Writing Fiction

Master the art of writing great fiction.

The Author Academy fiction course is a live, six-week programme for writers who have an idea, outline, or first draft, and need clear, practical guidance to shape it for manuscript review.

This course accepts 15 students per cohort.

What you’ll get:

Six sessions with tutor Gale Winskill. Read below
Two roundtable sessions with HarperCollins authors
Access to 13 Masterclasses featuring HarperCollins colleagues in key business functions and industry professionals. Click here for a Masterclass overview.
Two one-hour sessions with a HarperCollins mentor (on completion of course)

You’ll learn how to:

Build strong structure and plot
Develop theme, voice, and characterisation
Tighten pace and avoid the most common fiction mistakes.

Each week combines live teaching with resource packs and straightforward exercises you can apply in your own time. In the final two weeks, you’ll join round-table sessions with HarperCollins authors, asking questions and hearing directly about their writing and publishing journeys.

Your tutor:

Gale Winskill

Fiction Tutor

Gale Winskill, from Winskill Editorial, is a freelance editor, proofreader, book coach and occasional ghostwriter. She has over 30 years of experience, both freelance and in-house, in the UK and abroad, and works with traditionally published and self-published authors.

Her writers include individuals who have won or been shortlisted for various literary prizes. She enjoys helping authors to connect with their readers through constructive advice, collaboration and a good sense of humour.

An Advanced Professional Member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading (CIEP), Gale has also created, revised and delivered training courses for the CIEP and other publishing bodies.

Fiction course structure

Week 1: Story Engineering and the Big Picture: Genre, Theme, Plotting and Structure (2 hours)

Plot Structure: dynamic plotting; turn a story into a novel.
Scene Structure: How to structure your story and develop it scene by scene.
Theme: What’s it all about?

Week 2: What keeps Readers reading: Characters, Setting, Pacing, and Viewpoint (2 hours)

Characters: Credibility and the art of creating three-dimensional characters.
Setting: The elements of setting.
Pacing: Narration and action.

Week 3: Now let’s get it right: Dialogue, Show and Tell, Description, Exposition, and Style (2 hours)

Dialogue: Learn to write good dialogue.
Show and Tell: What’s the difference and which should you use?
Description and Exposition: Showing what’s happening, summarizing aspects of the story, and striking the right balance.
Style: How to develop a good writing style.

Week 4: Putting it all together for Publication: Book Proposal, Synopsis, and Submission know-how (2 hours)

The Writing Mindset: Tips on putting it all together.
Synopsis: What to include.
The Book Proposal: What publishers need to see, and how to prepare a book for submission.

Week 5: Author Roundtables: 2 hours – Cohort 8 authors TBC.

A HarperCollins author talks Romance.
A HarperCollins author talks Crime, Thrillers, Mystery, and Suspense.

Week 6: Author Roundtables: 2 hours – Cohort 8 authors TBC.

A HarperCollins author talks Science Fiction and Fantasy.
A HarperCollins author talks Literary Fiction.

Applications Live

Applications for the Academy’s May 2026 cohort are now open until 6 February.

Apply

Books by Author Academy alumni

Flat 401 by Kingsley Pearson
I Am Not a Tourist by Daisy J. Hung
Northern Boy by Iqbal Hussain
The Tudor Trumpeter by Nadine Cowen
Remember, Remember by Elle Machray
Augmented by Kenechi Udogu
Dream Hunters by Nazima Pathan
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