All of us want to improve our writing skills, hone our craft, and get ahead in our writing careers.
Not all of us can go back to school and get our MFA in writing—heck, not all of us want to!
Thankfully, the internet makes it possible to take great online writing courses for free (no matter where you live, what your circumstances, or your budget).
Taking a writing course online can help you polish your writing to be the best it can be—a critical step before either self-publishing or submitting your manuscript to publishers.
Through these free writing courses, you’ll gain practical tips and strategies to help you improve your writing—both for your current manuscript and for future projects.
Free Online Writing Courses
The more you learn and practice, the easier writing will become and the better your books will be. And that’s key to attracting and growing a devoted audience and becoming a full-time author!
How to Choose an Online Writing Course
You’ll want to choose a course that meets your needs, which means you need to know your needs first.
Identify Your Goals
When picking a course, ask yourself what specific areas you’re looking to improve:
- Do you want to pick up basic writing skills, like improving your grammar?
- Do you want to learn more about how to create gripping plots?
- Do you want to learn to create realistic, vivid characters?
- Do you want to learn how to add value to your nonfiction writing?
- Do you want to turn your life experiences into a book that has meaning for a broad audience?
- Do you want to learn how to earn a living off a specific kind of writing?
- Do you want to dive deep into a specific area of craft, like dialogue construction?
All of these goals—and many more—make good reasons to choose an online writing course!
Set Your Course Budget
Next, you’ll want to ask yourself what you’re willing to commit to a course, both in terms of time and money. There are some great free courses out there, as well as other courses that charge a fee. You might consider starting with a free class to make sure that you can handle the online learning format, then stepping up to a more advanced paid class later.
Pick a Commitment Level
Any course or class, no matter whether it’s online or not, requires dedication to actually make a difference in your life. You’ll need to be ready to listen to lectures, read papers and presentations, follow through on assignments, and engage with your classmates.
Some online courses are completely self-paced, which means you work through the material on your own, taking as long as you like. This is great for people with busy lives, jobs, and family commitments—but it also means you have to take responsibility for structuring your time and doing the work.
Other courses have weekly assignments, sometimes even monitored or graded by an instructor, along with class chat sessions, feedback opportunities, and other ways to have a full classroom experience without actually going to a university.
These types of courses are less flexible, as they often require you to log in at certain times, and they demand that you do your work on time! But they also offer a lot of benefits in terms of helping you manage your time and devote energy to improving your writing and to working with other writers to start forming a community.
Once you’ve figured out what you’re looking to learn, what you’re willing to commit (in terms of time, energy, dedication, and money), and how you think you’ll learn best, you can get started with your writing course!
Of course, you might not be quite ready to take the plunge into paying for an online writing class just yet. Will you be able to keep up with the assignments? How do online lectures work, anyway?
To help you get started in the world of online learning, we’ve rounded up some of the best free online writing courses out there, regardless of your focus: creative writing, fiction, and nonfiction.
Ready to find the right course for you? Let’s check them out!
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.
More advanced classes help you find your writing voice, learn the secrets of creating an author brand and ecosystem, and improve your technique.
English Composition Class
About the Course
In order to be a great writer, you have to have solid basic writing skills!
Arizona State University’s Introduction to English Composition class will help you master the basics so that you can improve every aspect of your writing, no matter what your focus is.
Over the eight-week intensive course, you’ll learn a variety of useful skills that can serve as the building blocks of your future writing career, helping you gain mastery over the English language and learn to write in a way that others respect and admire.
You’ll be asked to complete several writing assignments, as well as writing a reflection piece on each of them. You’ll also have the opportunity to engage with other learners and get feedback on your work as you develop your skills.
In this course, you’ll learn:
- How to target your writing to your audience’s needs
- How to think critically about reading and writing
- How to use style conventions and techniques to improve your writing
- How to use technology to write more effectively and efficiently
- How to unlock your creativity
- How to develop good writing habits
This is really a class on building the fundamental skills you’ll need to be a successful professional writer—it’s a fantastic resource for anyone, no matter where they are in their writing journey.
Instructor
Adam Pacton holds a PhD in Rhetoric and Composition and is a lecturer on creative writing, English, and composition techniques at Arizona State University.
Price
Free! You can also pay $499 to add a “verified certificate” if you want to show the course as a credential on a resume or to an employer, but most writers will do great with the free version.
