learning platform, plus live group teaching sessions via Zoom covering important genre-topics, and an in-depth one-to-one tutorial with Sarah towards the end of the course. This course will run from 2 Oct to 11 Dec 2023.
Tutor
Sarah Hilary
Sarah’s debut, Someone Else’s Skin, won the Theakstons Crime Novel of the Year 2015 and was a World Book Night selection as well as a Richard & Judy Book Club pick. Sarah is one of the Killer Women, a crime writing collective supporting diversity, innovation and inclusion in their industry. As well as writing, Sarah teaches crime fiction and mentors its rising stars including Nadine Matheson. Her short stories have won the Cheshire Prize for Literature, the Fish Criminally Short Histories Prize, and the SENSE prize.
What does this course give you?
- Live teaching sessions on Zoom: On six Monday evenings, Sarah will welcome the group for a 90-minute Zoom class, covering topics of significance to crime and thriller writers, such as how to plot a mystery, build suspense and construct a killer twist.
- A community of writers: Our selective applications process means that you will be writing your novel in a peer group of 15 students working at a high level. We have developed a bespoke learning platform exclusively for our students. Here you can give and receive feedback, and discuss the week’s topics with your fellow students and tutors. Many of our former students have found their trusted readers with us – and form strong working friendships with classmates which go on long after the course is over.
- Writing workshop: You’ll get a dedicated workshop centring on a 3,000-word extract from your novel-in-progress. Workshops offer in-depth feedback from your fellow students and tutor, and are also designed to help develop your self-editing skills.
- 1-to-1 tutorial: You'll get a 45-minute, one-to-one tutorial with Sarah, based on a 3,000-word extract from your novel-in-progress. Use this tutorial to address your specific concerns about your writing.
- Author masterclass: Join a live Zoom session with bestselling writer and chair of the Crime Writers' Association Vaseem Khan, and C&W literary agent Emma Finn and put your questions about writing crime and thrillers to them. The discussion will cover the process of planning, writing and editing a crime novel or thriller, as well as submitting to literary agents.
- End of course submission: All students will be invited to submit the 3,000-word opening from their novel, plus a synopsis, to be shared with the agent teams at Curtis Brown and C&W. This is not a formal submission but a chance to give the agents a taste of your work at this stage. When you are ready to formally submit – no matter how long after your course has finished – the CBC team will give you guidance and support with your submission to the Curtis Brown and C&W agents.
- Alumni services: You’ll be given access to a range of exclusive writing services, available only to the alumni of our selective courses, which you’ll be able to access after your course finishes. These services include individual mentoring, editorial reports on your completed novel and submission reports on your ‘pitch package’. Read more about the opportunities available to our alumni here.
MASTERCLASS SPEAKERS
Join live Zoom Q&A sessions with top UK literary agents and authors
Course schedule
Please note that precise dates of sessions and details of course speakers are subject to change.
OPENINGS
Mon 2 Oct – Fri 8 OctSTRUCTURE & PLOTTING
Mon 9 Oct – Fri 15 OctWRITING WORKSHOPS
Mon 16 Oct – Fri 20 OctWRITING WORKSHOPS
Mon 23 Oct – Fri 27 OctSUSPENSE, CLUES & MISDIRECTION
Mon 23 Oct, 7–8.30pm (Zoom)WRITING WORKSHOPS
Mon 30 Oct – Fri 3 NovWRITING WORKSHOPS
Mon 6 Nov – Fri 10 NovPROTAGONIST, ANTAGONIST & SUSPECTS
Mon 6 Nov, 7–8.30pm (Zoom)WRITING WORKSHOPS
Mon 13 Nov – Fri 17 NovFORWARD MOMENTUM & EDITING
Mon 13 Nov, 7–8.30pm (Zoom)WRITING WORKSHOPS
Mon 20 Nov – Fri 24 NovGUEST SPEAKER SESSION
Mon 20 Nov, 7–8.30pm (Zoom)WRITING WORKSHOPS
Mon 27 Nov – Fri 1 DecCOURSE CONCLUSION
Mon 27 Nov, 7–8.30pm (Zoom)END OF COURSE SUBMISSION
Mon 11 Dec
Course fees
The course fee of £960 (inc VAT) per student is payable, in full, by bank transfer or cheque before the start of the course. However, if you are unable to pay the full fee upfront, let us know and we can arrange an instalment plan.
Ready to apply?
Our application form asks some questions about you and your writing – and it also asks you to send us the first 3,000 words of the crime novel or thriller you’re working on and a one-page synopsis.
The CBC team will select applicants based on the quality of the writing sample provided. The deadline for applications is midnight, end of day Mon 25 Sep 2023, and we will respond to applicants by Mon 25 Sep 2023.
We read all application material promptly after the closing date and make our selection of students swiftly at that time. However if you require an earlier response from us in order to be able to take part in this course, please email us with full details and we will consider and respond on a case by case basis.
If you encounter any problems during the application process, or have any more questions about the course, please email help@curtisbrowncreative.co.uk for assistance.
Work on your crime novel or psychological thriller with dedicated online teaching from a genre expert and award-winning author.
Tutor
Sarah Hilary