Top 6 Professional Novel Writing Courses in India

It’s pointless to argue about whether the novel is the best way to tell a story. A novel is just one of several art forms that can be used to tell stories. Like the other forms (short stories, movies, plays), it exists to capitalize on a specific method of packaging a story. So if you are enthusiastic about writing a book, you can enroll in novel writing courses.

A novel is a long story written in literary prose. Narrative prose is intended to entertain while also telling a story. It is a narrative of a series of events that includes a cast of characters, a setting, and a conclusion. Depending on the genre, most publishers prefer novels between 80,000 and 120,000 words long.

Tips for Writing a Novel

Set Aside Suitable, Consistent Time to Write:

If you’re serious about doing this, create a regular writing schedule, adhere to it, and treat yourself and your writing respectfully. It’s incredible to write a book, but it can also be challenging at times. It will completely vanish if you don’t keep it going. It can be challenging to keep your novel in your head so that you can write quickly and efficiently. If you take a lot of time off between writing sessions and work erratically, you’ll make life very difficult for yourself and much more likely to give up.

Evaluate Your Ideas:

You should write down everything you know about the kind of book you want to write. Jot down brief, vague ideas and thoughts to see where they lead. Take notes on anything that interests you, whether a place, an era, or a subject. Ideas will start to take shape in these rambling notes. Moreover, any urgent queries you need to research should be written down.

Expecting Your Words to Come out Ideally the First Time is Unrealistic:

Many start writing the first draught with great enthusiasm, but after reading it over, they realize it’s not as good as they want it to be, so they delete it all. Try to be gentle with yourself. If your inner critic takes over, you’ll spend all of your time editing what you’ve already written and never get past the first page or two. It’s better to keep moving and avoid looking back for a while. Once the rest of your story is completed, you can organize your prose and improve how it reads.

Discover About Your Characters:

Consider your characters’ personalities, actions, and names in the story. Create character “mood boards” with images that relate to them, compile character fact files, put your main characters in challenging situations to see how they’ll react, and write some dialogue so you can hear how their voices are developing. And consider what drives them. Novel characters must be much more than chess pieces that can be moved around the board following your strategy.

Prepare Your Structure:

Take some time to consider the structural elements of your novel once you’ve made some progress with the story and are putting words on the page. How long will your tale last—a week, a year, or a lifetime? – And will you break it up into brief chapters or just a handful of lengthy sections corresponding to the years the action takes place?

Are the events of your story taking place in the present, or will your first-person narrator be looking back on them? Which perspective—first or third—will you use? You can start on solid ground by making important decisions about your story’s structure and method of presentation.

Set Some Goals for Yourself to Strive Toward:

Although not everyone enjoys deadlines and objectives, many of us do. You might decide that you should aim to write 1,000 words per day or 3,000 words per week. Maybe you’ll set some more flexible deadlines, like deciding that you need to finish your first draught in its entirety by the end of the year or that you need to be a third of the way through it by Easter.

There’s no point in setting yourself up for failure, so come up with some deadlines and goals that feel reasonable and doable to you. Be prepared to modify and rethink your plans as needed.

Switch Between Plotting and Writing:

While you’re still in your novel’s early stages, I recommend combining plot development and writing. Figuring out your plot will help you give your writing focus and purpose, but feeling your way into the writing itself will help you understand your story differently and more viscerally. Each method of working should aid you in the other.

Don’t Be Concerned About Wasted Time:

No one has a good writing day when they sit down to work. If you get stuck and the words just won’t come, step away from it and spend some time plotting and planning – or print out what you’ve written and do some reading and editing. Alternatively, read a good book to inspire yourself.

Top 6 Novel Writing Courses in India

#1 Novel Writing Courses – IIM Skills

IIM SKILLS is India’s leading online education technology institute offering the best professional courses to help you reshape your career and make the right decisions. It offers one of the best Content Writing Courses, including novel writing. The course lasts up to four weeks. It consists of 16 hours of lecture and 60 hours of practical assignments, and free tools valued at Rs. 35,000.

Anyone with a talent for writing who wants to showcase their abilities can enroll in this course. IIM Skills courses are highly valued by students who have graduated from the institute and are pursuing careers they enjoy. IIM Skills should be on your wishlist if you want help turning your writing into creativity that will create a new imaginative world for the reader.

