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570 Best Creative Writing Classes in 2023

Showing writing courses curated by Reedsy.

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This directory of creative writing courses will help you find the right class for you. Simply filter by genre, price, and location to find the writing class that best fits your needs.

Best of luck! If you run a writing course and would like to get in touch with us about your class, contact us here.

Ignite Your Creative Spark Workshop

Randwich City Library


This workshop, facilitated by Author and Artist Sue Liu, is designed to help participants reignite their creativity. It is a powerful and practical workshop for those feeling blocked or stuck for inspiration. The workshop, which is held at the Lionel Bowen Library, Maroubra NSW, encourages attendees to find their unique way of self-expression. Participants are advised to bring a pen for the session.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: Sydney

Categories: Fiction, Essay, Poetry, Nonfiction, Short Story, Free, Book

Level: Any

Class size: Unlimited

Price: Free

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://www.randwick.nsw.gov.au/library/library-events/li...

Poetry Club Meetup!

Miami Poetry Club


The Miami Poetry Club provides bi-monthly writing workshops every second and fourth Wednesday of the month at 7 PM. Located at The LAB Miami in Wynwood, it aims to cultivate the next generation of Miami writers by offering space, education, and community. The club's programming includes these workshops, the Spoken Waves poetry reading series, and publication opportunities for local writers. They are currently fundraising for a central Clubhouse to host these and more events.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: Miami

Categories: Poetry, Free

Level: Any

Class size: Unlimited

Price: Free

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://www.miamipoetryclub.org/


Offered by edX, this five-week, self-paced course is an introduction to academic writing for English Language Learners. It focuses on essay development, grammatical correctness, and self-editing. The course includes a review of basic grammar, writing effective sentences and paragraphs, as well as techniques for writing introductions, conclusions, longer texts, and thesis statements. Students should be proficient in English to follow this introductory level course, which requires a commitment of 5-6 hours per week.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: Online

Categories: Essay, Free

Level: Beginner

Class size: Unlimited

Price: Free

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://www.edx.org/course/how-to-write-an-essay

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Workshop

Green Street Poetry


This workshop offers a space for poets to share, edit, and discuss their work in a collaborative and supportive environment. Participants read their poems aloud, receive group feedback, and engage in discussions about their work. The workshop is designed to help poets of all levels achieve their writing goals, whether they seek intensive criticism or a friendly space to share their poetry. Attendees are encouraged to bring 10 copies of their poem for workshopping, a pen or pencil for editing, and some cash for food and drinks.

Prerequisites: 10 copies of the poem you want workshopped.

Location: Philadelphia

Categories: Poetry, Free

Level: Any

Class size: Unlimited

Price: Free

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://www.greenstreetpoetry.com/workshop


This monthly meeting group, located at the Curio Spice Lab, focuses on translating food experiences into poetry or prose. It offers a sensory environment for honing writing skills and connecting with other storytellers. Participants engage in writing exercises inspired by different themes each month and share their work in a convivial atmosphere. The group is free and open to individuals aged 12 and up, with a limit of five attendees per session.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: Boston

Categories: Food, Free

Level: Any

Class size: 5

Price: Free

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sensory-storytelling-food-wr...


Reedsy's course, led by Tom Bromley, is a 101-day program aimed at helping writers finish their first novel draft. It includes daily video masterclasses, a structured approach for drafting, and access to a forum and live webinars for interaction and feedback. The tuition fee is $1249, and the course covers various aspects of novel writing, including preparation, character development, plot skills, and writing techniques.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: Online

Categories: Fiction, Book, Science Fiction, Publishing, Fantasy, Adult

Level: Beginner

Class size: Unlimited

Price: $1,000.00

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://reedsy.com/learning


This 10-week live webinar series is designed to help participants write, publish, and monetize their non-fiction books. It provides guidance on taking a book idea to the first draft in just 10 weeks, offers strategies for efficient writing, and helps in structuring and titling the book to resonate with the target audience. The program also includes a private book writing consultation session with Lisa Tener, personalized feedback on outlines, and advice on finding the right tone and structure for the book.

Prerequisites: Before the first weekly class, you should have a book concept, content and structure.

Location: Online

Categories: Book, Adult

Level: Advanced

Class size: Unlimited

Price: $5,997.00

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://www.lisatener.com/book/

Scientific Writing Workshop

The Researchers' Writers Academy


Aimed at research groups, this program focuses on writing papers for high-impact journals. The self-paced online course includes the Journal Publication Formula, a step-by-step system for writing, taught in five modules. Participants have access to a community for networking, live group coaching calls, and co-writing sessions. The program also provides resources like worksheets, templates, and a Paper Writing Guide, with 12 months of access.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: Online

Categories: Scientific

Level: Intermediate

Class size: 6

Price: $5,000.00

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://www.annaclemens.com/scientific-writing-workshop

Persuasive Communication

Harvard University


This three-week online program is designed for mid- to senior-level professionals responsible for communications and related fields. It teaches persuasive writing, speaking, and presenting skills, emphasizing the use of evidence and data visualization in communication. The program includes live faculty sessions, group assignments, and a total time commitment of 12 hours per week. It is suitable for a range of professionals from the public and private sectors, including policymakers, nonprofit leaders, and diplomats.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: Online

Categories: Business

Level: Any

Class size: Limited

Price: $4,600.00

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://www.hks.harvard.edu/educational-programs/executiv...

