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13 Best Free Online Writing Courses For Beginners (2024)

Updated on January 9, 2024 by Patrick

Are you just starting out blogging? Or do you desire to write more persuasive marketing copy, impactful business letters, or engaging books?

If yes, then taking an online writing course designed for beginners is the right path to follow. And that’s why we’ve put together the 13 best online free writing courses for beginners (and all levels).

Let’s improve your writing skills.

best free online writing courses

Best Free Writing Courses Beginners Can Learn Online

1. skillshare: writing for online engagement: fiction in a digital world.

free creative writing courses

Now, if you’re a beginner who’s interested in fiction writing, there’s no better way to kickstart your writing journey than taking a free online writing course.

But don’t think because this course is free, it lacks content.

The instructor of this course is Rebecca Sky. She’s worked with some of the world’s top companies, including Microsoft, Paramount, Sony, Lay’s, and Kraft. She specializes in writing YA fiction, and she’s an accomplished author at that.

In the 11 lessons spanning 1 hour 8 minutes, Rebecca takes her students through several writing classes to help them;

  • Understand how writers can write in the digital age.
  • Grasp writing for an audience and grow a community.
  • Know how to get into writing serialized fiction.
  • Merchandise their stories.

You’ll also get marketing tips to promote your brand and become a successful writer.

And if you’ve been writing fiction without achieving the success you deserve, you can also take the course.

Bloggers and other creative writers can also study her innovative strategies for producing successful books and building an online community of enthusiastic readers.

Another exciting thing about this course is that it’s free for students to learn on Skillshare. For 30 days, you can take this and other writing courses.

  • Outstanding online writing course for beginners and experienced creative writers.
  • Free for students interested in learning to write fiction.
  • An established and published author taught me.
  • It teaches you how to grow a community of raving fans and market your work.
  • Requires little time commitment.
  • Teaches you self-publishing
  • Contains interesting projects.
  • The classes are designed for only fiction writers.
  • It doesn’t issue a certificate of completion.

In all, this is our pick for the best free online writing course in 2024. The free online writing courses help you improve your skills, and they guide you on how you can be a successful writer.

Visit Skillshare.com

2. Skillshare: Creative Writing for All: A 10-day Journaling Challenge

writing classes for beginners

Many writers struggle to write down their ideas. And this is where classes like this 10-day challenge can help.

First, it helps you overcome writer’s block to get the job done. Second, writing requires consistency and discipline. And this course will take you through some strategies to help you write down your thoughts.

The instructor of this course is Emily Gould, an established author and a co-owner of Emily Books (a bestselling indie project).

Her approach is to use creative writing prompts to nudge her writing mojo. And in 6 short video content that lasts only 26 minutes, she’ll help you;

  • Develop your skills in writing personal essays .
  • Become more creative by writing for 10 minutes daily and using the creative writing prompt “Today, I noticed…”).
  • Get more actionable steps to improve your productivity.
  • Write a personal short story in 10 days.

And at the end of the challenge, you’d have produced words you’re happy about and learned a simple technique to commit to writing. And as with other Skillshare courses, you can take this course by activating the platform’s 1-month free trial.

  • Get actionable steps to be a more productive writer
  • Probably the best free online writing course for beginners.
  • Gain access to downloadable course materials.
  • You can share your work with other students and get their feedback.
  • It is not a certification course.
  • It doesn’t teach you about becoming a better writer.

If you’re enthusiastic about fiction and nonfiction writing but find yourself procrastinating or dragging your heels, this course is for you.

3. Open University: Start Writing Fiction: Characters and Stories

free creative writing courses

If fiction writing is a genre you’re passionate about, then you’ll love this course hosted on Open University.

In the in-depth online writing courses, the instructors will walk you through a series of topics to teach you how to develop ideas and characters for your story.

This course will also train students to have healthy habits like keeping a journal and show you ways to turn past or present events into a plot.

Several established writers teach different topics so you can understand them better. However, one notable instructor is Dr. Derek Neale – one of the Open University’s senior lecturers in Creative Writing. He’s also an award-winning novelist and short story author.

Together with the other writers, they’ll engage you in video lessons for 8 weeks and teach you;

  • Introduction to fiction writing.
  • How to start your writing journey, adopt a journaling habit.
  • Develop your characters
  • To create your own space, pick ideas, and learn from other writers.
  • To research, develop a plot, and adopt a notebook habit.
  • To edit and criticize your work.

It is one of the best free online writing courses for fiction writers as it contains more information than you can get from most other courses on this list.

  • Established writers teach these writing classes.
  • You’ll understand character development.
  • It’s free for students to take online writing courses at Open University.
  • It contains extensive topics to make you a great fiction writer.
  • Students will develop ideas, research topics, structure a plot, write, and self-edit their work.
  • The writing classes are in-depth and take around 8 weeks to complete.
  • It is an introductory course.
  • Requires a high commitment level.

This course is one of the best free online writing courses for beginners or students looking to kickstart their writing careers in writing fiction.

Visit Open.edu

4. Skillshare: Creative Writing: Crafting Personal Essays with Impact

essay writing courses online free

Have you got a personal story to share but don’t know how to make it impactful? Have you thought about writing a story that people can learn from and make a difference in their lives?

