Writing Historical Fiction: Next Steps

18-week online writing course begins Monday 19 September 2022

Join Lucy Hughes-Hallett, award-winning cultural historian and novelist, for an 18-week in-depth online creative writing course. This intermediate course builds on the expertise acquired at an introductory level and will lead you through the elements of writing a historical fiction novel. In this course you will read deeply from a wide variety of historical fiction texts, you will take place in a series of live zoom sessions and a 1-2-1 tutorial, and you will broaden the possibilities of your historical fiction writing. By the end of the course, you will have up to 9,000 words of a historical fiction novel.

Classes are capped at 15 places to ensure a high-quality experience.

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What the course covers

Module 1 – Structure and Beginning
In this first module of the course, you’ll be introduced to foundations of writing historical fiction. You’ll start off by looking at planning your historical fiction novel, before moving on to looking at popular ways of structuring historical fiction – including linked stories, flash-backs, and dual narratives. For all your assignments in this course, you can either submit based on a prompt given to you by your tutor, or you can submit a portion of your existing work in progress.

Module 2 – Fact and Fiction
Historical fiction blends the line between reality and imagination. Some historical stories will stick very closely to real events, whereas others stray off into imagined realities. In this module, you’ll look at incorporating historical figures into your fiction and you’ll explore counterfactual historical fiction. This module will also look at research and how to use it, with a look at both written and visual sources.

Module 3 – Politics
This module will look at one of the most popular subjects in historical fiction – Politics. You’ll read examples of historical fiction which focus on revolution, the decline and fall of empires, and slavery. You’ll also play with tone, and see how using different tone and voice can provide different perspectives on historical events.

Module 4 – Once Upon a Time
In this module, you’ll go far back in time to explore stories inspired by fairytale and folklore. You’ll discover the line between historical fiction and fantasy writing and you’ll read stories about knights in an age of chivalry. You’ll also discuss the ethics of writing about a place far from you, with particular reference to the issue of western authors writing about non-western cultures in their historical fiction.

Module 5 – Herstory: Historical Fiction Written By, For, and About Women
Many works of popular historical fiction centre their traditionally male led story through a female lens – whether by flipping the gender of the main protagonist or writing the history through the eyes of the women who have been forgotten by historians. This module will also look at queer history, the use of royality in historical fiction, and examples of fiction which write about the recent past.

Module 6 – Endings
This module loops back to the opening module, as you’ll return to discussion of structure in historical fiction. Knowing how to wind up your story is hard, so this module will look closely at the endings of six great historical novels. You’ll analyse these in detail for inspiration for the ending of your own work of historical fiction.

By the end of the course you will have

• Mastered the foundations of historical fiction
• Decided where you want to draw the line between truth and fiction
• Explored some of the most popular topics in historical fiction
• Discussed the ethics of historical fiction
• Written up to 9,000 words of a historical fiction novel.

Applying to the course

This is an intermediate-level course. To apply, we ask that you submit:

• A 500-word sample of your work
• A one-paragraph introduction to yourself.

Email learning@nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk to apply.

• Please format your email’s subject line: ‘[your name] application for Historical Fiction’.
• Application deadline Midday GMT Wednesday 7th September.
• Applications are assessed and places are allocated on a first-come-first-served basis.

Committing to an 18-week course is a big decision for any writer. If you have any questions at all please do get in touch at learning@nationalcentreforwriting.org.uk.

About your tutor

Lucy Hughes-Hallett is the author of the historical novel Peculiar Ground – described by the Guardian’s reviewer as ‘almost Tolstoyan in its sly wit and descriptive brilliance’. It was shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize and longlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize.

She is also known for her historical non-fiction. The Pike, her book about Gabriele D’Annunzio, won the Samuel Johnson Prize, the Duff Cooper Prize and the Costa Biography Award. The Sunday Times has called it ‘the biography of the decade’. Her other non-fiction books are the acclaimed cultural histories Heroes and Cleopatra. 

She is currently working on a book about the 17th century Duke of Buckingham, the favourite, chief minister and lover of King James. Website

How it works

All you need is a computer and an internet connection. You can find out more about the requirements here.

The course will run for 18 weeks and there will be 12 modules. Each module will consider an aspect of poetry and participants will work through some writing exercises. At the end of each module, the tutor will set an assignment.  You will receive written feedback from your tutor for all 12 modules with hints and tips on how to strengthen your poem.

There are two scheduled Zoom sessions, dates are to be announced.

Designed by the University of East Anglia and the National Centre for Writing.