The Crafty Writer’s Creative Writing Course
About the Course
The Crafty Writer is a service started by fiction author Fiona Veitch Smith to help teach aspiring and current writers how to master their craft and publish better books that get better results in the market.
As part of that mission, they’ve developed The Crafty Writer’s Creative Writing Course, a self-paced introduction to creative writing. The class walks you through the basics of becoming a dedicated creative writer, including looks at several different styles and genres.
In this course, you’ll learn:
- How to uncover your personal writing style and voice
- The basics of writing a short story
- How to choose an effective point of view
- How to use vivid imagery to bring your ideas to life
- How to find and use writers’ groups, competitions, and communities of writers
- The basics of publishing and marketing your work
There are set assignments and tasks to complete, but you don’t need to attend any live chats or sessions. There’s no individual feedback from instructors or coaches, and you won’t get feedback from other people taking the class, but you’re encouraged to ask questions if there’s anything you’re struggling with. Mostly, you’re given the tools and resources to begin finding and building your own community of support and to assess and revise your own work.
If you’ve always wanted to dip a toe into the writing world, but weren’t quite sure where to begin, this could be the ideal online option for you!
Instructor
Fiona Veitch Smith is a prolific author whose work includes several novels, a biography, a children’s book series, and more than 100 articles published in magazines as diverse as Sports Illustrated and Plain Truth, where she is the New Writing editor. She holds BA and MA degrees in writing and is pursuing her PhD while also teaching creative writing both online and off.
Price
Free! The class suggests recommended reading that you can buy or borrow from your library.
DIY MFA Writing Class
About the Course
DIY MFA does exactly what it promises—it helps you learn the skills taught in a formal MFA program at home on your own!
The course walks you through the three major areas that big-name master’s programs focus on: writing, reading, and building a community of fellow authors, mentors, and devoted readers.
Along the way, you learn how to select and read books that can help you improve your own writing, whether because they act as source material, give you an idea of the state of your genre, or help you broaden your horizons and learn from great writers.
You’ll also get practical tips for writing better, including strategies for outlining, hints for how to pace the flow of your book, and ideas for creating memorable phrases in both fiction and nonfiction that will hook your reader instantly.
Instructor
Founder Gabriela Pereira created DIY MFA after she graduated with her master’s in writing and saw all the other writers struggling to feel like pros without that experience…and realized that she still didn’t feel quite like a pro even with it! Gabriela teaches at conferences and online, and she’s helped hundreds of writers get the MFA experience without having to go to an expensive school.
Price
Free! Just sign up at https://diymfa.com/join to get the free starter pack and begin your online MFA journey. You can also check out great tips and tricks on the site’s blog for more in-depth looks into how to improve your writing starting today.
Free Fiction Writing Classes
If you’ve already started on your career as a novelist and are looking to take your skills to the next level, a fiction-specific writing course might be best for you!
Start Writing Fiction
About the Course
Looking to start your career as a novelist the right way? This may be the class for you!
Offered through The Open University, a world leader in distance learning, Start Writing Fiction takes you from zero to novelist in eight weeks.
You’ll listen to lectures from renowned novelists, develop your skills through writing prompts and assignments, and get personalized feedback from your classmates and instructor during the class.
In this course, you’ll learn:
- How and why to keep a writing journal
- How to write better dialogue
- How to do better research
- How to structure a plot
- Why reading matters as a writer
- How to self-edit your work
Instructor
The course is taught by Dr. Derek Neale, an award-winning short story author and novelist whose works include The Book of Guardians. Dr. Neale is the Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at The Open University and splits his time between teaching, supervising PhD students, developing new courses, and working on his own fiction projects.
Price
Free! However, you can pay a small fee (£39, or about $50) to upgrade to a version of the course that gives you unlimited access to the lectures and materials after the eight-week session ends.
How to Write a Novel
About the Course
Ready to write your first novel? Consider taking this class first!
How to Write a Novel will give you the tools you need to actually finish that first draft—and go on to revise it and publish it successfully!
You’ll learn:
- How to keep track of your fiction ideas
- How (and why) to outline your novel
- Basic worldbuilding techniques
- Character development tips and tricks
- How to create a daily writing habit
By the end of the 10 daily lessons, you’ll be ready to roll with your first novel, crafting worlds and characters that set the stage for your career as a successful fiction author.
Instructor
Ben Galley is a bestselling fantasy author and self-publishing consultant who helps authors create amazing stories and then sell their books around the world.