If yes, then this is the online writing course for you.

Your instructor for this class is Roxanne Gay, a professor, editor, and New York Times, bestselling author. In this course, you’ll develop the skills for first-rate personal essay writing. The instructors will also walk you through the stages, from developing ideas to the final manuscript.

In eight lessons spanning 1 hour, Roxanne will teach you how to;

  • Connect with your audience using your texts.
  • Find your purpose for writing your story.
  • Search inward to bring out those personal memories truly you’ll love to write about.
  • Research to make your story watertight.
  • Avoid mistakes that’ll undermine your work.

You’ll also get tips to revise your essay writing for publishing. The good news is that Skillshare offers you the opportunity to be a great writer with its 1-month free trial.

  • Great course for beginners and all study levels.
  • A New York Times bestselling author teaches this course.
  • You’ll learn to edit your work for publishing.
  • You’ll get insights on how to write words that appeal to various audiences.
  • A good number of downloadable resources and course materials.
  • You’ll get to practice writing essays while receiving feedback on your work.
  • It’s not a certification course.
  • The short course may not contain the information an experienced writer seeks.

5. Udemy: Secret Sauce of Great Writing

free writing courses with certificates

Many writers struggle because they don’t know what makes excellent writing that people love and enjoy reading.

The thought process and techniques that go into creative writing are pretty complex; however, this course distills the ingredients of good writing.

The instructor of this writing course is Shani Raja. He’s a former Wall Street Journal editor who’s also written and edited for other top companies and publications such as Microsoft, PwC, Financial Times, Bloomberg News, etc.

With that wealth of experience, there’s no better person to give you writing classes than Shani. According to him, the four main ingredients for writing great content and stories are;

  • And evocativeness.

So in the 45-minute course, Shani promises not to show you writing tips but a system that’ll change the way you write marketing copy. You’ll see how to apply these in your writing so you can;

  • Create more engaging and exceptional content or exciting books.
  • Spot weaknesses in your writing and improve them.
  • Write more compelling and persuasive emails and sales copy.
  • Create an impression on HR managers with your cover letter.

The good thing is that the creative writing courses aren’t only for those interested in writing books. You can take the course if you own a blog or desire to improve your writing skills.

Interestingly, this is one of the best free online writing courses. But this course is designed mainly for experienced writers and journalists, not beginners.

  • Best for intermediate to more experienced writers.
  • Full lifetime access to course materials.
  • You’ll learn to write more stylish and exceptional content, whether it’s fiction, blogs, poetry, marketing copy, etc.
  • You’ll get a certificate of completion.
  • A very experienced instructor that’s written and edited for some of the top companies in the world.
  • It isn’t the best free online writing course for beginners.
  • The course is not so comprehensive.

Visit Udemy.com

6. Wesleyan University: Creative Writing Specialization

free online writing courses for beginners

If you’ve dreamt of being the author of a short story, an essay, or a nonfiction book like a memoir, this in-depth specialization course is for you.

The creative writing class is offered by Wesleyan University and taught via Coursera. And since it’s a specialization rather than a standalone course, it contains four lessons that four visiting instructors teach from Wesleyan University.

The four modules include;

  • The craft of plot: Here, you’ll learn to develop a scheme that’ll arouse readers’ interest in your short story. Plus, you’ll learn to draft an outline that’ll connect the beginning to the middle and the end.
  • The craft of character: Here, students will learn to relate experiences from their real lives to develop characters. This way, they can easily create characters with feelings, behavior, and habits to make their story interesting.
  • The craft of setting and description: Writers will learn exercises and research to develop realistic and fantastical scenes. It is so they can make their audience read and picture the writer’s imagination.
  • The craft of style: The course lecturers will teach you to develop your unique voice using metaphors and imagery. You’ll also learn to make your short story clearer, and you’ll acquire the revision skills needed to finish off a good story.

You’ll also get lots of practice assignments to help you brush up your writing skills.

  • It is a free online writing course.
  • The in-depth courses are safe-paced and take around 3 – 6 months to complete.
  • Earn a shareable certificate.
  • You’ll get feedback on your assignments.
  • There are subtitles in 12 languages, including English.
  • You don’t need to meet any requirements to take this program.
  • The time commitment is high
  • You’ll have to pay the get the certificate.

Visit Coursera.org

7. Alison: Business Communication – Fundamentals of Business Writing

best online writing courses

If you’d love to express yourself clearly and efficiently to your employees, bosses, and clients, this online writing course on Alison has got you.

This program will train you to write the kind of cover letter that’ll impact your prospective employer. It’ll also help you write better and more professional business letters, proposals, and reports.

In 3 hours, the expert instructors will guide you through;

  • Understanding the how, why, what, who, where, and when of business writing.
  • Learn how to plan and write a business document.
  • You adopt a writing style that’ll make your business letter easy to understand, persuasive, compelling, and memorable.
  • I am writing more valuable reports.
  • The structure you can use to write texts in your business communication.

At the end of the course, you’ll earn a certificate of completion from this free course. However, you’ll have to pay a fee to get your certificate. But you can get discounts on the certificates, so it’s worth it.

