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How to Write a Novel (Premium)
Write a novel in three months in this premium course led by author and ghostwriter Tom Bromley. Join our next class, September 2023.
Taught by Tom Bromley
Poetry: How to Spark Creativity with Verse
Curious about poetry but don’t know where to start? Join us for 10 days of easy poetry exercises and get your creative juices flowing.
Taught by Emma Murf
How to Write Mind-Blowing Fantasy Fiction
Want to become the next Frank Herbert or N.K. Jemisin? With this free 10-day course, you can learn the basics of writing fantasy.
Taught by Campfire
How to Master the 'Show, Don't Tell' Rule
Learn how to follow the golden writing rule in this free 10-day course from the Reedsy team.
Taught by Reedsy
How to Turn Up the Heat in Your Romance
Ready to steam up your romance? Kelly Palmer's free course takes you through the essentials of hot writing: from creating tension to writing appealing sex scenes!
Taught by Kelly Palmer
How to Write an Irresistible Romance
Romance editor Kate Studer presents this amazing course that will get you started on of the most popular genres in publishing.
Taught by Kate Studer
How to Write YA That Sells
In this free 10-day course, YA author and editor Blair Thornburgh will take you through how to write YA that you can actually sell to a publisher.
Taught by Blair Thornburgh
How to Write for Middle-Grade Readers
Learn how to write for middle-grade readers from Judy Goldschmidt, a YA and MG editor whose credits include numerous NYT best-sellers and prize-winners.
Taught by Judy Goldschmidt
Understanding Point of View
Learn how to master each of the major points of view. With the help of writing exercises, you'll hone your ability to write from every possible perspective.
Taught by Gabriela Pereira
Creative writing courses delivered straight to your inbox
Whether you’re a new writer or a published author, there’s no such thing as a writer who can’t learn something new about their craft. Reedsy Learning’s online writing courses make it easy for anyone, regardless of skill level, to improve their craft, build better routines, and pursue the creative writing life they’ve always longed for.
Learn from the best in the business
Our online writing courses are taught by professionals, including bestselling fantasy author Ben Galley and former Simon & Schuster editor Kate Angelella. Topics include:
- Writing a novel
- Writing short stories
- Show, don’t tell
- Crafting a children’s book
- Using dialogue to further your plot and develop your characters
- Creating an iron-clad writing routine
We’ve got you covered on all these topics and more. Each 10-part course is delivered to your inbox, making these the most convenient creative writing courses on the internet. By saving both time and money, you’ll be able to reinvest in your dreams and get one step closer toward making them a reality.
How much does it cost?
Every writing course we offer is free. At Reedsy, we believe that knowledge shouldn’t be limited to those who can afford to pay for it — if you want to be a great writer, we want to help you achieve that.
Reviews for Reedsy’s free online writing courses
“I'm hooked. As a writer just starting out, this course was exactly what I needed. The lessons were short and sweet, so I wasn't intimidated when I opened my emails.” — Amy S.
“A very comprehensive course, especially considering that it's been delivered fully in an email format. I felt like I was there in the classroom with the teacher.” — Lucy T.
“These writing courses manage to cover a lot of ground in a minimal amount of time and space.” — Aisha P.
“The information you provided was exceptional. So much packed into one bite-sized email each day is definitely what time-strapped people need when trying to jump the hurdles that keep them from writing. These lessons have helped me push through several roadblocks that have kept my writing books closed and my pens in the box.” — Paul D.
“The lessons are short and divided into smaller topics, which makes it so much easier to keep track of what you’re learning.” — Cindy L.
“I am a short fiction and poetry writer who’s been writing for 50+ years. I found these courses to be invaluable as a refresher and a source of new insights. Thank you!” — Steve M.
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Free online English Literature / Creative Writing courses
Creative writing and critical reading
This free course, Creative writing and critical reading, explores the importance of reading as part of a creative writer’s development at the postgraduate level. You will gain inspiration and ideas from examining other writers’ methods, as well as enhancing your critical reading skills. Examples will cover the genres of fiction, creative ...
Free course
Level: 3 Advanced
Writing what you know
Do you want to improve your descriptive writing? This free course, Writing what you know, will help you to develop your perception of the world about you and enable you to see the familiar things in everyday life in a new light. You will also learn how authors use their own personal histories to form the basis of their work.
Level: 1 Introductory
Start writing fiction
Have you always wanted to write, but never quite had the courage to start? This free course, Start writing fiction, will give you an insight into how authors create their characters and settings. You will also be able to look at the different genres for fiction.
Exploring books for children: words and pictures
Many people have fond memories of the stories they encountered in childhood, perhaps especially of those wonderful picture books and illustrated tales which fired our young imaginations and transported us to magical worlds. To an adult’s eye, some picture books may seem remarkably simple, even oversimplified. However, in this free course, ...
Level: 2 Intermediate
Reading Shakespeare's As You Like It
Do you enjoy watching Shakespeare's plays and like the idea of finding out more about them? This free course, Reading Shakespeare's As You Like It, will guide you through some of the most important speeches and scenes from one of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies.
