TUTOR: Helen Moorhouse is the author of five novels ‘The Dead Summer, ‘The Dark Water’, ‘Sing Me To Sleep’, ‘Ever This Day’ and ‘The Gallery of Stolen Souls’ published by Poolbeg Press. She has tutored Begin Your Novel, Finish Your Novel, Writing Horror Fiction and Writing Crime Fiction with Creative Writing Ink since 2024. A lover of stories, particularly the paranormal, her writing was featured in two anthologies – ‘All I Want For Christmas’ (2012) and ‘If I Was A Child Again’ (2013), and her short story ‘The Night Nurse’ was commissioned as the 2018 RTE Radio 1 Book Show Christmas ghost story. A DIT journalism graduate, she has extensive copywriting experience across many areas – commercial radio advertising and branding, corporate video, speechwriting and speech consultancy, long and short form articles and more. Helen was an op-ed contributor to the Irish Independent 2012-2014, and has published articles and stories across many Irish newspapers and magazines.
Start Date: 15th September, 2026
Duration: 6 Weeks
Fee: €190
3 places remaining
Write Through The Middle
Your novel is underway – now it’s time to keep it moving. Our six-week online Write Through The Middle course explores the challenges of developing a novel beyond its opening, with practical exercises to help you deepen characters, strengthen scenes, build momentum, create practical writing habits and guide your story towards its conclusion.
Expert Instructors with Global Reach
Fear not, for our Creative Writing Ink courses are open to students worldwide, no matter where you’re located. Learn from the best, regardless of where you are. Each week, you’ll submit written assignments for evaluation by your dedicated online tutor, receiving personalised feedback to help you maintain focus and track your progress during the course.
Lifelong Access to Course Materials
Even after the course concludes, you’ll maintain lifelong access to the course materials, allowing you to revisit the lessons at your convenience or refresh your knowledge on specific topics.
Limited Availability: Enrol Now
With high demand for our courses, we recommend early enrolment to secure your spot and avoid disappointment.
Weekly Course Structure
Once the course commences, you’ll receive an email from your tutor with the first module (check your SPAM folder). The course comprises six weekly modules, each focusing on a key challenge of writing the middle of a novel. We recommend dedicating 2–3 hours per week to the course, working through the lessons and exercises at your own pace. Each module also includes a Core Assignment, giving you the opportunity to put the skills you’ve explored into practice and receive feedback from your tutor. With no set class times, you can fit the course around your writing and your schedule.
Here’s a sneak peek of the weekly topics:
Week One – Where Is Your Novel Now?
In Week One, we’ll take a step back and look at your novel as it stands today. You’ll look at what is working, identify the elements that give your novel its energy, find the central thread running through the story and pinpoint the areas that may need more attention.
Week Two – Putting Your Characters To Work
In the second week, we ask, In this lesson, we’ll take a closer look at the people at the heart of your story and consider how your characters have developed since you first created them. By the end of the lesson, you’ll have a stronger understanding of what your characters want, what is standing in their way and how their choices can shape the next stage of your novel.
Week Three – Making Every Scene Matter
In Week Three, we’ll focus on one of the key building blocks of your novel: the scene. We’ll look at how to recognise scenes that are working, identify those that may be slowing the novel down, creating forward pull and knowing when to move on the next scene.
Week Four – Moving Through The Middle
In the fourth week, we’ll look at how to keep your novel moving towards its second half without losing the sense of discovery that makes writing exciting. We’ll explore the Midpoint and the Turn, how to write big moments, introduce effective twists and develop subplots alongside your main story. By the end of the lesson, you’ll have practical ways to create momentum and move your novel confidently into its next phase.
Week Five – The Practice of Writing
Week Five takes a practical look keeping a novel going when the initial excitement wears off. You’ll explore how to develop a writing routine that works around your life, overcome perfectionism and the fear of getting it wrong, tackle scenes when you feel stuck and protect your writing time from everyday distractions.
Week Six – Staying with the Story
Week Six explores how pace, quieter scenes, dialogue and detail can give your story room to breathe, deepen your characters and make your world feel more alive. We’ll also look at rediscovering your manuscript with fresh eyes, so that you can finish the course with practical ways to make your writing richer, more natural and more engaging.
Join Us
Your story is taking shape. Now let’s see where it can go.
You’ve created your characters, built your world and brought your story to life. Now Write Through The Middle will help you build on that work and discover what comes next. Over six weeks, you’ll explore how to develop compelling characters, make every scene count, build momentum, introduce twists and subplots, find your writing rhythm and give your story the space it needs to grow.
With practical exercises throughout, you’ll have the opportunity to work directly on your own novel, strengthen what’s already there and discover new possibilities for your story as you write.
Keep your story moving, keep discovering where it can take you, and enjoy the journey through the middle of your novel.