  • This lesson will help you understand the legal implications of business writing.
  • Write better reports, cover letters, and other business documents.
  • Course assessment leading to certification.
  • Professional instructors teach this writing class.
  • You’ll have to pay to get certified.
  • The course is for beginners to intermediate-level students.

Visit Alison.com

8. LinkedIn Learning: Writing Ad Copy

online writing courses free

If you have poor conversions from your social media advertising, there’s a possibility the problem is not with your strategy.

It’s likely the problem lies with your ad copy. The good news is that this course is aimed at helping you write effective ad copy that will increase not only your clicks, traffic, and engagement but also your conversions and sales.

And there’s no other person more qualified to teach this online writing course than a seasoned marketer. The instructor of this course is Mike Duquet, a growth and conversion optimization strategist at Hootsuite.

In this course, Mike takes you through a range of topics to help you understand how ads work on different platforms and how to convert your clicks to sales.

Here’s an overview of the topics and content of this 1-hour course;

  • Introduction to crafting your message and picking the right tone of voice.
  • The psychological triggers that increase conversion.
  • Rules for writing ad copy for your website, email, direct mail, and social media.
  • Designing your customer persona
  • How to set your copy goals and achieve them
  • How to write effective headlines and call to action.

And at the end of the courses, you’d have learned the triggers that encourage online buyers to buy products and services. And your copywriting game would have changed for the better.

We’re excited to announce that you can take this course for free on LinkedIn Learning as they’re offering students a 1-month free trial.

  • Teaches learners how to increase conversion by generating the right ideas to write effective ad copy.
  • Free training program for you to take.
  • You’ll get a recognized certification.
  • You’ll be adept at writing marketing copy for the web, emails, social media, and direct mail.
  • A marketing director with lots of copywriting experience teaches this course.
  • Requires a minimal time commitment.
  • Improve your advertising and copywriting skills
  • Only teaches students how to write copy that drives sales; doesn’t teach you to become a better writer of other prose.
  • The short courses are not so in-depth, so you’ll probably need more courses to expand your knowledge.

Visit Linkedin.com

9. Alison: English Writing Skills

creative writing classes online free

If you desire to become a better writer who is versatile in writing in several English writing styles, then Alison’s English Writing Skills course is for you.

This writing course will guide you on passing your message across regardless of the type of audience you’re writing for. And at the end of the classes, you’ll be confident in your writing skills.

In this under 3-hour course, the top-class instructors will teach you how to;

  • Write engaging content in different types of writing styles; comedy, science fiction, opinionative, thriller, descriptive, poetry, suspense, etc.
  • Combine various writing styles into a story.
  • Write engaging pieces for your ideal audience.
  • Identify the kind and situation of your audience.

So whether you’re interested in learning more about poetry or Sci-Fi, there will be a module (or two) that’ll interest you. You’ll also get a couple of assessments to help you fast-track your learning and writing process.

The good news is that this course is one of the best free online writing courses you can take.

  • Structured for almost all skill levels.
  • Requires minimal time commitment – 3 hours.
  • Seasoned professionals teach this course.
  • You’ll get a free certificate of completion.
  • Doesn’t teach the classes in-depth.

10. Coursera: Writing in The Sciences

free online writing courses

Now, if you’re a scientist who does a lot of research, you may not be interested in fiction and nonfiction writing. And that’s where this class offered by Stanford University via Coursera can help.

Here, this online writing course takes a deep dive into medical writing and other science fields to help you put your research work into proper writing.

The instructor of the writing courses is Dr. Kristin Sainani, an associate Professor in Health Research and Policy. And through lots of video lessons, she’ll guide you through a range of topics to make your scientific writing more effective and impactful.

In 30 hours of on-demand, Kristin will walk you through;

  • The introduction and key principles to effective scientific writing.
  • Getting a grasp of English grammar; writing with active verbs, using strong verbs, the right punctuations, and making your writing follow a logical structure.
  • Tips to make you more organized and ease your writing process.
  • Formatting tables and writing sections for discussion.
  • How to avoid plagiarism and attend/host interviews.

Each section has got practice writing assignments to make you quickly grasp the concepts. And you’ll also learn peer review and grant writing.

But what we love about this Coursera course is that it’s one of the best free online writing courses for students and lecturers.

  • The in-depth classes are free for interested students
  • The writing course is easy to understand and created for beginners.
  • Coursera issues shareable certificates.
  • The online writing courses are self-paced.
  • It’s subtitled in English and 8 other languages.
  • Compared to the other online writing courses on this list, this class requires more time commitment.
  • It’s only for science writing, and not for other writing styles.

11. LinkedIn Learning: Writing with Impact

writing lessons for adults

The basis of writing impactful prose, poetry, or scientific manuscripts lies in how well your content suits the purpose of your words. And that’s what you’ll learn in this LinkedIn Learning online writing course.

The instructor – Tom Geller – will introduce you to concepts that’ll make your writing more appealing to your readers regardless of the genre you’re writing for.

And why should you care about the instructor? He’s a seasoned communicator and trainer who has worked with Apple, Association or Computing Machinery, Nature.com, etc. So, when it comes to writing and evoking a reaction from an audience, Tom is pretty good at it.

