FAQs
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The Ink Academy Creative Writing Course is for anyone who wants to hone and develop their writing.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a novice writer, who has written little more than a few snippets and hidden them away, unwilling to show anyone – or a more experienced writer with a whole first draft that needs reworking. We take people on at all stages along the journey of writing a manuscript.

We teach all creative writing that is narrative-led, so anything that tells a story – whether it’s fiction, memoir, life-writing or other non-fiction.

We have worked with writers on literary fiction, psychological thrillers, ‘chick-lit’ (though we hate that term), memoir, auto-fiction, young adult, middle grade, children’s, and ‘serious’ non-fiction including history, science, politics, economics, philosophy, psychology, language and current affairs. Each course is tailored to you, and so no specific genre is necessary.

However, we are not able to teach poetry, screen-writing, copywriting or journalism, all of which have specific techniques and require specialist teaching.

The Creative Writing Course costs £2300 upfront and covers 9 hours of one-to-one meetings with your own professional editor-tutor, who will read, edit and discuss with you up to 43,000 words of your own writing, as well as your overall project (for full details see here).

Each course is different, tailored explicitly to you and what you want to write and achieve.

However, everyone can expect the same high standards of service and underlying course structure of 9 hour-long meetings – 1 introductory session and 8 tutorial sessions – arranged over 6 months (for full details see here).

In our introductory assessment we will discuss with you exactly what you want to get out of the course, what kind of book you envisage yourself ending up with, and what you find motivates or demotivates you.

Over the 6 months of the Course, you will have a personal tutor-editor giving you feedback on up to 43,000 words (3,000 for the introductory session and up to 5,000 per tutorial session), whilst also helping you hone your craft, your book and direction. Every session you have will be dedicated entirely to your work. We might find it beneficial to discuss a literary work that informs or complements yours, but we will look at them only in relation to your writing.

During the Course we will help you understand and take into account the reader and the publishing world, and we can dedicate a tutorial to helping you write a proposal letter for an agent.

By the end of the Course you will have developed your book and your writing significantly, and hopefully be on the way to a finished manuscript. See what our students say about how this works in our testimonials.

The Course has one purpose only: to help you write your best possible book.

The Creative Writing Course has one introductory session and eight tutorial sessions. All sessions are an hour long and one-to-one with your personal tutor. Tutorials are conducted by video call or, where possible and mutually convenient, in person.

In the introductory session you will discuss where you are in the writing process, where you want to be, what you want to achieve over the course and how it can be best structured to suit you, your book and your availability. You will also discuss up to 3,000 words of your writing.

In the tutorial sessions, you will discuss up to 5,000 words, which you will have sent up to two days in advance. The exact form that discussion takes will change from one tutorial to another, since different excerpts of writing will raise different questions. However, you can expect a combination of close attention to the prose and more over-arching advice on the atmosphere, narrative arc and effects. In addition, you will learn the craft of writing, as it relates to your book and writing needs.

If you are unable to provide any work for the tutorial for any reason, your tutor will prepare a class tailored to your needs based around an aspect of the craft of writing relevant to you.

At the end of the introductory session and each tutorial you will receive edits and a close report on the writing you submitted.

Over 6 months, your needs and requirements as a writer will change and your book will develop significantly.

The Course is long enough that you will write a lot and add real depth to your writing, with space for your needs and ideas to change and develop – and short enough to maintain momentum, focus, excitement and accountability.

We have found that holding tutorials face-to-face (via video call or in person) creates genuine rapport and collaboration. This encourages creativity and fosters openness and trust, which are essential when you’re sharing something as deeply personal and often private as your writing.

However, if for any reason you are uncomfortable with face-to-face sessions, we will be more than happy to discuss this and move tutorials to voice call.

When tutorials are conducted in person, you and your tutor will agree on a mutually convenient public location. We have a list of locations we recommend.

On enrolling onto the Course you will be introduced to your tutor. From then on, you will be able to arrange tutorial times and dates directly with your tutor.

In addition, you will always have another point of contact at Ink Academy who’s there help you with any queries or problems you have around scheduling, location or anything else to do with your Course, including anything you would like to discuss independently of your tutor.

Sessions are arranged to take place at a time convenient to you and depending on your tutor’s availability.

Tutorials will ideally take place within 1-4 weeks of one another, to ensure you have enough time to develop your writing before the next tutorial whilst at the same time keeping up momentum.

We’re afraid not. We find 5,000 words to be the maximum length of writing that can be helpfully examined and discussed in the course of a one-hour tutorial. (Of course, if you send in 5,142 words we’re not going to quibble.)

If no submission is received up to 48 hours before the scheduled session, the tutor will prepare a class tailored to your needs and requirements, as they see them. If you are having trouble writing altogether, your tutor will help you put in place a routine to conquer writer’s block.

If you’re not sure you want to commit to the full course, you can purchase the introductory session separately for £260. The one-off introductory session is an hour-long, one-to-one discussion with a personal tutor during which you will discuss your initial submission, as well as where you are in the writing process and where you want to be, if relevant. The tutor will advise you on how you can continue writing on your own.

This also makes a great gift for any budding writers in your life who need the impetus to get writing.

There is no obligation or expectation that a One-Off Consultation will lead you to sign up to a full course; the one-off introductory session is just that – one-off – and the tutor will discuss your submission and advise you on how you can continue writing on your own.

If you do decide to sign up to a full course following a One-Off Consultation, you are able to “upgrade” to the full course, whereby the One-Off Consultation would count as your introductory session. Your full course will therefore include 8 tutorial sessions and cover up to 40,000 words (up to 5,000 words per tutorial), and would cost £2040.

1. To apply for the Creative Writing Course, please use the order form located here, or order through the finance team by email at enquiries@inkacademy.co.uk. By paying for your course you are confirming that you have received enough information and are satisfied that the course is suitable for you (see here for full Course details).

2. You must submit 1,000 – 3,000 words of your own writing on ordering the course (see above). This can be any sample of your own writing – an excerpt of the piece you want to work on over the duration of the course, or unrelated – but must be your own work. This is so we are able to confirm that the Ink Academy course will be suited to your writing and requirements.

Please note: the Ink Academy Creative Writing Course is selective. We assess each submission carefully to ensure that we will be able to help you, as a writer.

3. If your order is accepted, we will send you confirmation and details for payment.

4. Your Course can begin as soon as payment of your course fee has cleared.

We require an initial submission of 1,000 – 3,000 words so that we can check that we are the right people to help you write your book. It can be any sample of your writing – either a random sample of the work you want help with or an initial stab at what you hope will be your book.

If you are signing up for a One-Off Consultation, the initial submission should be the writing you want to discuss during the session, in order to make the most of your time with your tutor.

We aim to get back to you within three working days of receiving your submission.

When you have been accepted onto the course, we will send you an invoice for the full amount.

We are currently unable to accept monthly instalments, except under exceptional circumstances.