Price
Free! Just sign up with your email to start the 10-day class.
How to Craft a Killer Short Story
About the Course
Whether you’re an established fiction author or just getting started, short stories are a fantastic tool to have in your arsenal as a writer. But they involve some very different skills than writing longer fiction.
That’s where How to Craft a Killer Short Story comes in!
This 10-day email course will show you what you need to know in order to create tight, gripping stories, like:
- How to pick a great short story topic
- How to trim the fat from your writing
- How to edit short stories
- How to sell your stories to literary journals, anthologies, and magazines
Follow along every day and within two weeks, you’ll be ready to tackle the short story in all its glory!
Instructor
Laura Mae Isaacman is a full-time editor; she’s worked with major authors, including Joyce Carol Oates, T.C. Boyle and Noam Chomsky. She has also lectured on the topics of writing and publishing and is the co-founder of Tweed’s Magazine of Literature & Art.
Free Nonfiction Writing Courses
Ready to hone your skills at turning real-life information, tips, techniques, and situations into enthralling prose that changes your readers’ lives?
Take one of these free nonfiction writing courses!
The Non-Sexy Business of Writing Nonfiction
About the Course
Writing nonfiction can be very rewarding, but it doesn’t necessarily have the same glow around it as being a novelist.
Still, the skills you’ll learn as a nonfiction author can help you no matter what you write or what you want to do with your career.
The Non-Sexy Business of Writing Nonfiction walks you through the good, the bad, and the ugly of writing, publishing, and marketing nonfiction books.
In this 10-day course, you’ll get an email each day walking you through some critical aspect of writing and publishing nonfiction, covering topics like:
- How to get started on your book
- How to do targeted market research
- Tools and strategies to maximize your productivity
- Tips for outlining
By the end of the class, you’ll have a toolbox to help you write and publish your first nonfiction book!
Instructor
Publishing coach Azul Terronez is the founder of Author’s Writing Academy and has helped dozens of authors make their books a reality. He has also coached seasoned writers like Pat Flynn of Smart Passive Income, and Dana Malstaff of Boss-Mom.com.
Price
Free! Just sign up with your email.
Writing What You Know
About the Course
Writing a nonfiction book is all about translating the real world to the page, bringing readers with you as you explore a topic, event, or strategy.
Writing What You Know is an amazing introduction to the power of words to translate your experience to something that other people can learn and grow from.
This eight-hour course covers topics including:
- Using life experiences in your writing
- Creating vivid imagery
- Constructing and pacing scenes
- Using memories to structure narrative
- Turning the everyday into the memorable
By the end of the class, you’ll be able to craft engaging narratives capable of transporting your readers to another time, place, or situation—using the power of what you observe every day.
Instructor
The Open University doesn’t reveal who developed its courses, but their content is on par with the best massively open online courses (MOOCs) in the world. You’ll learn techniques and skills that bestselling nonfiction authors have used to advance their careers and be able to quickly start improving your own writing.
Price
Free! You can even download the course materials in the format of your choice to refer to later.
How to Write a Business Book
About the Course
If you’ve ever wanted to write a business book, share your journey as an entrepreneur, or help others make money doing what they love, then How to Write a Business Book may be the class you’re looking for!
This 10-day email course will teach you the fundamentals of business writing, including how to make sure that your book resonates with your audience and helps add value to their business or life. This course will help you make your book more than just a business card—it will help you write in a way that changes your readers lives while enhancing your own career. Topics covered during the class include:
- Important questions to ask before writing your book
- How to outline and structure
- How to set manageable goals
- How to build your audience
Instructor
Alison Jones is a publishing partner for businesses and organizations. She provides executive coaching, consultancy, and training services to publishers and regularly speaks and blogs on the publishing industry.
Price
Free! Just sign up with your email.
Start Taking Free Online Writing Courses
No matter where you are on your writing journey, there’s always something new to learn. That’s the great thing about this path—we can learn, grow, and stretch ourselves in new and different ways every day!
One or more of the online writing courses we’ve covered here is sure to help you develop your skills and move to the next level as a writer, regardless of what genre you’re focused on or what your goals are.
Pick a class or two, sign up, and try it out! Apply the new techniques and strategies you’ve learned to your next writing project and see what a difference practice and development can make for you.
Then pick another class and keep on going!