In 1 hour, he’ll show you how to;

  • Shorten your sentences and paragraphs, making them easier to read.
  • Understand your readers and know what they want.
  • Write with purpose by finding your reasons.
  • Pick the most impactful words that will pair well with your reasons.
  • Choose the tone of voice that’ll resonate with your audience.
  • And use appropriate grammar and sentence structure to make your content crisp to read.

There are lots of chapter quizzes to make you quickly grasp the concept of writing shorter and clearer. And interestingly, you can activate your free trial on the LinkedIn Learning platform and take this online writing course for free.

  • You’ll learn how to find your purpose and write more impactful prose regardless of your genre.
  • The instructor has over 20 years of experience as a communicator and trainer.
  • This is a certification course.
  • A good number of chapter quizzes to fast-track your learning process.
  • Minimal time commitment.
  • The units you’ll get from this class qualify you for continuing education.
  • The course is mostly for beginners.
  • The class is not so in-depth.

12. University of California Berkeley (edX): Academic and Business Writing

free online writing course

University programs tend to be more in-depth than other MOOC courses: so let’s explore this writing class for English language learners.

This program takes an easy approach to teaching students the English language to be beneficial to them in their academics and writing careers.

In this course, students will be taught English grammar and vocabulary that’ll help improve their business communication skills. There will also be topics and classes that will center on grasping structuring texts and editing.

In this 5-week online writing class, the College Writing Programs director, Maggie Sokolik, will help you improve your business and academic writing by;

  • Acquainting you with different writing styles – whether for business or academic purposes.
  • Teaching you how to improve your diction and tone to enhance your communication skills.
  • Showing you how to develop an essay.
  • Teaching you how to edit, proofread, and revise your words.

A couple of chapter quizzes, readings, essays, and writing assignments encourage you to hone your writing skills.

  • There are lots of writing programs on edX, but this one from the University of California is one of the bests.
  • It’s free to take this training program.
  • Recognized certificate upon completion (paid).
  • Self-paced class offered by a reputable university.
  • The university programs director teaches this course.
  • Lots of downloadable course materials.
  • The assignments and exams are graded.
  • Requires a high level of commitment compared to most of the other free online writing courses on this list.
  • You’ll have to pay to get the certificate.

If you desire a recognized certification from one of the most reputable universities, this one from the University of California will make a great choice.

Visit Edx.org

13. CalArts: Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop

free online writing workshops

If you’re looking for a dedicated poetry course to help you express your thoughts better, you’ve got that in this program created by CalArts.

In this course taught by Douglass Kearny (an assistant professor in creative writing), you’ll study a couple of contemporary poets and try your hands on a few practice assignments.

The training will last for 6 weeks, and the instructor will engage you with the following topics;

  • The importance of line breaks in poetry and how to do it.
  • Using abstractions and images to create more empathetic moods and relationships.
  • How to use metaphors and other elements to create more poetic effects in your writing.
  • The different types of rhymes and how to apply them in your writing.

Each module has quizzes to help you brush up on your knowledge and skill. And it’s free to enroll in this course.

  • This is a free course that’ll teach you poetry in-depth.
  • It’s great for beginners.
  • It’s taught by a top-class instructor and offered by a reputable college.
  • It’s a certification course.
  • You’ll need to pay to get the shareable certificate.
  • You can only access the peer-reviewed aspect of the class.

FAQ’s

How can i improve my writing skills online for free.

You can improve your writing skills by taking courses on the internet. There are lots of free courses you can take on Skillshare, Udemy, and LinkedIn Learning. There are also paid courses with more in-depth topics and content, but taking the free programs is a great way to improve your writing skills.

After taking an online writing course or more, you can begin writing and editing your words with tools such as Microsoft Word, Grammarly, Hemingway App, Pro Writing Aid, thesaurus, Readability-Score.com, etc.

Can I teach myself creative writing?

Yes, you can learn to write creatively and improve your creative writing skills. And these tips will help you develop your creative writing skills;

  • Take one of the best creative writing classes on the internet (check the above-listed courses).
  • Read the books or works of some of the best authors that you love their writing style.
  • Keep a journal. Describe the places you visited and activities you partook in vividly.
  • Write a personal essay or memoir or a story of someone (a friend, relative, or neighbor) close to you.
  • Create a story using the snowflake method . In the snowflake method, you come up with a summary or big picture for your story and begin adding more elements as you develop the story.
  • Leave your writing for a while. Go outdoors or do something else. You may get inspiration from engaging in other activities.
  • Connect with other writers (experienced and amateur).
  • Engage in freewriting. Freewriting is when you write without following an outline, structure, or editing your text. Just write as the random thoughts come in without refining them. The unrefined text may not make much sense but this can help you be more creative in the long run.

Writing can be a rewarding career because you have the skill to express your thoughts clearly.

There are rewarding careers worth checking out: data entry clerk, AutoCAD professional. Here are more free courses to help you become a professional. Plus you can take Coursera courses for free by using this guide.

And even if you’re not interested in a writing career, an online writing course can help you write more impactful letters, emails, and sales texts.