Icarus: entering the world of myth
This free course, Icarus: entering the world of myth, will introduce you to one of the best-known myths from classical antiquity and its various re-tellings in later periods. You will begin by examining how the Icarus story connects with a number of other ancient myths, such as that of Theseus and the Minotaur. You will then be guided through an...
Sam Selvon, The Lonely Londoners
This free course concentrates on Sam Selvon's twentieth-century novel, The Lonely Londoners. It considers the depiction of migration in the text as well as Selvon's treatment of memory as a vital part of the migrant's experience.
Introducing Virgil’s Aeneid
This free course offers an introduction to the Aeneid. Virgil’s Latin epic, written in the 1st century BCE, tells the story of the Trojan hero Aeneas and his journey to Italy, where he would become the ancestor of the Romans. Here, you will focus on the characterisation of this legendary hero, and learn why he was so important to the Romans of ...
Exploring Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd
This free course, Exploring Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd, is designed to tell you something about Hardy's background, and to introduce you to the pleasures of reading a nineteenth-century novel. Why do we believe in fictional characters and care about what happens to them? You will discover some of the techniques that Hardy ...
John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi
This free course, John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi, concentrates on Acts 1 and 2 of John Webster's Renaissance tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi. It focuses on the representation of marriage for love and the social conflicts to which it gives rise. The course is designed to hone your skills of textual analysis.
Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus
What does Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus tell us about the author and the time at which the play was written? This free course, Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, will help you to discover the intricacies of the play and recognise how a knowledge of the historical and political background of the time can lead to a very different ...
Approaching poetry
Do you want to get more out of your reading of poetry? This free course, Approaching poetry, is designed to develop the analytical skills you need for a more in-depth study of literary texts. You will learn about rhythm, alliteration, rhyme, poetic inversion, voice and line lengths and endings. You will examine poems that do not rhyme and learn ...
Approaching prose fiction
Do you want to get more out of your reading? This free course, Approaching prose fiction, is designed to develop the analytical skills you need for a more in-depth study of literary texts. You will learn about narrative events and perspectives, the setting of novels, types of characterisation and genre.
Approaching plays
Do you want to get more out of drama? This free course, Approaching plays, is designed to develop the analytical skills you need for a more in-depth study of literary plays. You will learn about dialogue, stage directions, blank verse, dramatic structure and conventions and aspects of performance.
Approaching literature: reading Great Expectations
This free course, Approaching literature: reading Great Expectations, considers some of the different ways of reading Great Expectations, based on the type of genre the book belongs to. This is one of the most familiar and fundamental ways of approaching literary texts. The novel broadens the scope of study of a realist novel, in both literary ...
The poetry of Sorley MacLean
Sorley MacLean (1911-1996) is regarded as one of the greatest Scottish poets of the twentieth century. This free course, The poetry of Sorley MacLean, will introduce you to his poetry and give you an insight into the cultural, historical and political contexts that inform his work. MacLean wrote in Gaelic and the importance of the language to ...
Exploring Virginia Woolf’s Between the Acts
This free course introduces Virginia Woolf’s last novel, Between the Acts (1941), with the aim of understanding how she writes about time, memory, and ideas about identity. It also considers why Woolf’s fiction is often considered difficult. Selected extracts from her essays on writing help to clarify some of these perceived difficulties, ...
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Crafting a children’s book. Using dialogue to further your plot and develop your characters. Creating an iron-clad writing routine. And more! We’ve got you covered on all these topics and more. Each 10-part course is delivered to your inbox, making these the most convenient creative writing courses on the internet.
Free Creative Writing Courses. Creative writing courses are amazing because they can be applied to just about anything you want to write, from memoirs to novels…even nonfiction! These classes teach you the basic skills you need to write fluidly, fluently, and with style—essential no matter what your genre or field.
This free course, Creative writing and critical reading, explores the importance of reading as part of a creative writer’s development at the postgraduate level. You will gain inspiration and ideas… Creative Writing – Writer’s Block Workbook Volume 1 Month 1 via Udemy
This free course, Creative writing and critical reading, explores the importance of reading as part of a creative writer’s development at the postgraduate level. You will gain inspiration and ideas from examining other writers’ methods, as well as enhancing your critical reading skills. Examples will cover the genres of fiction, creative ...
2. Creative writing: The craft of plot (Wesleyan University) This short course can be completed in one day and is one of five modules in Wesleyan University's Creative Writing offerings. In this ...
In summary, here are 10 of our most popular creative writing courses. Creative Writing: Wesleyan University. Write Your First Novel: Michigan State University. Good with Words: Writing and Editing: University of Michigan. Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop: California Institute of the Arts. The Strategy of Content Marketing: University of ...
Creative writing course curriculum. Online writing classes can unlock creativity and improve learners’ writing technique. For example, a class that focuses on writing novels can teach individuals how to ideate, outline, and execute on a large project. Learners can study different forms of writing, such as American poetry, long-form journalism ...
Online Creative Writing Classes. Find what fascinates you as you explore these online classes. Start for Free. Skillshare is a learning community for creators. Anyone can take an online class, watch video lessons, create projects, and even teach a class themselves.
Learn Creative Writing, earn certificates with paid and free online courses from University of Michigan, Johns Hopkins, UC Irvine, UC Berkeley and other top universities around the world. Read reviews to decide if a class is right for you.