Tell your story with the WEA

Whether you are just starting out as a budding writer, or already have lots of experience expressing yourself through writing, our creative writing courses will provide you with a platform to develop your talent. All our creative writing courses look at different audiences and genres such as scriptwriting, non-fiction and poetry. 

Skip to courses

You can choose to tap into your storytelling abilities alongside other creative writers in a fun and supportive environment, telling your story through your very own writing style. You’ll have the opportunity to explore what it is that you want to write about as well as time to investigate how to find your own voice and the style that you want to write in. 

Our poetry courses immerse you in the works of famous poets and literary greats, exploring the techniques they use and their famous pieces of work. All this acts as the perfect inspiration for when you craft your own style. This learning style means you build the core foundations to progress further, becoming a better writer in the process. 

A creative writing class near you 

Whether you prefer online creative classes or learning face to face in a venue, we have something for everyone to choose from. Our learning experience is one of the things that sets us apart, with many of our learners going on to achieve incredible things.  

The support you’ll receive on your creative writing course 

You'll get support from your tutor whichever option you choose, as well as the opportunity to build a network of peers who have a passion for creative writing just like you.  

Please enter your postcode

In order for us to give you accurate results for your courses, please click on the Search options and enter your postcode and the mile radius for your search.

Refine search

How you'll learn

Your location

Please enter your postcode or town for your search in the boxes below.

We have defaulted the search to ten miles, but you can change this number in the box as you wish.

Sort by start date

Choose to sort the course start date in ascending order (furthest away dates first) or descending (most recent dates first)

Results per page

Days

Other Filters

Part of day
Level of study
Availability
Search for the branch name/location, without adding branch e.g. Barnet

Creative Writing: Creative Writing for Wellbeing: Shorts

Enrol for the focus, fun and fulfilling opportunity to increase your well-being by digital interaction with others, reading varied, inspiring examples and then making your own texts for poems, stories, memoir essays and plays for stage and/or screen that are short ones, as opposed to full-length, and to develop creative writing and thinking through a range of wise, thoughtful feedback comments from others in weekly online seminars and on the WEA’s digital platform, including tutor feedback from a prize-winning, published author and literary critic, who is a practising creative writer! This course is FREE for state benefit-claimers. Please see details.

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 19/03/2025 -
Wed 04/06/2025
Times:
10:00am - 12:15pm
Duration:
10 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Sarah Wardle
Course code:
Q00021427
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £74.00

Creative Writing: Plot Your Novel

You've got your story flowing and building on paper but you're at the stage where you need it to cohere, to hit the key story beats. Yes? Then this is the course for you! You will be introduced to the beats and turning points that a long-form story should. With plotting these points, you’ll keep the reader engaged and they’ll help you write with ease and flow. This course has digestible teaching content, takes you step-by-step through the structural beats of a story. Take this step to put the excitement back into organising your story.

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 19/03/2025 -
Wed 16/04/2025
Times:
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Nicola Torode
Course code:
Q00021560
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £37.00

Creative Writing: Start Your Story

Start Your Story is the course to encourage you to tell the stories you've been meaning to write. With stimulating writing prompts, by reading inspiring stories from fiction and creative non fiction, you'll have time to write and share and get feedback from peers and the tutor.  Each week we’ll learn an element of craft from well-rounded characters, conflict and tension and setting which we can apply to our own writing. We are all writers, given a supportive group and tips for shaping and sharing our stories.

Course Information

Dates:
Thu 20/03/2025 -
Thu 01/05/2025
Times:
10:00am - 12:00pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Location:
The Good Story
45 St Leonards Road
Bexhill
TN40 1JA
Tutor:
Nicola Torode
Course code:
Q00021422
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £50.40

Creative Writing: Creating and Developing Characters

Bring your characters to life with our Creative Writing: Creating and Developing Characters course. Learn techniques for creating complex, believable characters that drive your stories. Ideal for writers looking to enhance their character development skills.

Course Information

Dates:
Thu 03/04/2025 -
Thu 12/06/2025
Times:
1:00pm - 3:00pm
Duration:
11 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Patrick O'Reilly
Course code:
Q00017316
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £92.40

WEA Membership

WEA membership is changing: more information is coming soon!

Membership Information

Duration:
12 months
Fee:
£15

Creative Writing: Write, Polish, Submit!

