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523 Best Creative Writing Classes in 2025

Showing 523 courses that match your search.

This four-week online workshop focuses on revision strategies addressing manuscript conflict and stakes. Participants share challenges and receive feedback on sample pages, refining their narrative craft.

Website: https://grubstreet.org/

Categories: Book and Memoir

Start date:

May, 2025

Price:

$370.00

Online course

Level: Advanced

Length: 4 weeks

Class size: 12

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

The course focuses on crafting compelling opening lines and paragraphs for novels, memoirs, and non-fiction. It involves analyzing acclaimed examples and provides feedback on participants' own work.

Website: https://grubstreet.org/find-a-class

Categories: Fiction, Book, Memoir, and Nonfiction

Start date:

May, 2025

Price:

$55.00

Online course

Level: Any

Length: 1 session (2 hours)

Class size: 50 seats max

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

This online seminar focuses on practical strategies to enhance writers' chances of publication by preparing them to seize opportunities when they arise. Participants will leave with a personalized action plan tailored to their strengths and goals.

Website: https://grubstreet.org/workshop/

Categories: Publishing

Start date:

October, 2024

Price:

$55.00

Based in Boston

Level: Intermediate

Length: 1 day seminar, 1.5 hours

Class size: 50 seats max

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This seminar focuses on helping authors navigate the complexities of book marketing and publicity. It covers the pros and cons of various marketing methods from an author's perspective, alongside DIY strategies.

Website: https://grubstreet.org/find-a-class

Categories: Publishing

Start date:

May, 2025

Price:

$55.00

Online course

Level: Intermediate

Length: 1 session (1.5 hours)

Class size: 50 seats max

Writing Memoir

Writing NSW

A poetry workshop focused on transforming everyday experiences into epic poetry. Participants will explore techniques to deepen their writing and gain insights into contemporary poetic works.

Website: https://writingnsw.org.au/

Categories: Poetry

Start date:

September, 2024

Price:

$210.00

Based in Sydney

Level: Beginner

Length: 1 day, 10am to 4pm

Class size: 15

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Reading Your Work Out Loud

The Writer's Center

The course teaches proposal writing for non-profits, focusing on prospect research, proposal elements, and budgeting. Participants will draft a proposal by the end of the class.

Website: https://writer.org/

Categories: Nonfiction and Technical

Start date:

August, 2024

Price:

$215.00

Based in Washington

Level: Intermediate

Length: 2 weeks

Class size: Limited

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

The course teaches plotting and executing branching narratives for video games, writing in different interactive genres, and building a portfolio. It focuses on understanding non-linear storytelling and developing a vocabulary for interactive fiction.

Website: https://www.uclaextension.edu/

Categories: Fiction, Fantasy, and Science Fiction

Start date:

April, 2025

Price:

$720.00

Online course

Level: Intermediate

Length: 10 weeks

Class size: 15

This class focuses on using spreadsheets for revising manuscripts, helping writers analyze plot, themes, and pacing efficiently.

Website: https://grubstreet.org/find-a-class

Categories: Book and Publishing

Start date:

May, 2025

Price:

$55.00

Online course

Level: Beginner

Length: 1 session (1.5 hours)

Class size: 50 seats max

This course provides a supportive and accelerated dive into novel writing with a small group of ten writers. It includes manuscript revision, knowledge strengthening about the novel form, and introductions to the publishing world through guest speakers.

Website: https://grubstreet.org/find-a-class/

Categories: Fiction

Start date:

June, 2025

Price:

$8,955.00

Based in Boston

Level: Any

Length: 12 months

Class size: 10 seats max

This intensive workshop is designed for serious writers looking to polish or complete short fiction pieces. The course includes peer workshops and in-depth discussions of craft elements such as dialogue, point of view, and voice.

Website: https://grubstreet.org/

Categories: Fiction and Short Story

Start date:

June, 2025

Price:

$770.00

Online course

Level: Advanced

Length: 10 weeks, 1 session per week

Class size: 9 seats max

Prerequisites: Students must have taken previous fiction workshops at GrubStreet or elsewhere.

The Clarion Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers' Workshop

University of California, San Diego

An intensive six-week summer workshop focused on writing fantasy and science fiction short stories, featuring critiques, lectures, and mentorship from distinguished faculty.

Website: http://clarion.ucsd.edu/

Categories: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Fiction

Start date:

June, 2025

Price:

$6,000.00

Based in San Diego

Level: Intermediate

Length: 6 weeks; June 29 – August 9, 2025

Class size: 18 students max

Prerequisites: Applicants must submit two short stories with their application.

This course covers core components of query letters and strategies for successful pitches. Includes real-life examples and common pitfalls.

Website: https://grubstreet.org/find-a-class/

Categories: Publishing

Start date:

May, 2025

Price:

$55.00

Online course

Level: Beginner

Length: 1 session (2 hours)

Class size: 50 seats max

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

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

 

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