Lock in Your Big Idea! Free Online Course on Novel Writing Now Open for Registration 

The National Book Council (NBC) is teaming up with The Novelry – an acclaimed online creative writing school – to offer ‘The Big Idea’: a year-long prose fiction course to 13 writers from Malta. 

Applications are now open via Submittable, and will close on 22 June. Applicants will be accepted on a first come, first served basis. 

Made free of charge for the selected participants thanks to an investment from the NBC, the course – which will run from 5 October 2026 to 5 October 2027 – is designed to help authors develop and refine their story ideas before beginning the writing process. Sessions will be suspended for one week during the Christmas period, with exact course dates communicated to participants following registration. 

While the language of instruction will be English, the course is entirely suitable for authors who write in any language. The content will be structured around high-level concepts and principles of creative writing which remain fully transferable, irrespective of the authors’ preferred language when writing fiction. 

‘The Big Idea’ will focus on story development, structure, outlining, character development, and storytelling techniques intended to help writers build strong foundations for their novels.

The course includes:

· 30 structured lessons

· One coaching session

· One year of access to the learning platform

· Guidance from published and award-winning authors and editors

Most sessions are recorded and available for participants to revisit at any time.  

Registration to the course also unlocks access to The Novelry’s extensive live and recorded events programme, which includes approximately 60 optional sessions per month designed to support writers at different stages of their writing journey.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to carefully review here the course outline, lesson structure, and programme expectations prior to registering, along with the full Terms and Conditions to be found here. Participants should be aware that withdrawal from the course after 30 August 2026 will incur a reimbursement fee of €409.85. 

The Novelry is the fiction writing school with an in-house team of 15 experienced editors who have all worked for the Big Five publishing houses, together with 30 writing coaches who are best-selling and award-winning novelists. It offers writing and editing courses created by Booker Prize-listed novelist Louise Dean and a supportive writing community. Graduates of The Novelry have published New York Times and Sunday Times bestsellers, as well as novels chosen for Reese’s Book Club and Read With Jenna.

The Big Idea will be open to 13 participants from Malta, with applications via Submittable closing on 22 June. Selection of participants will be done on a first come, first served basis. Full course details may be found here. Terms and Conditions may be found here. For any additional queries, prospective participants are kindly ask to contact Ivania Attard at ivania.attard@gov.mt