Need guidance and inspiration to make your story zing? Feel overwhelmed with editing? Join this course for tips and examples of how to edit your work: from the macro of the bigger picture questions to make the story consistent and coherent to the micro of syntax and building tension. This is not a proofreading course. It’s about weeding out info dumping, bringing alive the scene through showing rather than tell. It's about weeding out redundant words, cliches, fixing time hops and transitions and ensure there's enough forward momentum. We write in-class, share, get feedback and re-write. Samples of work with before and after edits will help us know what to focus on. To keep yourself accountable you will be encouraged to research relevant calls for submissions and commit to submitting. Also guidance on the submission process will be shared.

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 09/04/2025 -
Wed 07/05/2025
Times:
10:00am - 12:00pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Nicola Torode
Course code:
Q00021561
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £37.00

Creative Writing: Inspired by the 7 Different Plots

Are there really only 7 different plots? A fun, friendly and structured approach to gain fiction writing knowledge and written word skills and, importantly, aid you in finding inspiration, putting pen paper and getting writing. Mystery, thriller, noir, hardboiled crime, a touch of the ghostly and gothic or something far more salacious – find inspiration as we consider the kind of words, characters and styles which suit a tale exploring one or more of the seven different plots, will it be Rags to Riches or Voyage and Return – which might yield your future best seller or lead you down the wrong path to the bargain bin?

Course Information

Dates:
Tue 22/04/2025 -
Tue 20/05/2025
Times:
7:00pm - 9:00pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
George Cromack
Course code:
Q00020288
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £37.00

Every Photo Tells a Story: Creative writing from photos

Feel the power of the photograph. Ease into writing a story. The photo mesmerises, it unlocks your imagination, transports you to other worlds, to memories forgotten until now. This creative writing course aims to boost your imagination, help you to generate vivid ideas that will have you drift from image to pen. You'll be introduced to a range of photos - portrait, street, nature, city and more - to activate and tease out a story. In class you'll stories and share with others to further spark your imagination and feel inspired. The tutor offers verbal feedback and also written feedback on one submitted piece over the course. Short published stories will also be shared to flex your storytelling muscle!

Course Information

Dates:
Tue 22/04/2025 -
Tue 13/05/2025
Times:
2:00pm - 4:30pm
Duration:
4 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Nicola Torode
Course code:
Q00021169
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £37.00

Personal Development: Creative writing

Unlock your inner writer! This 4-week Introduction to Creative Writing course will ignite your imagination and guide you in expressing yourself through the power of words. We'll delve into various writing styles, helping you observe the world around you with fresh eyes and translate those experiences onto the page. Whether you're a complete beginner or have dabbled in writing, this course is designed to unleash your creativity and deepen your enjoyment of the written word.

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 23/04/2025 -
Wed 21/05/2025
Times:
10:00am - 12:00pm
Duration:
10 sessions
Location:
KCU Ltd at Fuller Church (Kettering)
51 Gold Street
Kettering
NN16 8JB
Tutor:
Caroline Smy
Course code:
Q00016754
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £33.60

Creative Writing for Wellbeing

Discover the therapeutic benefits of writing with our Creative Writing: Creative Writing for Wellbeing course. Learn how to use writing as a tool for self-expression, healing, and personal growth. Ideal for individuals looking to improve their mental and emotional well-being through creative expression.

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 23/04/2025 -
Wed 21/05/2025
Times:
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Location:
Shekinah Endeavour House (Torquay)
Endeavour House, 228 Union Str
Torquay
TQ2 5QS
Tutor:
Ione Harris
Course code:
Q00017097
How you'll learn:
In venue
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £42.00

Creative Writing: Writing Food

This 10-hour course will stimulate your imagination and palette for writing food stories from fiction, life writing and reportage. You will read published stories to provide inspiration and story craft techniques to embellish your own writing. You will share your writing in pairs to give confidence and courage to write more.

Course Information

Dates:
Wed 23/04/2025 -
Wed 14/05/2025
Times:
2:00pm - 4:00pm
Duration:
5 sessions
Location:
Online
Tutor:
Nicola Torode
Course code:
Q00019290
How you'll learn:
Online
Availability:
10+ places remaining
Status:
Available
Fee range
Free to £59.20