Do you want to learn creative writing? Check out this expert list of 5 creative writing online courses, classes, tutorials and certificates. Every teacher has a different style. So make sure you check out different course previews to find a good fit. When looking at those creative writing online courses, we considered things like difficulty level, price (free vs paid), the number of students, duration and instructor. Don’t forget to share your success with us!
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Best Creative Writing Courses
- Creative Writing
- Write a Book! Creative Writing Skills for Beginner Writers
- Wired for Story: How to Become a Story Genius
- Creative Writing: Crafting Personal Essays with Impact | Roxane Gay
- 30 Creative Writing Exercises To Inspire Creativity & Ideas
Creative Writing
Platform: Coursera
Duration: Approx. 14 months
This course is designed to help you unlock your potential as a creative writer by exploring a variety of genres. You will learn to craft memoirs, short stories, and narrative essays. Writers also experiment with the basic elements of creative writing in this class.
The Creative Writing course is available on Coursera. It is taught by Brando Skyhorse, who is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Wesleyan University. Currently, 22,000 students have enrolled in this online class.
Skills you will learn
- Understand important elements of creative writing
- Learn elements of the plot
- Discover how to develop a variety of types of characters
- Develop skills to help you write descriptive settings
- Hone your personal craft, style, and written voice
- Explore memoirs, short stories, and narrative essays
We recommend this course for people who wish to increase their basic creative writing skills. It is also an ideal choice for anyone who wants to dig deeper into memoirs, short stories, and narrative essays.
Write a Book! Creative Writing Skills for Beginner Writers
Platform: Udemy
Duration: Almost 6 hours
This course is an ideal first step for beginning creative writers. It covers a variety of important literary devices and skills that you will use while writing your own short story, novel, or novella.
Write a Book! Creative Writing Skills for Beginner Writers is available on Udemy and it is taught by Brian Jackson. He is an author, publisher, and educator. There are currently 10,432 students enrolled in this online class.
Skills you will learn
- Discover your personal style and voice as a writer
- Learn how to prepare yourself to write a new piece using outlining skills
- Explore the writing process from start to finish
- Practice new techniques with structured writing sessions
- Refine your pieces by learning about editing and proofreading
- Learn about the self-publishing process
- Write a short story, novel, or novella during this course
This course is ideal for beginners who want to learn how to start out as creative writers. We also recommend it for experienced writers who want to explore new techniques in a creative setting.
Wired for Story: How to Become a Story Genius
Platform: CreativeLive
Duration: N/A
A comprehensive course that focuses on building the skills necessary to write a longer piece of writing. You can choose to write a memoir, screenplay, novel, or something similar during this class. You will be encouraged to find your story and share it with the world.
Wired for Story: How to Become a Story Genius is available on CreativeLive and is taught by instructor Lisa Cron. Lisa is an experienced writer and published author.
Skills you will learn
- Learn to discover your personal story
- Discover the power of story
- Become a more confident writer
- Organically discover story elements that will lend themselves to your final piece
- Write your own novel, memoir, or screenplay
- Learn how to effectively edit your written work
Those who are interested in the transformative power of storytelling will truly enjoy this course. If you want to challenge yourself to write a longer piece of work, this class will be a great fit for you.
Creative Writing: Crafting Personal Essays with Impact | Roxane Gay
Platform: Skillshare
Duration: N/A
An excellent and comprehensive course that covers many writing techniques while encouraging writers to explore how to craft a personal essay. This class also allows writers to explore how their written work connects to the global community.
The Creative Writing: Crafting Personal Essays with Impact is available on SkillShare. It is taught by Roxane Gay, an experienced writer and editor. Currently, there are 6,079 students enrolled in this online class.
Skills you will learn
- Discover your purpose as a writer
- Practice using a variety of literary techniques
- Craft a powerful personal essay
- Participate in the research cycle in order to inform your writing
- Learn to edit publish your writing
You will enjoy this course if you are interested in learning to write more about your personal life in a meaningful way. Writing personal narratives can be difficult and emotional, but this course is designed to help you find your purpose and write your truth.
30 Creative Writing Exercises To Inspire Creativity & Ideas
Platform: Udemy
Duration: Almost 3 hours
This is an exploratory course that encourages writers to respond to a variety of prompts. These exercises will help spark your creativity and enhance your creative writing skills.
The 30 Creative Writing Exercises To Inspire Creativity & Ideas course is available on Udemy. It is taught by Tatiana Ambrose, an award-winning creative artist and best-selling instructor. There are currently 4,904 students enrolled in this online class.
Skills you will learn
- Explore a variety of written exercises
- Respond to intentional prompts to gain ideas for your writing
- Rediscover your creative spark
- Find inspiration for new pieces of writing
- Have fun and enjoy the writing process
- Improve overall written skills
A perfect fit for those who are experiencing a bit of writer’s block, or for those who are feeling uninspired about writing. This would be an excellent first step in rediscovering your creativity to help you establish a meaningful writing practice.
You’ve made it, we hope you found the class you were looking for. That was our collection of the best creative writing online classes, programs, courses with certification. Looking for another creative outlet? Try an illustrator course. We will keep you updated with new courses and classes. Thanks for checking out the list!