WRITE A LONG STORY IN FIVE WEEKS with award-winning writer Helen Cross

NEW COURSE FOR AUTUMN 2025!

WRITE A LONG SHORT STORY IN FIVE WEEKS - with award-winning fiction and drama writer, Helen Cross

‘It was a tremendous course... great fun and I loved the selection of short stories and really enjoyed listening to other people's writing and get all those tips and recommendations.’ Participant on the May 2024 course.

‘I want to thank you for the course. It was an honor to be a part of your group of students. I wrote down a lot of interesting ideas that I’m sure can help me create more interesting stories in the future. And the short stories we read during the course showed me another angle of writing, at first it was quite overwhelming, but then I realized the beauty of stories, as you said, that show life. So I think I found a new muse thanks to your lessons.' Participant on the May 2024 course.

'I've really enjoyed the class and have come away with a lot of inspiration and some fantastic tips that I will definitely try to incorporate into my writing' Participant on the February 2024 course.

Join my online classroom and write your complete new long short story over five weekly sessions. These live, interactive online classes will introduce you to the craft and industry of story writing, and allow you to learn the skills necessary to write and publish your own longer short fiction.

Those who've attended fiction courses with me before, know I love long short stories. So, this is a new course which focuses on exactly this, the Long Short Story.

I've just written a five-parter for the BBC, which will be broadcast this September 2025 and it comes in at 10,000 words, and it's reignited my love of the long short. I'm thinking a story of between, about, five and ten thousand words.

Many of the stories I've published in over two decades of writing stories are over 6K words and many of my classic favourites are long too, from Brokeback Mountain to The Swimmer to Don't Look Now. These stories are tiny novels, that play with time and character in the way a novel does but with an awareness of the compression needed for a short fiction. Interestingly many make very good movie adaptations too - somtimes greater than a novel adaptation as there's less that must be left out. We'll discuss all this and more, plus much about creating characters, structuring plot-ines, handling time and finding places to publish , on this new course.

The course is taught by me, Helen Cross, an award-winning novelist `(including My Summer of Love which became a BAFTA Award winning film), short story writer, audio dramatist and fiction writer (www.helencross.net) and creator/writer of the current podcast chart hit, English Rose Series one and two (broadcast on BBC Radio in November/December 2024 and now available on BBC Sound and shortlisted for the Best Serial Drama in the 2025 Audio Drama Awards).

My short stories are broadcast on BBC Radio and widely published in magazines and anthologies, including in The Manchester Review, Popshot magazine , Digbeth Stories and 100 of the Sexist stories in Literature (Head of Zeus press) and recently Night Time Economy. My next story will be broadcast in five parts on BBC Radio 4 in September 2025.

Course Content:

Do you like reading long short stories? Would you like to begin writing your own longer works? If so, this writing course will help you find and craft meaningful and publishable long short stories in with a style and theme that is distinctly your own.

Do you already write short stories, but need to consider the craft more deeply, and push your creative ambitions more confidently, so you can publish your work more widely? Then this course is for you too.

Through a series of writing exercises and discussion you will explore how to find your authentic literary voice, create credible and compelling characters, write effective dialogue and shape story structure. Each week you will be given prompts to generate ideas, then development work to complete at home, after the class. We will discuss in detail the state of the market for longer short stories, and how and where to submit your stories for publication or broadcast.

Participants will be sent a reading list of classic and contemporary longer short stories before the course begins. We will closely examine the author's intentions and use these insights to shape your own work. We will also discuss editing and revising your work, adn there will be handouts to help with this.

By the end of the five weeks you will have a good draft of a logner short story and a plan for what to do with it next. The course has a wonderful list of alumni who have published stories following their time on this course.

'No previous experience of writing fiction or short stories is necessary.

Helen Cross Teaching Biography:

Alongside being a widely published novelist, story writer and scriptwriter I have taught creative writing around the world, including on the acclaimed MA and BA writing programmes at the University of East Anglia and currently in 2025 on the MA, Certificate and Diploma writing courses at Cambridge University. I have been Writer in Residence at the University of Birmingham, The University of Mumbai and won many scholarships, including to Cove Park in Scotland and The Banff Centre in Canada.

'It’s been a great little course, I’ve got a lot out of it' Participant on the February 2024 course

‘Thanks for an excellent course. One of the things I found most valuable was the actual tips on the craft of writing and from someone who is actively making a living writing. A lot of courses talk about setting, character and the mechanics but few look are your work and make practical suggestions for improvement. So thank you very much I really appreciated your time. ‘ Participant on the February 2024 course

‘I really enjoyed your input and exercises, and I greatly appreciated your enthusiasm and wealth of knowledge.’ Participant on the February 2024 course

'I found the course very inspirational. Due to the formate it also got me writing from the get -go, so by the time the course was finished I had completed my 1st draft.' Participant on a September 2023 course.

A really helpful, informative, efficient, fun and exciting course!' Participant on a February 2023 course.

Course Dates: Tuesdays 7-9pm. Starting on 2nd September, then 9, 16, 23 and 30th September.

Location: Live online teaching via Zoom

Cost: £195 for all five sessions. www.helencross.net

linktr.ee/helenxwriter

'I loved every minute of our course’ Participant on the February 2024 course

‘Thank you for running the sessions, I feel like it's reignited the writer in me.’ Participant on the February 2024 course

‘Straight, insightful, practical guidance.’ Participant on the February 2024 course

'A brilliant course!' Participant on the September 2022 course.

'It was terrific the way it was all broken down with homework and worksheets added.’ Participant on the February 2023 course

‘Excellent throughout.’ Participant on the February 2023 course

’I enjoyed hearing about Helen’s practical advice, and the week on structure was excellent.' Participant on the February 2022 course .

Press praise for BBC Podcast Drama English Rose:

‘Taut thriller from the impressive new drama strand Limelight...great fun.” The Daily Telegraph August 2022.

“Stranger fangs: this smart modern spin on vampire lore follows a secretive Yorkshire girl from her home in Whitby to NYC.” The Guardian July 2022

'An original modern take on vampire lore this throws up some smart surprises and the cast deliver great performances’ - The Yorkshire Post August 2022

‘Novelist Helen Cross proves a sure hand at creating both intrigue and suspense.’ The Radio Times July 2022.