Writing Historical Fiction

This five-week course offers writers the chance to develop the skills needed to write a historical novel. Participants will learn about the key elements of writing historical fiction including how to research your story, build the world of the novel and develop historical plots and characters. The course will provide practical skills that will help you bring the past to life. Weekly writing tasks will support you to begin work on your novel and plan for how you will complete it. There will be opportunities for discussion and for giving and receiving feedback from other participants.

During the course you will:

About the tutor

Hilary McCollum is a writer and researcher. Her novel, Golddigger, won the 2016 Golden Crown Literary Society Prize for historical fiction. Her AHRC-funded PhD in creative writing at Queen’s University Belfast focused on writing historical fiction. She was the Seamus Heaney Centre’s publishing fellow in 2022 and worked for the Society of Authors in 2023-24. She has taught creative writing for the Irish Writers Centre and Seamus Heaney Centre.