Writing Crime Fiction
Start Date
Package
Writing Crime Fiction
Draw your readers into a web of intrigue that will keep them guessing till the final page.
Tutor
Vaseem KhanLength
6 weeksLocation
OnlineWriting Goal
Start writingSherlock. Marple. Poirot. Bosch. Reacher. Precious. Rebus. Crime fiction is now so popular that its leading protagonists are household names around the world.
Writing Crime Fiction taught me how to plant plausible red herrings and write fully fleshed-out suspects driven by their own desires and motives.
Author of One Puzzling Afternoon
The incredible range within the genre means that there is a niche for everyone. Whether you want to write a nail-biting detective series, cosy mysteries or carefully plotted police procedurals, we will teach you the fundamentals.
Bestselling author Vaseem Khan will guide you through the essentials of writing crime fiction. You’ll learn how to create memorable detectives, write suspenseful investigations, construct the perfect murder, and make good use of research in key areas such as forensics to make your story more real for the reader.
Vaseem will share everything he wishes he’d been told when he was writing his first novel, and along the way, he’ll help you apply the lessons to your own work.
Tutor
Vaseem Khan
Vaseem Khan is the author of two crime series set in India, the Baby Ganesh Agency series set in modern Mumbai, and the Malabar House historical crime novels set in 1950s Bombay. His first book, The Unexpected Inheritance of Inspector Chopra, was a Sunday Times bestseller, now translated into 15 languages. The second in the series won the Shamus Award in the US. In 2018, he was awarded the Eastern Eye Arts, Culture and Theatre Award for Literature. Vaseem was born in England, but spent a decade working in India. Midnight at Malabar House, the first in his historical crime series, won the CWA Historical Dagger 2021. The third novel in the Malabar House series – The Lost Man of Bombay – has been shortlisted for the CWA Gold Dagger. The fourth novel in the series, Death of a Lesser God, comes out Aug 2023. He is the Vice-president of the Crime Writers’ Association.
WHAT DOES THIS COURSE GIVE YOU?
- Video modules: Work through six modules comprising teaching videos from Vaseem. Topics range from the building blocks of crime fiction, to what makes a memorable lead character, to devices to mislead and mystify your reader.
- Writing tasks: Weekly tasks will help you explore and understand the teaching topics as you progress with your novel.
- Resources & notes: You’ll get access to comprehensive teaching notes and reference materials, including multiple case studies from Vaseem’s bestselling novels and other specially chosen books.
- Professional feedback: An expert CBC editor will give brief written feedback on several of the students' practical assignments every week, with all students receiving feedback on one of their writing tasks. Students are also given the option to purchase additional end-of-course feedback from our expert editors.
- Student forum: Find your writing community on our private student forums. Upload your completed writing tasks, give and receive peer-to-peer feedback, and discuss the week’s topics with your fellow students and the CBC team.
COURSE SCHEDULE & DELIVERY
Our online courses are designed for flexible learning. Allocate your own study time and take part from wherever you are in the world. Each week, we recommend spending at least four hours on the course. It’s also important to be planning and working on your novel throughout the six weeks.
WEEK 1
Building blocks of crime fictionWEEK 2
Heroes & villainsWEEK 3
Mysteries, puzzles & cluesWEEK 4
Plot & pacingWEEK 5
Bringing your setting to lifeWEEK 6
Investigative procedure
ADDITIONAL FEEDBACK
All students will be given the option to purchase feedback on their final task from a CBC editor.
- CBC report: For an additional fee of £155, you can obtain a detailed 500-word report on your work (of up to 3,000 words) from one of our CBC editors.
- CBC report + tutorial: For an additional fee of £260, you can obtain a 500-word report from one of our CBC editors and have a 30-minute video or telephone tutorial with them to discuss your work.
GIFT THIS COURSE
Encourage your writerly friend or loved one to get creative! We have £230 digital gift vouchers available, enabling you to buy any six-week online course as a present.