Freelance Travelwriting & Photography Course

New Zealand Institute of Business Studies


This course trains aspiring travel writers and photojournalists to turn their travel experiences into stories and images that sell. It covers fresh ideas for travel stories, business aspects of selling copy, and writing for various travel-related media. The course is conducted by correspondence, offering flexibility with a recommended study time of 4-5 hours per week over 12 months. The curriculum includes topics like freelance travel writing, photography, style, defamation, and copyright.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: Online

Categories: Travel

Level: Beginner

Class size: Unlimited

Price: $2,350.00

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://nzibs.co.nz/freelance-travelwriting-photography-c...


This bespoke course offers a tailored learning experience over six months, featuring nine one-to-one sessions with a personal tutor. It includes detailed written reports, edits of up to 43,000 words, personalized advice on pitching and finding an agent, and customized writing exercises. The course is suitable for writers seeking in-depth feedback and guidance on their writing journey.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: London

Categories: Fiction, Essay, Poetry, Nonfiction, Short Story, Book

Level: Any

Class size: Private

Price: £2,100.00

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://www.inkacademy.co.uk/creative-writing-course/

The 6 Week Course

6-Week Course


Designed for individuals with a science background, this course offers insights into starting a freelance medical writing business. It includes six modules, each theoretically spanning one week, but provides lifetime access for flexible learning. The curriculum includes medical writing styles, client acquisition, and more, with opportunities for feedback on writing types like medical proofreading and editing. The course also offers potential subcontracting opportunities with Nascent Medical, LLC, for successful participants.

Prerequisites: An advanced degree in science or medicine is recommended.

Location: Online

Categories: Medical

Level: Advanced

Class size: Unlimited

Price: $1,997.00

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://6weekcourse.com/aboutcourse/

What are the 5 best creative writing classes?

Congratulations! Deciding to learn how to creative write is often the hardest step of all. Now it's time for a choice that's almost just as difficult: picking which creative writing class you want to take in a market that's getting more crowded by the day.  

That’s why we built this directory of the best creative writing courses — so that you can more easily filter through all of the selections out there. But in case you don't have time to dive into them all, here are five of the best creative writing classes for you to take a look at. 

1. Reedsy Learning

💲 Cost: Free
👨‍🏫 Type: Email lessons

If you’re struggling to find time for creative writing classes, Reedsy Learning is for you. These bite-sized lessons are emailed to you once a day for ten days and can be read in five minutes or less. But don’t let their compact size fool you — each lesson is packed with practical tips, links to additional resources, and enough exercises to keep your skills sharp. There are also courses on editing, marketing, and publishing for when you’re ready to take your creative writing to the next level.

2. Gotham Writers’ Workshop

💲 Cost: $165 - $409 (plus registration fees)
👨‍🏫 Type: Video lectures, live Zoom classes, assignments, critique

The largest adult-education writing school in the US, Gotham Writers has been helping budding authors hone their skills since the 1990s. Based in New York City, they offer in-person classes as well as a variety of online options for students all over the globe. With self-paced courses, live Zoom lectures, write-ins, and several free events per term, Gotham Writers emulates the university feel wherever possible.

3. Udemy

💲 Cost: $0 - $109
👨‍🏫 Type: Lectures (videos, slides, and text)

Founded in 2010, Udemy is a massive online open course (MOOC) platform, created to provide an alternative to in-person, university learning. Their primary audience is made up of professionals and students — some of their courses even offer credit toward technical certifications. Their creative writing courses are broad and geared mainly toward beginners, through there are some intermediate courses that get into specific niches.

4. edX

💲 Cost: $0 - $998
👨‍🏫 Type: Video lectures, online assignments

Another MOOC, edX was started as a collaboration between Harvard and MIT, but these days boasts classes from a wide variety of respected universities. Like Udemy, some of their courses also offer college credits. edX’s courses are weekly, consisting of short videos, interactive learning exercises, and online discussion groups. Their writing courses cover everything from novels to stand-up comedy to digital content. There are also related courses in journalism, composition, and grammar, among other specializations.

5. Coursera

💲 Cost: Free (Creative Writing Specialization)
👨‍🏫 Type: Video lectures, online assignments

One last MOOC for our list, this time founded by several Computer Science professors from Stanford University. But don’t let its history fool you — Coursera offers humanities classes as much as science and technology. In addition to general courses, Coursera also offers specializations, a series of courses that work together much like what you’d find in a university.

I have a long list of creative writing courses. Now what?

If you've narrowed down a list of writing classes you like, then it's time to commit to one of them. But how do you know which is the right fit for your needs and lifestyle?

Before committing to one of them, we recommend considering some of these questions.

  • What skill levels does the writing course cover?
  • What’s the price of the writing course? Does it match your budget?
  • How long does the writing course run for?
  • Who is the instructor of the course? Can you verify their credentials?
  • Is the writing course remote or in-person?

More creative writing resources

Whether you’re a new or established author, there are always evergreen resources out there to how to get a headstart on creative writing!

Free online materials

Recommended books

 

Save courses to shortlist them

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