Creative Non-Fiction Creative Non-Fiction Creative Non-Fiction

Creative Non-Fiction

From personal essays and long reads through to book-length work of popular and narrative non-fiction, this course will launch you into one of our time's most vital genres.

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Starting out

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Location

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London

Length

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12 weeks
  • Start Date
  • Time
  • Tuesdays, 19:00–21:00

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£1095

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£300 / month for 2 months and a £495.00 deposit

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Do you have a true story to tell?

From long-read reportage and canny criticism, to the beginnings of an essay collection or a non-fiction book, the readership for writing non-fiction is vast. Whether it’s history, politics, culture, travel, science or sport, the essentials are threefold: voice, narrative, and information.

In this new course, Rebecca Giggs will guide you through honing your perspective on the topic you wish to explore, the narrative arc of your journey through the subject, and how to link your work to scholarly research and larger themes.

You’ll learn invaluable skills essential for any non-fiction writer, including how to interview sources, how to frame technical expertise for a general audience, and how to pitch your project to agents and publishers. Through the course you will also work on your draft of nonfiction writing – essay or book-chapter length – in dialogue and workshop with your peers and tutor.

With an emphasis on identifying the uniqueness of your experiences and standpoint, Creative Non-Fiction will show you how to tune your voice on the page to empower you to tell the true story only you can tell.

Is this the right course for me?

Using a combination of writing exercises, group discussion, workshop and focused feedback sessions, Creative Non-Fiction will support you to develop skills and writing routines that will carry you from drafting short, standalone pieces of work, towards the early phase of creating a non-fiction book manuscript.

This course best suits writers who are just starting their journey in narrative non-fiction – you may be a writer of fiction, memoir or poetry who is looking to apply their skills to a factual, real world subject or you may be beginning your writing career and want to explore a topic which you’re moved to advocate for.

This course would also suit experts or academics who want to learn about writing for a non-scholarly audience.

Through this course, you will discover, and learn to tailor, your distinctive, personable style of narration to confidently bring your reader into the fascinating world of your subject. Events in your own life might be your jumping-off point, or you may want to tackle a subject you’re personally passionate about.

With an international reading list, and London-based guest tutor who is an expert in non-fiction, this 12-week course will connect you with your peers, the publishing industry and help you think about your work with your ideal readers in mind.

    The course consists of twelve two-hour evening sessions, which will take place on Tuesdays from 19:00 until 21:00 at The Bindery, Faber's offices, near Farringdon Station.

Course Programme

Session 1

Tuesday 16 September, 19:00–21:00

Introduction...

Session 2

23 September, 19:00–21:00

Establishing a Routine...

Session 3

30 September, 19:00–21:00

Your Voice...

See remaining sessions

Course Programme

Creative Non-Fiction

Session 1

Tuesday 16 September, 19:00–21:00

Introduction

This introductory session begins a conversation about narrative and voice in the telling of true stories, topics we will revisit several times across the weeks to come. Get to know your tutor and your peers, and start to outline the motivations behind your project.

Session 2

23 September, 19:00–21:00

Establishing a Routine

Note-taking, planning, documenting and organising your research. From the outset of the course we aim to help you set achievable writing goals and stick to them.

Our focus this week is journaling—or, better put, the pre-drafting phase. We talk about different approaches to journal-keeping and look at examples, including digital tools. A journal can serve many purposes: as a place to trial different voices or literary techniques; a space in which to skim off unhelpful self-criticism or reflect on your writing hopes and dreams.

Readings: Joan Didion, Lydia Davis, Tim Parks, Sondra Perl and Mimi Schwartz.

Session 3

30 September, 19:00–21:00

Your Voice

Non-fiction is an omnivorous kind of writing, ranging through high and low culture, borrowing from scholarly research techniques but giving equal regard to the stuff of the everyday: to anecdote, the body, emotions, our local environments.

We return to a subject we began exploring in the first session: Voice. Voice, in this case, as an act of creative orchestration and self-characterisation.

Readings: Carol Richards, Hester Kaplan and Leslie Jamison.

Session 4

7 October, 19:00–21:00

The Voices of Others

Unlike a novel, in factual literature we cannot enter into the minds of other people and grant the reader access to their unspoken thoughts and feelings. But we still need to bring real people to life on the page. This takes some doing. We’ll talk about using dialogue, gestures, context, and telling-detail to render real-life people as fascinating characters. And we’ll begin to consider, more broadly, how this topic fits into researching a piece of Creative Nonfiction.

Readings: John D'Agata, Robert Moor and Wells Tower.

Session 5

14 October, 19:00–21:00

Mastering Information

We turn to look at research more squarely in this class: what counts as research in nonfiction; how to make research come to you; when do you know you’ve done enough research to begin writing; how to integrate research seamlessly into passages of exposition, or in-scene (look out for the perilous ‘info-dump’!); plus, how thinking about your projected reader can help you narrow down your research tasks.

Then we’ll take a closer look at interview technique specifically, one of the main skills of the nonfiction writer. We’ll talk about how to set up an interview, how to note-take during the conversation, and what potential pitfalls to avoid: you’ll have the chance to practice in a paired in-class exercise.