You may also want to know about Non- Fiction Writing Course

IIM SKILLS CONTENT WRITING COURSE MODULES & CONTENT

#2 Novel Writing Courses -Udemy

Udemy is a for-profit provider of massive open online courses aimed at professionals and students. The platform had over 52 million students and 196,000 courses. More than 712 million people have registered for classes. Students enroll in courses primarily to improve their job-related skills.

Some courses count toward technical certification. It has made a huge effort to attract corporate trainers who want to create courses for their employees. So Udemy provides various novel writing courses, which include-

Write a Bestselling Novel in 15 Steps- 499 Rs:

Course Benefits:

• Six downloadable resources
• 3.5 hours of on-demand video
• Three articles
• Full lifetime access
• Access on mobile and TV
• Certificate of completion

Course Content:

• Introduction
• Opening images
• Setup
• Theme stated
• Catalyst 
• Debate
• Break into two, and so on.

Novel Writing Workshop- 499 Rs:

Course Benefits:

• 5 hours of on-demand video
• Full lifetime access
• 20 downloadable resources
• Certificate of completion
• Access on mobile and TV

Course Content:

• Planning your novel
• Characters
• Story structures
• Creating your manuscript
• Polishing your manuscript
• Selling your novel

#3 Novel Writing Courses – Coursera

Massive open online course provider Coursera was established in the United States in 2012. Coursera offers online courses, certifications, and degrees in various subjects in collaboration with universities and other organizations. About 150 universities were thought to provide more than 4,000 courses through Coursera in 2021. So Coursera provides one of the best novel writing courses in India, which includes-

Course Name – Write Your First Novel:

What You Will Discover:

You will discover how to write and finish a 50,000 words novel. By the end of the course, you will have a completed manuscript in your possession.

Course Benefits:

• Flexible deadlines
• 100% online
• Beginner Level
• Approx. 127 hours to complete
• Shareable Certificate

Course Content:

• Developing the plot of your novel
• Create character profiles and write Chapter One and Chapter Two of your chapter outline.
• Create Chapter 3
• Create Chapter 4
• Create Chapter 5 and so forth.

Also, have a look at the best Online Creative Writing Courses

#4 Novel Writing Courses – Writers.com

Writers.com is devoted to the art and craft of storytelling. And they want to assist others in their writing practice, whether their goal is clear communication, personal fulfillment, or heartbreaking works of staggering genius. Online classes allow you to select the best teachers – all published, working authors – and bring them to computers worldwide.

They have taught students working on cruise ships, volunteering for small non-profits, and even one high-altitude wintering-over.  As a result, they have created a thriving international community of writers, ranging from newcomers just getting started to seasoned pros looking to expand their work and opportunities.

Their online courses help you whether you have a novel idea that needs to be written, a work-in-progress that needs to be finished, or a completed manuscript that needs to be polished and refined. You’ll get weekly feedback from the instructor on your work, ongoing collaboration with other novelists, and a supportive course structure to help you set and meet your writing goals.

Moreover, you can learn from published novelists who have spent decades honing their craft and are committed to your success.

#5 Novel Writing Courses – The Writer Bureau

The Writers Bureau is a home study college that was founded in 1931. They specialize in providing distance learning education and training thousands of people worldwide. The college is also a member of The Institute of Training and Institutional Learning, with which it shares the National Association of Writers.

They provide quality assurance and a high success rate due to their extensive experience in the writing domain, resulting in a better outcome for each student.

Course Name:

Novel and Short Story Writing Course

Course Benefits:

• Professional writers teach a first-rate course on how to write novels and short stories.
• A flexible study program allows you to complete your course in two years.
• Caring, constructive assistance from expert tutors who are all published authors.
• Assignments requiring you to write material suitable for publication.
• Professional guidance on how to sell and self-publish your writing.
• You will have immediate online access to your course after enrolling.
• There are eight tutor-marked writing assignments.

Here are the best Short Story Writing Courses

#6 Novel Writing Courses – Writer’s Digest University

Writer’s Digest University is one of the most illustrious and established colleges. They have spent the last 90 years working in this field and have influenced many writers to become authors over the past years. To shape their successful careers, they have provided all levels of writers with the proper training.

