• To introduce you to the key skills and knowledge that underpin successful historical fiction writing, including the organisational skills required for historical research, plotting and structuring, world building, character development and narrative technique
• To introduce you to constructive and focused critical reflection of your work
• To provide a stimulating and varied learning environment to enable you to develop your skills around voice, style, point of view, pacing and prose
• To offer a series of writing exercises, along with discussion, textual analysis and a review of the ‘golden rules of historical fiction writing’ to support you to develop your craft
• To support the development of drafting, editing and rewriting skills
• To develop the use of dialogue, crafting scenes, adding suspense and effective pacing
• To examine how much historical detail/background to include
• To offer insight into the traditions, theory and responsibilities of the historical fiction writer
• To enable you to make clear authorial and editorial choices about your developing work

Unit 1: Research, Structure & Plotting 
Tutor: Adrienne Chinn | 14–16 November 2025

The first unit will include: 

• An introduction to historical fiction
• The rules of historical fiction
• Historical research
• Structure: Creating a solid foundation
• The five key elements of plotting

Pre-course preparation:
Although not required reading, the tutor has suggested a reading list in preparation for Unit 1, as follows:

• The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
• Clytemnestra - Costanza Casati
• A Gentleman in Moscow - Amor Towles
• Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
• Pachinko - Min Jin Lee
• Beloved - Toni Morrison
• Ivanhoe - Sir Walter Scott

Materials to bring:
Your usual writing equipment, notebook and pen, and laptop.

Unit 2: Characters & Place
Tutor: Adrienne Chinn | 20–22 February 2026

This second unit will include: 

• Creating memorable characters
• Understanding and experimenting with point of view
• Crafting effective dialogue
• Understanding the environment
• World-building

Pre-course preparation:

Although not required reading, the tutor has suggested a reading list in preparation for Unit 2, as follows:

• Katherine - Anya Seton
• Cold Mountain - Charles Fraser
• I, Claudius - Robert Graves
• All the Light We Cannot See - Anthony Doerr
• The English Patient - Michael Ondatjee
• Homegoing - Yaa Gyasi
• The Name of the Rose - Umberto Eco

Materials to bring:
Your usual writing equipment, notebook and pen, and laptop.

Unit 3: Writing Your Book
Tutor: Adrienne Chinn | 8–10 May 2026

The third and final unit will include: 

• Using suspense to create drama
• Pacing – keeping your reader engaged
• Scene structure
• Revising and refining – editing and rewriting

Pre-course preparation:

Although not required reading, the tutor has suggested a reading list in preparation for Unit 3, as follows:

• The Scarlet Letter - Nathaniel Hawthorne
• The Blind Assassin - Margaret Atwood
• Perfume: The Story of a Murderer - Patrick Suskind
• Washington Black – Esi Edugyan
• Fingersmith - Sarah Waters
• The Pillars of the Earth - Ken Follett
• The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
• The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock - Imogen Hermes Gowar

Materials to bring:
Your usual writing equipment, notebook and pen, and laptop.

After the final unit, you will submit the first 5,000 words of a piece of fiction you have developed while following the programme.

Course deadlines

• Submission date for 5,000 words: 10 July 2026 (two months following the final unit)
• Feedback from the programme tutors: by 31 August 2026

On successful completion students will receive a Certificate of Completion and be offered an interview for the MA in Creative Writing and Publishing should they want to continue their studies and project. The MA is set up to facilitate the production of a completed novel.