Writing YA Fiction: From idea to first draft

Mon 21 July 2025 - Fri 25 July 2025
Tutors / Danielle Jawando & Emma Smith-Barton
Guest Reader / Simon James Green (Digital)
Course Fee / From £650 - £750 per person
Genres / FictionWriting for Children and Young Adults
Language / English

From idea to first draft, this course is designed to help you with the entire process of writing compelling and original young adult fiction. It will offer you the building blocks to shape those initial ideas into compelling stories that your young readers won’t be able to put down. Supported by two experienced tutors and award-winning authors, Danielle Jawando and Emma Smith-Barton, workshops will explore character, voice, setting, dialogue, plot and how to tackle hard-hitting and sensitive subjects. You will also be guided through the process of pitching and sending your novel out to agents, along with tips on how to build a career in publishing. One-to-one tutorials with each tutor will also be offered during the week, during which you’ll receive feedback and advice on honing your craft and the direction of your work and career. Ideal for writers at all stages, you’ll leave feeling inspired, motivated and with a much deeper understanding of how to write meaningful and memorable fiction for young adults.  

Tutors

Danielle Jawando

Danielle Jawando is an author and screenwriter. Her debut YA novel, And the Stars Were Burning Brightly (Simon & Schuster, 2020), won best senior novel in the Great Reads Award, and was shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize, the YA Book Prize, the Jhalak Children’s & YA Prize, the Branford Boase Award and was long-listed for the CILIP Carnegie Medal. Her previous publications include the non-fiction children’s book Maya Angelou (Little Guides to Great Lives) (Hachette Children's Group, 2019) as well as several short plays performed in Manchester and London. Danielle has also worked on Coronation Street as a storyline writer. Her second novel, When Our Worlds Collided (Simon & Schuster, 2022) won the 2023 Jhalak Children’s and YA Prize, the YA Book Prize and the 2023 Diverse Book Awards. Her third YA novel, If My Words Had Wings (Simon & Schuster) was published in May 2024.

Emma Smith-Barton

Emma Smith-Barton is an author, teacher and creative facilitator from south Wales. Her debut YA novel, The Million Pieces of Neena Gill (2019) was published by Penguin Random House and shortlisted for the Waterstones Children’s Book Award, the Branford Boase Award and the Romantic Novelist’s Association Debut Romantic Novel Award 2020. She has a BA in English and Creative Writing from the University of Warwick and a Creative Writing MA from Bath Spa University. She was a judge for the Wales Book of the Year Award 2023 and one of ten writers selected for the Hay Festival Writers at Work programme 2023. Her most recent and forthcoming publications include a poem in the anthology And I Hear Dragons (Firefly Press, 2024) and a short story to be broadcast on BBC Radio 4.

Guest Reader

Simon James Green (Digital)

Simon James Green is an award-winning author of books for children and young adults. He has been shortlisted for the YA Book Prize, the Diverse Book Awards, the Lollies, and been three-times nominated for the Carnegie medal. His YA novels include Noah Can’t Even (Scholastic, 2017) Alex in Wonderland (Scholastic, 2019) Heartbreak Boys; You’re the One That I Want (Scholastic, 2020), Gay Club! (Scholastic, 2022) and the YOTO Carnegie-longlisted Boy Like Me (Scholastic, 2023). His first middle-grade novel, Life of Riley: Beginner’s Luck (Scholastic, 2020) was shortlisted for the Blue Peter Book Award and Sleepover Takeover won the InspiRead Book Award 2023. Finn Jones Was Here (Scholastic, 2023) was selected as Book of the Month by the Booksellers Association and was Shadowers’ Choice at the UKLA Book Awards. Simon has also written two picture books, illustrated by Garry Parsons: Llama Glamarama (Scholastic, 2020) and Fabulous Frankie (Scholastic, 2021). www.simonjamesgreen.com

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