  • Free Online Courses with Printable Certificates
  • Best Online Transcription Courses & Training
  • Best Free Online Interior Design Courses
  • Best Free Udemy Courses with Certificates

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About Patrick

Patrick is a teacher and education enthusiast. He is passionate about online education and always looks for new and innovative ways to learn new skills. He writes about different online courses, career opportunities, and self-improvement with the goal to help others succeed in their journey

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SkillScouter

Learn How To Write Well With 2024‘s Top 12 Best Free Online Writing Courses For Beginners

Best Free Online Writing Courses For Beginners

Do you want to learn how to write an essay, book, poem, or article, but you are not sure exactly where to begin? Perhaps you want to write a killer blog post without completely relying on Grammarly ?

Well, this is the guide for you!

In this guide, I have rounded up some of the best free online writing classes that are great for beginners and all skill levels. This means that you can learn at your own pace without paying a single dime for quality online courses while learning the writing process!

While each of the below creative writing courses is slightly different from one another, each delivers great insights on how to become a master of the craft and even a freelance writer! Let’s begin on your road to a bestseller!

Table of Contents

Top 12 Best Free Online Writing Courses For Beginners 2024!

1. crafting personal essays with impact (skillshare).

Creative Writing: Crafting Personal Essays with Impact

Have you got a masterpiece in your mind but are not sure how to portray it on paper? Well, this is your course!

Your instructor for this class is a best-selling author and editor Roxanne Gay who has written for major publications such as the New York Times, Dexter and Marvel. Being an editor as well, she can guide you away from common pitfalls that could weaken your work.

In the one hour of on-demand video training, you will cover topics like choosing your key thoughts, researching the subject, writing your first draft, how to rewrite and edit yourself, and how to get published.

This course will also inspire you, giving you the tools to transform your thoughts into a readable personal essay. Take yourself seriously and give your ideas a real voice. Being hosted on Skillshare, users can this course for free on a 1-month free trial.

Overall, a well-rounded course that is ideal for beginners!

  • 1 hour on-demand video
  • Taught by successful writer
  • Includes editor insights
  • Downloadable resources including FAQs
  • Class projects

Activate FREE Skillshare Trial

2. Create Successful Writing Habits (Skillshare)

Creative Writing: Crafting Personal Essays with Impact

Next up on my list is a great course that aims to teach you some of the fundamentals of engaging and impactful writing. From learning these skills and habits, you will be able to apply them to fiction, non-fiction, poetry , copywriting, creative nonfiction, and the list goes on!

To give you tools and teach you how to use them, best-selling author and screenwriter Simon Van Booy will show you 6 essential steps to becoming a great writer.

The steps are 1, make your space, 2, find your medium, 3, read inspiring works, 4, set your conditions, 5, stick to a routine, and 6, sketch to stay inspired. What these 6 things all mean and how they apply to your writing is what the 38 minutes of on-demand video will teach.

This is a great course for anyone aspiring to be a writer as well as established writers wishing to hone their skills to a higher quality level. Being hosted in Skillshare, this course is completely free!

  • Beginner level
  • 38 minutes on demand video
  • Established and successful writer is instructor
  • 15,000 students enrolled
  • Online community to join

3. Writing for Online Engagement (Skillshare)

Writing for Online Engagement: Fiction in a Digital World

Moving on is another great course for beginners that is taught by Rebecca Sky in this 1 ¼ hour class on fiction writing in a digital age. Rebecca is an author of YA fiction and has also written for companies including Paramount, Sony, Microsoft, Lay’s, and Kraft.

Some of the core modules included in this course are writing skills, plot details, finding an audience, marketing, creative strategies, and more!

So if your goal is to become a successful author of fiction and maybe even to publish your own stories yourself, this instruction concerning online engagement is a great class to take. It’s not just for beginners either, any level of writer wanting to better their skills can also take a lot from this class.

Overall, an interesting course for those looking to publish online via a blog or news website.

• All levels • 1 hour 8 minutes • Published author teacher • Focused on fiction writers • Covers self publishing and promotion • 8,000 students enrolled

4. Writing Articles (LinkedIn Learning/ Lynda)

Writing Articles

Up next is a great masterclass from LinkedIn Learning (previously Lynda) that helps you to write accurate, engaging and interesting articles for businesses. While this course is more intermediate, it is still a great resource for complete beginners also.

Instructor Tom Geller is a writer of technology-centered articles and a trainer for communication skills in the workplace. His class is just under an hour and covers all the basics you need to know to get started.

This course starts out by showing you how to find assignments, then moves on to the research needed for informative articles. From there, he shares the best way to conduct an interview for an article, and then how to wrap it all up. With all LinkedIn Learning course, there is a certificate of completion available once completed.

Like Skillshare, LinkedIn Learning provides a free trial so you can take this course for no charge whatsoever! To learn more, check out my LinkedIn Learning Vs Lynda guide .

  • Focuses on industry and business article writing
  • Professional writer trainer
  • Exercise files
  • Certificate of completion

Visit Linkedin.com

5. Creative Writing for All: A 10-Day Journaling Challenge (Skillshare)

Creative Writing for All: A 10-Day Journaling Challenge

One of the worst things any writer may have to deal with is writer’s block. Luckily, this class will show you how to take the offensive against that problem, making sure it never happens in the first place.

Author and editor Emily Gould leads this short series of lessons that guides you into a mindset of creativity. If you commit to writing for 10 minutes for 10 days in a row, you will be able to put her ideas into practice which makes this an incredibly actionable course.