Want to learn more about honing your craft as a writer? Check out these great resources:
- How to Write a Nonfiction Book
- How to Write Better Fiction and Become a Great Novelist
- 11 Writing Tips for Improving Readability and Communicating Better
Tom Corson-Knowles is the founder of TCK Publishing, and the bestselling author of 27 books including Secrets of the Six-Figure author. He is also the host of the Publishing Profits Podcast show where we interview successful authors and publishing industry experts to share their tips for creating a successful writing career.
How to join the free English learning course
I have not found any link
I want to develop my email writing skill. Do you have any better solution?
Hi Mirko, we actually have a few posts on how to write an email, but you might also find these business writing courses helpful for writing emails too.
I’m trying to find a class to help me with a book I’m trying to write, but I’m a minor and it’s hard to find one that interests me but I can understand and works around my schoolwork. What would you recommend?
Hi Sierra, have you checked out any of these free courses? They’re online, so you should be able to do them in your free time/around your school work.
I think I will try Start Writing Fiction. Thank you for these great courses!
That’s great, Sierra! I hope you enjoy the courses :)
Thank you very much for providing valuable courses. I will surely pick one of my kind to get in the world of writing.
We’re glad you found it helpful Robin. Best of luck to you!
This article is very helpful for me, thank you so much for sharing this information. And here is also some important information so go here and check.
Glad you found this article helpful! And thanks for sharing the information!
Hi, Kaelyn: Lots of interesting classes here. That many are free is quite a treat.
I’m interested in learning more about creative non-fiction. I write pretty decent memoir and essays, but it’s time to dig deeper.
Would you please steer me on this.
I’m also curious what you may think of this genre in terms of earnings on Medium.
Thank you!
Roy
Hi Roy, thanks for your comment! We have a post on creative nonfiction that you might enjoy. I don’t have hard numbers on potential earnings through Medium, but it’s an increasingly popular genre for online writing (and one of my personal favorites), so I think there’s definitely a market for it.
Hi, I have taken beginner creative writing class, now I want improve my creative writing more. So, what should be my next step? Are there any further courses for creative writing.
The ASU English Composition link doesn’t work. Please provide a new one. Or, a similar course.
Thank you,
Mitch
Thanks Mitch, I updated the link!
I can’t find any link
Sorry, not sure what happened there. should be fine now!
Hi Sushmita, you might try practicing with our creative writing prompts or writing a short story :)
I would like to know if a fee is required for classes and if so how much.
Hi Cathy, the courses listed in this post are all free!
I would like to improve my business and day-to-day writing skills including grammar. Which is the best course for me to take pleae?
Hi Princess, you might actually want to check out our list of business writing courses. sounds like those might suit your needs better! :)
I am a sophomore in high school, I love writing and I want to improve so I can write short stories and poetry. What do you suggest for me? Thank you.
Hi Lena, any of the creative writing classes on this list would be a good start, but practice is also one of the best ways to improve. Consider entering a poetry or short story contest! :)
What about writing feedback? A writing course can only thrive with writing and more writing rather than talking the world out of styles and author-lectures. What is the price for feedback driven courses, if any
Hi Rashul, the ASU and Future Learn courses in this list include feedback from instructors :)
[email protected]
Thank you for all these wonderful recommendations. Can you recommend quality courses aimed specifically at writing for children, free or otherwise?
Hi Anna, thanks for your comment! None of the courses on this list are really aimed at kids, but it would depend on the age and learning level of the child. However, we do have these writing prompts for kids that you might find helpful! I’ll also work on making a list of courses for kids :)
Thank you for listing the free courses, but which one to chose is uncertain. I have worked on my manuscript and thought I was at the point for beta readers, only to find out from their comments I am far from publishing my books. I have the experience of online schooling, for I just received my masters. However, my writing skills need much improvement. I know I have a problem with telling not showing. And yes, I am a fictional writer. I also have a problem with moving back and forth with past and present tense. I am looking for the course that will help with these trouble areas.
Hi Allison, thanks for your comment! I think I would recommend the “Writing What You Know” course for your needs. We also have a post on how to show don’t tell that you might find helpful. And don’t feel discouraged, it’s a beta reader’s job to point out areas for improvement — they’ll help you get one step closer! :) Best of luck!
I am quite happy to have come across this website. I really want to take a short course on writing and acquire a certificate after completing it. Where should I go?
