198 Best Fiction Writing Classes in 2026

Monthly morning group at Withington Library, last Friday of the month at 10.30am, GBP 1 a session. Each meeting takes a theme - the group's example is 'write about what you know' - discusses it, then members read out work they have brought. Members are working on short stories, poetry and novels, and the group says it welcomes life writing, children's writing and articles too. Two things to know before booking: it runs through U3A, so you need to be a member, and U3A is aimed at people no longer in full-time work.

Free weekly workshop in Room 3.09 above the Manchester Poetry Library, Wednesdays 6.30pm to 8.30pm, run by Cultureword, which has been developing Black and Asian writers in Manchester and the north for over three decades. Open to Global Majority writers - African, Caribbean, South, Southeast and East Asian, Middle Eastern diaspora and Indigenous communities. These are proper critique sessions rather than drop-in writing time: you bring your own poem, story, novel extract or memoir, and there is a stated expectation that you both give and receive constructive feedback and return with revised work. Spoken word poetry and short fiction are the group's strongest suits. Join by emailing admin@cultureword.org.uk.

Free two-hour session at the Howson Branch library on Exposition Boulevard, 1pm to 3pm, led by author and writing coach Rosa Latimer. It runs monthly on a Monday afternoon and is open to adults at any level with no booking required. Be aware of the format before you go: this is a facilitated writing group rather than a taught course with a fixed syllabus - the group decides the direction of each session together, so you are expected to contribute rather than sit and take notes.

One-day in-person workshop on Saturday 7 November, 10am to 4pm, with Tim Ferguson. Runs at Writing NSW's home in Callan Park, Balmain Rd, Lilyfield. $225 AUD non-members, $170 AUD members, $145 AUD concession. This is comedy as writing craft, not performance: weaving humour into fiction and drama, comic characterisation, plot, and the mechanics of why a joke works on the page. Bring pen and paper or a charged device - there is writing throughout the day.

One-day in-person workshop on Saturday 31 October, 10am to 4pm, with Hayley Scrivenor, author of the bestselling crime novel Dirt Town. Runs at Writing NSW's home in Callan Park, Balmain Rd, Lilyfield. $225 AUD non-members, $170 AUD members, $145 AUD concession. A full day on the two decisions that shape everything else in a draft - who tells the story and how they sound - worked through practically rather than discussed in the abstract.

One-day in-person workshop on Saturday 24 October, 10am to 4pm, with Graeme Simsion, author of The Rosie Project and its sequels. Runs at Writing NSW's home in Callan Park, Balmain Rd, Lilyfield. $225 AUD non-members, $170 AUD members, $145 AUD concession. Simsion teaches novel writing as a structured, repeatable process drawn from creativity and design theory rather than as inspiration - story structure and project management for a book-length work. Note it runs the same day as the poetry workshop, so you cannot take both.

One-day in-person character workshop on Saturday 17 October, 10am to 4pm, led by Maame Blue, award-winning author of the novels Bad Love and Kissing the Coconut. Runs at Writing NSW's home in Callan Park, Balmain Rd, Lilyfield. $225 AUD non-members, $170 AUD members, $145 AUD concession. It is aimed specifically at difficult characters and difficult relationships - people who are hard to like and harder to write - rather than at character construction in general.

One-day in-person workshop on Saturday 10 October, 10am to 4pm, with Kavita Bedford, author of Friends & Dark Shapes. Runs at Writing NSW's home in Callan Park, Balmain Rd, Lilyfield. $225 AUD non-members, $170 AUD members, $145 AUD concession. The subject is the seam between memoir and fiction - how to draw on real people and real events while still writing a novel or story rather than a record. Useful if you have autobiographical material you have not worked out how to fictionalise.

Eight-week evening workshop at the QWF office on Atwater Avenue in Westmount, Montreal, Tuesdays 8-10pm from 6 October, led by Eva Crocker, author of the novels Back in the Land of the Living and All I Ask and the prize-winning collection Barrelling Forward. One element of craft per week - setting, character, dialogue, description, voice, theme, point of view, structure. You submit one full story of 2,500-3,000 words for group critique and must have it ready before the first session. Capped at 12; registrations default to in-person seats, with two virtual places available only on request. This autumn's intake is full and QWF is running a waitlist - fees are shown once places reopen.

Thirty-hour evening course on Dawson College's downtown Montreal campus, Tuesdays 6-9pm from 6 October to 8 December. Fee $250 CAD plus tax - by some distance the cheapest structured creative writing course in the city. No prerequisite, class capped at 20, and the teacher is listed as TBA. It moves across short fiction and poetry with peer critique as the core method: every participant must submit at least one story or two to three poems for the group to workshop. Registration closes 1 October.

Single-day workshop at the QWF office in Westmount, Montreal, Saturday 17 October, 10.30am to 4.30pm, with Stephanie Merulla. Fee $120 CAD for non-members, $105 CAD for QWF members, $60 CAD students. Capped at 12 participants and in-person by default - the two virtual seats have to be requested and confirmed before you register. A one-day entry point if you want to try immersive storytelling without committing to an eight-week term.

Eight-week evening workshop at the QWF office on Atwater Avenue in Westmount, Montreal, Thursdays 8-10pm from 8 October, led by Jill Murray, a games writer with more than 25 credits including Shadow of the Tomb Raider and Subnautica: Below Zero. Fee $240 CAD for non-members, $200 CAD for QWF members, $120 CAD students. Capped at 12 and registrations default to in-person seats; two virtual places exist but must be requested from QWF and approved before you book. Covers interactive narrative for games, immersive theatre, installations and exhibits.