While this course isn’t for everyone, it may be ideal for those in the early stages of writing who are hitting writing blocks.

  • Published author and working editor as trainer
  • Class project
  • Downloadable resources
  • 19,000 students enrolled

6. English Writing Skills (Alison)

English Writing Skills

Expressing yourself clearly is vital for engaging people with your writing. If you don’t communicate the idea well, the article, story, or advertisement is not going to do the job you wanted it to do.

There’s more to writing than just knowing what words to use and how to punctuate properly. There are also certain styles of writing that lend themselves to be better for one purpose or another. You write one way for suspense fiction another way for comedy. Instructions and informative articles use different styles than poetry or inspirational pieces.

The course takes about 3 hours, has assessments, and a certificate of completion is available. Over 124,000 students have taken this class. The instructors are all professionals in their fields and are certified to be trainers on the Alison online learning platform. When deciding on what free online writing course for beginners to take, this is a good one to examine.

  • Beginner to intermediate level
  • Course assessments
  • Professional instructors
  • 124,000 students enrolled
  • Certificate of completion available

Visit Alison.com

7. Secret Sauce of Great Writing (Udemy)

Secret Sauce of Great Writing

What makes for good BBQ? “The secret’s in the sauce!” The secret sauce of great writing is found in this 42-minute course detailing the four ingredients of elite writing. Those ingredients are simplicity, clarity, elegance, and evocativeness. Put those into practice and your writing will certainly benefit.

The instructor Shani Raja is a former editor for the Wall Street Journal. He includes writing exercises in with the lesson instruction. It’s 45 minutes of on demand video and online resources are included. You can dive deeper with our journalism course reviews as well.

The techniques and methods of good writing taught in this class work when writing business compositions, personal blogs, fiction, or poetry and prose. These same methods are also effective for editing your own work before turning it over to a publication or editor.

  • Intermediate level
  • 45 minutes of on demand video instruction
  • Includes writing exercises
  • 126,000 students

Visit Udemy.com

8. How to Write Stories That Thrill in Any Genre (Skillshare)

Writing Suspense: How to Write Stories That Thrill in Any Genre

Award-winning novel, short story, and Marvel writer Benjamin Percy is a master of writing thriller and suspense fiction.

The instruction in this intermediate level class is designed for writers of fiction but it holds up as good practice for any type of writing. If you want your readers to hang on to every word and be eager for more, you’ll want to pay attention to the tips and tricks taught in this course. There is no better way to learn novel writing!

Some of the things discussed are developing a workable plot, controlling what the reader knows, building believable character development, and blending emotional content with the suspense narrative.

  • 1 hour 16 minutes
  • Award winning author teacher
  • Thriller and suspense genre
  • Online resources

9. Writing with Impact (LinkedIn Learning)

Writing with Impact

The purpose of this course is to show you how to write with purpose for whatever the subject, genre, or audience is. A concept taught in the lessons is that there is no such thing a generic good writing. What you are doing, you have to target your audience.

Grammar and sentence structure are important, but there are subtle nuances that you will learn to identify and implement after finishing this instruction. You’ll learn the goals “write short, write clear, and write right.”

You will learn how to make long paragraphs easier to read and how to effectively make use of shorter paragraphs and efficient word choice.

The instructors is Tom Geller, an established professional and certified for being a trainer at LinkedIn Learning. With this course, you get extra resources, chapter quizzes, and a certificate of completion.

  • 1 hour on demand video
  • Qualifies for continuing education units
  • Chapter quizzes
  • Professional author instructor

10. Essay Essentials: Improve Your Academic Writing (Udemy)

Essay Essentials: Improve Your Academic Writing

Academic writing is a different type of writing than many of us are used to. There are some specific rules that need to be followed for most essays.

In this writing workshop, you’ll learn techniques useful for either high school or collegiate level essay writing. Included in the training are writing exercises, chapter quizzes, and a downloadable essay guide. You will also learn about using the resources in your classroom or school library, what it means to achieve effective revising, and how to properly edit. Concepts concerning paragraphs for introduction, conclusions, and the body of the essay are discussed as well.

The trainer is Andrew Sippie, an English composition teacher and tutor. He has a specialization in teaching in classrooms and online for several years as a college professor, bringing his skills and experience (and Masters Degree) to the Udemy online learning platform.

  • Beginner level (self-paced)
  • Taught by college professor
  • Concentrates on academic essays

11. Writing Ad Copy (LinkedIn Learning)

Writing Ad Copy

Advertising is one of the hardest genres of writing. It seems so simple, just tell what it is or does in a few short words. But which words? What part of the product or concept to highlight? That’s vitally important information to dispense.

Ad copy is not limited to the printed page, but also as commercial scripts. As for printed words, media varies from blogs to emails to social media. This class helps you find the best way to get your ideas across in the best way possible.

Michael Duquet is the instructor for this course. He is a marketing director for online activity for a software company and has years of ad copy writing experience.

  • 1 hour 7 minutes
  • Specific information for advertising writing
  • Marketing director is the trainer

12. Business Communication – Fundamentals of Business Writing (Alison)

Business Communication - Fundamentals of Business Writing

Business to business (B2B) is big business. Effective business communication is vital for successful companies.