Hi Anthony! The ASU course offers a certificate, but so do a lot of Udemy courses. It depends on what kind of certificate you’re looking for
My writing intent is to share my Spiritual journey of the past 40 years most of which was spent learning and living the Medicines Ways of my Elder. I have a developed intuitive sense but I lack structure, form, and a deeply expanded vocabulary that would better capture in prose what I intuitively ‘feel-see’ but the results often end up being disjointed and lacking in a natural unforced flow which always leaves me not quite satisfied with the end result.
Hi Ron, thanks for your comment! yes, a lot of new writers struggle with structure, but with practice and the insights from some of these courses you can definitely make progress :)
hi do you know any free magazine writing workshops?
Hi Samantha, I don’t know any specifically for magazine writing, but any of the free nonfiction courses here will likely teach you some of the important skills you’ll need for magazine writing too:)
I’m a creative writer, I need work on my grammar ,spelling, ect ,editing my work and I want to write books what’s the best free course or courses?
Hi Jennifer, it looks like the courses on the list don’t really focus on those basic elements specifically, but we do have a lot of grammar posts that I hope you will find helpful. And if you have any specific questions, please let me know, I’m always happy to help!
Your last sentence is a run on sentence. I thought you’d want to know.
Thanks for pointing that out, Barbara. I usually don’t focus on grammar conventions when I’m answering questions. I just try to be helpful and answer as soon as possible. I’ll try to be more conscious of it :)
I am looking for a mentoring program for my 10 yr old who loves to write. Basically somebody who can go through her work and offer feedback.
Thanks!
Hi Dharub, that’s so great that your daughter loves to write! you might consider signing her up for a writers’ group, or talk to a writing coach who can guide her :) However, lots of online classes, like those listed above, also feature opportunities for direct feedback from the instructor. I hope that helps!
I have always had a passion for reading and writing. I would really love to write about my life experiences, I just think it might be a little sad. Writing a novel sounds like maybe more fun but I would definitely need help creating characters with depth. I’m wondering what you would recommend as far as some free courses.
Hi Juana, the “How to Write a Novel” course on this list can help you with character development :) We also have quite a few blog posts on the subject, like how to create and use character profiles. I hope that helps :)
I really need to better my grammar. I’m quite rusty.
Hi Amanda, you can try one of these courses, or check out one of our many posts on writing tips and grammar :) I hope that helps!
Interested in Creative Writing
Hi Sonny, that’s great! There are lots of courses on this list that can help you. If you want more practice you can also try these creative writing prompts :)
Hi! I want to help my 10-year-old daughter to read and write with passion, not to write a book, she will see if she likes it, but to have an ease of communication that is not learned in school, there are courses for children ?
In my own research I stumbled across this website. Hopefully this will be of good help to your daughter.
https://outschool.com/classes/semester-long-ms-writing-course-*flexible-schedule*-IFIZxWK7?sectionUid=efcd703b-23a8-4d60-8408-a1f32077ee15#abkiqu8k90
Thank you for sharing this, Janet! :)
Hi Pamela, this Udemy course looks like a great option for kids: https://www.udemy.com/course/theultimatemysterywritingcourseforkids/ , as well as Janet’s suggestions below :)
Your courses are timely for anyone who desires to write books in any genre. But can one register for two or more courses and running concurrently? Please help.
Hi Clement, yes, you can definitely take more than one course at once. I would just recommend you make sure you have the time to dedicate your attention to each one :)
When I was much younger I wanted to be a journalist. The next Nora O’Donnell !! Now that I’m retired I want to write a fiction. I have so many ideas in my head I need to learn how to focus them and put them on paper
Hi Dianne! I can definitely relate – I used to dream of being a journalist too! Luckily, my current work allows me to practice writing, and I’m loving it. I hope you have time now to follow your new dream of writing fiction! You can try a writing course or check out some of the writing tips we share on the blog, such as our post on how to write a novel. If you ever have questions or there are more resources we can send your way, please let us know! :)
I would like to develop my writing skills, I want to learn the pros and cons of writing depending on its specific kind of writing or genre. I he I can find help for free workshops.
Hi Monalisa, here’s a list of writing workshops you might find helpful: https://www.tckpublishing.com/online-writing-workshops/
i would like to take the course on how to write a novel
Hi Dolly, that’s great! You should definitely try it :) best of luck with your writing!
Hello Barron Can you Suggested Me