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Random House Struik Creative Writing | Short course


Registrations close: 2 March 2012
Course begins: 12 March 2012
Course fee:
R7,300 (excl. VAT)


 7 hours per week

 Convened by Mike Nicol

 Read about this course in the media

 More about affordable payment options


Download an information pack


Register for this course

The course in a nutshell:

  • Teaches you the techniques of good story writing for fiction and non-fiction
  • Highly practical, with five written pieces completed during the course 
  • 10-week part-time course presented online throughout South Africa
  • Continuous guidance, monitoring and assistance provided by the Course Convener and Course Coordinator
  • Form part of a creative online writing community
  • Top manuscripts will be submitted to Random House Struik for consideration

About Random House Struik:

Random House Struik is the largest general trade publisher in southern Africa, following the recent merger of Random House and Struik Publishers. The Random House Group is one of the world's largest book publishing companies and operates in the UK, Australia, Europe, India, New Zealand, USA, Canada, South America and has now joined forces with Struik Publishing in South Africa.

Why should you take this creative writing course? Ron Irwin explains:


Course modules:

Module 1    Planning the story
Module 2    The importance of beginnings
Module 3    Characters and characterisation
Module 4    Plot vs. story
Module 5    Dialogue
Module 6    Point of view
Module 7    Conflict
Module 8    Revision
Module 9    Tying it all up
Module 10  Approaching publishers and agents with your finished work

Who should attend this course?

This creative writing course is designed for anyone who wants to bring more flair, drama and passion to their writing. It is ideal for anyone who has dreamed of writing a novel or a short story, for accomplished writers of fiction who want to brush up on their skills and for non-fiction writers who want to use dramatic storytelling techniques to make their work come alive. Professional editors can also benefit from this course by learning the basic techniques of the creative craft of writing.

For more details, please contact:

Contact person: Amy-Jane
Telephone: +27 (0)21 447 7565
Email: amyjane@getsmarter.co.za

Download an information pack Register for this course



Meet our past students

  • Leon du Plessis
    Leon du Plessis

    The course helped me believe that I can write a novel and see it published by a mainstream publisher.

  • Lindsey Sanderson
    Lindsey Sanderson

    Far and away the best writing course I have come across or heard about. I have been stuck in a very bad place as far as creative writing is concerned for the last five or so years. Suddenly I have come alive again. I am writing again.

  • Jenny Tinmouth
    Jenny Tinmouth

    I am thoroughly enjoying the course. It is an inspirational journey. The pace is perfect for someone like myself who does not have enough hours in the day. It is exceeding my expectations.

More testimonials ยป

Meet Mike Nicol

Meet Mike Nicol

Mike Nicol is the Course Convener for the Random House Struik Creative Writing course.

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