It’s also important to communicate well within your own workplace. Resumes, cover letters, and reports are also required to be as good as possible if they are to be useful and effective.

Even filling out a job application needs good writing skills if you want your application to make it to the right pile of papers.

This class will give you the ability to write clear, concise, and efficient words for your workplace writing endeavors.

  • Course assessment
  • 46,000 students enrolled

Final Thoughts

I’m a writer. (But I really want to direct.) Writing seems to come naturally for some people. Even if doesn’t, free online writing courses for learners can train you to write well. If you are already a good writer, these same courses will help you do a better job.

To learn more, check out my guide on the  top online proofreading courses !

More goes into writing than merely being talkative. These free online writing courses for beginners will show you how to create a narrative and how to engage people’s interests. You could be writing ad copy for an online store, a term paper for school, a short story for publication, a business proposal for your job, or an inspirational poem for someone you love.

All of those situations and more can be tricky to get right. It doesn’t have to be hard, though. Writing can be fun and profitable. These classes provide the valuable training you need to be able to communicate with skill and panache.

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My name is Lewis Keegan and I am the writer and editor of SkillScouter.com. I'm extremely passionate about online education and what it can do for those to better their lives. I spend most of my time blogging, hiking, and drinking coffee. I also have a Bachelor's Degree in Education and Teaching.

Explore online writing courses and programs

Why learn writing skills.

The ability to write well is a foundational skill for communication in both personal and professional settings. Writing allows you to express thoughts, opinions, ideas, and emotions. It facilitates connections between people and allows them to engage in the type of discourse that can lead to discovery and progress. 

Clear and concise writing that conveys information both accurately and precisely can help guide people’s decision making and actions. The style of writing can express the importance and sense of urgency behind a message. The flow of writing can change the emotions that people feel when reading those words.   

Whether you are writing a script for a podcast, crafting an email to your colleagues, or penning a message to a family member, strong writing skills can significantly improve how the communication is delivered and how it is received.

Writing | Introduction Image Description

Browse online writing classes

Stand out in your field, learn at your own pace, earn a valuable credential, online writing course curriculum.

With online writing courses, any learner can master the skills needed to become a strong writer. Start with the fundamentals in an online grammar course, where you can learn about the different parts of speech, punctuation, conjugation, and sentence structure. Or more advanced writers can practice their storytelling and persuasive writing skills with an essay writing course. Develop your own style by reading and analyzing the works of other writers, and explore how to write in different formats and tones in creative writing courses. 

You can even find courses that teach writing for specific contexts. For example, a business writing class may cover how to relay tough feedback or how to adjust your tone to build consensus. 

For learners interested in advancing their knowledge in a variety of subjects, edX offers a range of educational opportunities, including boot camps , as well as bachelor's degree programs, and master’s degree programs. Explore how online education can help you build the critical skills you need and get started learning today.

Explore writing jobs

Clear writing and communication skills are assets in nearly every industry. Regardless of whether you work as a lawyer or a mathematician, you will likely need to be capable of crafting a well-written message. 

But for those who enjoy writing, there are careers that can leverage their talents, including: 

Journalist: Writes news or feature articles for video, online, or print publications. 

Novelist or author: Focuses on storytelling by writing longform fiction and nonfiction. 

Copywriter: Writes marketing-driven copy such as advertisements and emails. 

Communications or public relations specialist: Delivers strategic messages on behalf of a client or an organization. 

Speech writer: Crafts speeches for individuals including leaders or lawmakers.

Screenwriter: Develops scripts for movies, television shows, and other visual media.

Editor: Reviews and revises written materials for accuracy, clarity, and style.  

How to start a career in writing 

Writing takes practice. If you are interested in pursuing a career in the field, it’s important to ensure that you have a mastery of the fundamentals of writing. You can build those skills through instruction and coursework in which you have to apply what you have learned. That means responding to prompts, writing essays, and critically reviewing your work to better understand how you can improve. 

Writing also requires expertise. While you can be a general writer, somebody who wants to pursue a technical writing career, for example, will need background knowledge of that field in order to be able to understand what they are reporting on or writing about. A strong understanding of how to research, interview, and source can also be beneficial for aspiring professionals in this space. 

If you dream of being the next great writer, begin honing your craft with online courses delivered through edX.

More opportunities for you to learn

We've added 500+ learning opportunities to create one of the world's most comprehensive free-to-degree online learning platforms.

Executive Education

Master's degrees, bachelor's degrees, writing faq.

Effective writing is clear and accurate and provides enough context to engage readers and help them understand the message you are trying to deliver. For example, journalists provide context by focusing on the “who, what, when, where, and why” of a situation. 

There are many different types of writing including, but not limited to: persuasive writing, creative writing, poetry, script writing, journalism, nonfiction, academic writing, speech writing, and song writing. 

Learners develop writing skills at their own pace. Developing mastery takes practice and time. 

Sometimes grammatical rules are not universally applicable, which can make them difficult to remember. Everyone has different learning styles and speeds. Memorization can help, but practice is key.

There are online courses that can help you learn how to organize your ideas and develop your voice for a business setting. You can practice writing effective emails, reports, and presentations. 

