What is creative writing?
Creative writing is often best understood through a description of what it’s not: it is not business, journalistic, academic, or technical writing.
Here is what creative writing is: it is the art of telling stories through written mediums. To many people, the novel is the most obvious form of creative writing, but it can also be found in essays, screenplays, poetry, memoirs, and much more.
As you can imagine, one of the common threads that connects all forms of creative writing is, well, imagination. In fiction, this is embodied in the creation of the story itself; in nonfiction, it’s inherent in the way that the author chooses to present (and engage with) facts and real events to create a compelling narrative.
Why is creative writing important?
We might as easily ask: why is it important to tell stories? Because that’s just what people do. It’s our way to make sense of the world and ourselves, and share it with others. History abounds with the art of the story. Look anywhere on a world timeline, and you’ll find examples of creative writing fulfilling our need for creative expression, from Homer’s epics in 800 B.C. to Dante’s inferno to modern essays shared on the Internet today.
Nothing suggests that it will ever disappear, either! In fact, creative writing is arguably even more important in the age of AI, in which we must continue to tell powerful human stories instead of outsourcing such a fundamental task to soulless machines.
How do creative writing courses teach creative writing?
If you’ve decided that you want to invest in your own creative writing, that’s great! Get ready to embark on a lifelong learning path. Like all art forms, creative writing is a skill that you must constantly train in order to improve.
Learning creative writing, of course, can be as simple as you want. All you need is pen and paper — or, these days, a computer with a writing app.
You can also take a creative writing class if you’re interested in a certain writing topic, or if you simply want an experienced instructor to point out the way for you. A course can fast-track your writing progress by teaching you something about the art of writing in one day that might otherwise take a year for you to pick up by yourself. They also often specialize in a specific area of creative writing, for instance:
- Character development, i.e. the way that characters change from beginning to end of a story.
- Genre conventions and tropes, i.e. what conventions you should write to in a certain genre — and what you can (and perhaps should) subvert.
- Story structure, i.e. the order of plot points and key events that a story should take in order to be compelling.
- Writing voice, i.e. the unique writing style that only you can bring to a story.
Because there are thousands of aspects to creative writing, there are thousands of creative writing classes. That’s why we built this directory of the best creative writing courses. We’ve made it filterable by genre, price, and more to make it easier for you to find the perfect class for your needs.
But what are the best creative writing classes?
The best creative writing course depends on you, and your own profile! We always recommend that you thoroughly do your research to personalize your choice for yourselves.
With that said, below are some recommendations to kick you off.
The best creative writing classes for beginners
If you’ve got a book idea, and you’re willing to invest some money to write it, then Reedsy’s How to Write a Novel could be a great place for you to start. Over three months, this full-fledged course will take you step-by-step from your idea to your first draft — and give you a supportive writing community to boot.
💲 Cost: $1,000+
👨🏫 Type: Video
The best in-person creative writing classes
Gotham Writers, the biggest adult-education writing school in the US, is based in New York City and offers in-person classes. With self-paced courses, write-ins, and several free events per term, it emulates the university feel wherever possible.
💲 Cost: $165 - $450
👨🏫 Type: In-person
The best free creative writing classes
Reedsy Learning is composed of bite-sized modules that are emailed to you once a day for ten days. They can be read in five minutes — and best of all, they’re free! Each module is packed with practical tips, additional resources, and exercises to sharpen your skills.
💲 Cost: Free
👨🏫 Type: Email