The main advantage of attending this university is that the instructors give you all the knowledge and in-depth understanding of every genre. They can improve your writing voice with the help of their online workshop, classes, participation in writing competitions, regular evaluations, and other activities. 

Course Name:

Advanced Novel Writing

Course Eligibility:

• Writers who want to make significant strides toward publication.
• Novelists who have written more than 10,000 words and wish to receive feedback on up to 50,000 words during the workshop.
• Advanced students seek critical insights from a published author to aid in polishing their work.

What You’ll Learn:

• Get your work evaluated and get valuable feedback from your professor.
• Write 200 pages of your novel and revise it to get it ready for publication.
• Learn practical novel writing tips and how to apply them to improve your writing.

Writing Skills You Must Learn

There are specific writing abilities that all authors possess, regardless of whether they aim to write a great novel, submit articles to their preferred website, or advance in their careers. Fortunately, you don’t have to be a natural writer to write well. Writing for publication or becoming an author requires commitment, logic, time management, problem-solving abilities, and vision.

All these skills can be developed. You must have strong writing abilities to convey your vision to the reader. Good writing provides two benefits: a clear message and a connection with your audience. Understanding these techniques will help you become a better writer, whether you’re composing a work report, a grant application, or a personal blog post.

The Ability to Observe:

All writers, to some degree, have the power of observation. A writer is a psychologist, therapist, researcher, observer, and intuitive in equal measure. You must be able to understand what drives people. Why do they feel, think, and behave as they do? When creating, you must genuinely comprehend a character’s motivations for their actions.

Become a keen observer of the activity around you to develop this skill. Investigate people’s inner selves and emotional tendencies. Watch and listen. Sharpen your observation and research skills to document the world around you or even create a new one.

The Power of Communication:

The art of communication is writing. When speaking or writing, you must be able to convey your ideas, thoughts, and feelings. One of your objectives as an author should be to communicate with your audience in a way they can understand and relate to. Ask the right questions, communicate your ideas in your distinctive voice, and listen to and interact with others are all necessary for this.

Grammar, Spelling, and Punctuation Expertise:

While proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation may seem obvious, these writing skills are crucial for effective communication. Your readers will judge your writing by what they read, considering both the content and the presentation. Of course, there are always exceptions. For instance, you might want to use “grammatical liberties” when writing dialogue or creating a character with a distinctive speech pattern.

Problem-solving and Reasoning skills:

As a writer, you’ll need to come up with fresh concepts or inventive solutions to issues. To comprehend the virtues and defects of your characters, you must learn to evaluate your arguments and apply logic critically. You will also need to pick up new information quickly, combine data from various sources when necessary, and come to your conclusions.

Develop your capacity for problem-solving and problem identification to aid in this. Make sure you spot issues with your characters’ ideas, plots, research, and writing. Review your data, then create and implement solutions.

Fearlessness:

Be free to express yourself in your writing. Be prepared to face rejection. Be ready to start awful. It takes guts to write. To discover the truth, you must be able to delve deeply into your character’s mind. Be brave, be genuine and honest in your writing, and embrace the unknown without fear.

Prepared to begin writing? Finding and working with a competent writing coach or tutor is one of the best ways to develop these abilities. Reviewing your work with an experienced eye is a priceless learning opportunity. A good writing coach will assist you in developing your abilities by providing helpful criticism, feedback, and direction with each manuscript.

Frequently Asked Questions- FAQs

Q1. What is novel writing?

A novel is a long story written in literary prose. Narrative prose is intended to entertain while also telling a story. It is a narrative of a series of events that includes a cast of characters, a setting, and a conclusion. Depending on the genre, most publishers prefer novels between 80,000 and 120,000 words long.

Q2. What are the tips for writing a novel?

Several tips mentioned above can be implemented while writing a novel.

Q3. Which institute provides novel writing courses?

The learning platforms and institutions mentioned above, including IIM Skills, Udemy, Coursera, writers.com, etc., all offer novel writing courses.

Q4. What skills are needed to write a novel?

To be a writer, you need to have various skills, including the ability to observe, communication, problem-solving and reasoning skills, fearlessness, and so on.

Conclusion:

A novel is a long story written in literary prose. The goal of narrative prose is to entertain while also telling a story. So, to write a novel, you must have various skills. As a result, numerous platforms and institutes offer courses in this domain to help you improve your skills.