Readings: Edmund de Waal and Noëlle Janaczewska.

Session 6

21 October, 19:00–21:00

Structure

In this session we make space to consider structural matters head on. How does content bear upon structure? Are there commonplace structures in nonfiction we might take advantage of? Might we make use of subheadings, specific objects, or repeating motifs to help guide our reader through our material? What of ‘momentum’ and pacing, spotlit moments of insight? In the second part of class, we focus in on opening (lede) paragraphs. What makes a good beginning? How do we entice our reader, and give them some sense of what is at stake in the story we want to tell?

Readings: Leslie Jamison, John McPhee.

Session 7

28 October, 19:00–21:00

Guest Speaker

In this session, you'll hear from a guest speaker from the world of creative non-fiction.

You will have the chance to ask questions after a short Q&A between the guest and your tutor.

Session 8

4 November, 19:00–21:00

Rewriting (and Workshop I)

We begin this session with a conversation about different approaches to rewriting, self-editing, and folding in the commentary of others. Ought you complete a full first draft before you take out the red pen and start making corrections? How do you gain a fresh perspective on a piece of writing? What to do with incongruent feedback? We look at editing for structure, pace, accuracy, and character.

Then, with guidance, we move into the first of our Peer Workshops.

Session 9

11 November, 19:00–21:00

A Focus on Language (and Workshop II)

In the first part of class we take a close look at language. What qualities make for good description? How do we balance the conceptual or abstract language of big ideas with sensory information and specific detail? In defining key terms how do we avoid getting lost in the weeds?

The second session in our Workshop series takes place in this week’s class. We will take the time to give feedback to several writers in the group.

Session 10

18 November, 19:00–21:00

Titles and Endlings (and Workshop III)

This week we reflect on how the title (and subtitle) of a work of narrative nonfiction functions to intrigue a reader and set up expectations. Then we turn to the question of what moves can be made in the final paragraph: should the ending resolve your inquiry, or can it point off in a new direction?

We close with our third Workshop session.

Session 11

25 November, 19:00–21:00

Conceptualising a Book-Length Project – and Looking to the Future

Today we consider the process of pitching longer nonfiction to a publisher. In doing so we’ll return to subjects that are familiar to us: establishing a personal connection to your material and outlining several ‘driving questions’ that will sustain a piece of writing across many chapters.

In preparing for this class you will read the opening chapters of a number of nonfiction books to see a demonstration of how different authors have tackled the challenges of (1) making the book subject appear to be distinctly their subject; and (2) setting up interesting questions to be pursued.

Readings: short excerpts of first chapters by Olivia Laing, Bruce Chatwin, Michael Pollan, Andrew Blum, and Michael Harris.

Session 12

2 December, 19:00–21:00

Wrap Up

A sharing session, we talk about how best to showcase your abilities, achievements and the potential readership linked to your profile as an author? Finally, we wrap up with where to from here?

Rebecca is just amazing, she changed my mindset about writing, made me feel more equipped, thoughtful and confident.

Student, 2025

Creative Non-Fiction

Rebecca is a really wonderful teacher. Super clever, helpful and enthusiastic. We really could not have asked for a better guide.

Student, 2025

Creative Non-Fiction

Rebecca was hugely generous sharing her knowledge of creative non-fiction, resources, tips and guidance.

Student, 2025

Creative Non-Fiction

Creative Non-Fiction was a portal in which my dormant literary world came to life. I was deeply challenged in a supportive environment, learning about technique and structure. The practical insight offered by our excellent tutor Rebecca Giggs was invaluable, particularly on some of the more nuanced aspects of the publishing world and the process of birthing a book.

Student, 2025

Creative Non-Fiction

It has been a joy to be part of this course. I'll really miss it.

Student, 2025

Creative Non-Fiction

Rebecca was brilliant as a teacher [...] and was able to make the group feel relaxed and at ease while also providing generous and helpful feedback.

Student

Rebecca is not only highly intelligent but she is very thoughtful and is also highly intuitive about what your work needs. She would just come up with these amazing but very specific ideas about how a work could be improved which I found extraordinary.

Student

I found Rebecca to be an incredibly generous instructor, from the material she presented to the way she shared her own experiences and insights with us.

Student

Can I give Rebecca 10 out of 5? She is just an exceptional teacher.

Tutor

Rebecca Giggs, Headshot

Rebecca Giggs

Rebecca Giggs is an author from Perth, Australia. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic...

More About This Tutor
Rebecca Giggs

Location

The Bindery

51 Hatton Garden

London EC1N 8HN

How to get here

Faber’s office, The Bindery, is well connected by public transport, with Farringdon Station just five minutes’ walk away, and stops for several bus routes in the area too. If you’re coming from outside of London, the office is a short bus or taxi journey from Kings Cross, Euston and St Pancras stations.

Browse the Reading Room

From author interviews and writing tips to creative writing exercises and reading lists, we've got everything you need to get started – and to keep going.

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Alumni Interview: Kingsley Pearson

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Poetry Prompt: Ekphrasis or Writing About Art

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