Aspiring creative writers can develop their skills by taking classes that not only teach them about the essential elements of storytelling, but also give them opportunities to practice writing and critiquing both their own work and the work of other writers. 

Last updated January 2024

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Home / Book Writing / 16 Best Online Courses for Writers in 2024 [Free & Paid]

16 Best Online Courses for Writers in 2024 [Free & Paid]

Table of contents.

  • Best Overall Online Writing Courses: MasterClass
  • Best Course to Help Finish Your Book: The 100-Day Book Program
  • Best Writing Course for Beginners: Writing With Flair
  • Best Course for Children's Book Writers: Children's Book University
  • Best Course for Amazon Self-Publishers: AMS Ads for Books
  • Best Online Memoir Writing Course: Memoirama
  • Best Course for Indie Publishers: WCU's Publishing MA Program
  • Best Online Course for Bloggers: Freedom Machine
  • Best Course for Sci-Fi Writers: Writers of the Future Online Workshop
  • Best Course For Writing a Novel Step-by-Step: A Fearless Way to Write Novels
  • Best Free Online Writing Courses of 2023

What is the best online course for writers in 2024? In this article, I’ll cover the highest-quality online classes that are free…and not so free. How can I improve my writing skills online? You can improve your writing skills using online classes that push your creative writing, business writing, and academic writing skills to their maximum potential.

A writer needs to keep improving his or her craft. Online writing courses aren't just for amateurs or writing hobbyists; they're for all writers. However, all online writing courses are not created equal. Some courses available are a waste of money, while others are the best money can buy. (Some of the best courses are free .) When looking at the prices, try not to think how steep the cost is. Think of the money you will make if you take the course. Think of how much it would cost to earn an MFA for a specialization in creative writing. These are (often tax-deductible) investments in your career. I've devised a comprehensive list of my favorite online writing courses in 2024, including their cost and what type of course they are. This way, you'll know exactly what you're getting into when you enroll.

  • Best general online writing courses
  • How much each course costs
  • Best genre courses for writing sci-fi, children’s books , memoirs
  • What free , high-quality courses Kindlepreneur offers
  • Best free online classes (in case you're on a tight budget)

Links in this article may give me a small commission if you use them to purchase products. There’s NO extra cost to you, and it helps me continue to write handy articles like this one. This does not detract from the quality of the courses; there's a reason I affiliate myself with them. It's because they're awesome!

If you’re specifically interested in self-publishing courses, check out my article on the Best Self Publishing Courses .

MasterClass is a massive archive of online courses providing training in specific subjects by titans of that particular industry. MasterClass features the biggest names in writing, such as Neil Gaiman, Joyce Carol Oates, and Dan Brown. What course should I take to become a writer? MasterClass is the best use of your money as an online course to become a writer . Learn from the best. MasterClass courses are the best overall online writing courses because bestselling authors teach them. Plus, your monthly subscription fee gives you access to all of the fantastic MasterClass courses. The courses are self-paced, comprehensive, insightful, geared toward an “intermediate and above” student, and undeniably invaluable. How much does MasterClass cost? MasterClass costs $180/year ($15/month, billed annually). You can also pay $90 for a single class. They seldom offer discounts or coupon codes. MasterClasses features big-name authors, such as:

  • Malcolm Gladwell
  • Joyce Carol Oates
  • James Patterson
  • Neil Gaiman
  • Margaret Atwood
  • David Sedaris
  • Shonda Rhimes
  • Aaron Sorkin (for screenwriting)

Which writing MasterClass is the best? I recommend Malcolm Gladwell’s writing MasterClass. It is the best course for finding the story you need to convey, instead of just telling the reader what to believe. Bonus: If you sign up for MasterClass, you not only gain access to incredible online writing courses, you can listen to all the MasterClass courses, like Gordon Ramsay talking about cooking, RuPaul talking about self-expression, and Hans Zimmer talking about film scoring. Check out my in-depth MasterClass review for more details.

The 100-Day Book Program by The Write Practice gives you a proven process to actually finish your books. Starting a book isn't all that tough. But finishing one — that's a different story. How many unfinished manuscripts are tucked away in desks and forgotten file folders? Although it’s easy to get distracted and difficult to get motivated, the 100-Day Book Program helps you stay on task and gives you the resources you need to finish that book. How much does the 100-Day Book Program cost?

  • $49/month for 12 months, OR
  • $490 as a one-time payment

It’s worth noting that you get a $100 incentive if you meet all your deadlines and finish your book by the end of the course, which (in 2023) runs from May to September. Utilizing over 100 daily lessons (video, audio, and written lessons), this course covers everything you'll need when putting together your story, including:

  • How to structure your novel or non-fiction book
  • Character development
  • World-building
  • Point of view
  • Tone and voice
  • Editing and revising

It's not just a technical course; it's also highly motivating. The Write Practice teaches you how to keep writing when writing gets hard, how to beat writer's block, and how to manage your time. If you've ever found yourself struggling to finish your book, you should try this course.

Writing With Flair: How to Become an Exceptional Writer is a perfect course for writers of all skill levels, but it's especially beginner-friendly. This course is taught by an ex-Wall Street Journal editor with one goal in mind: how to write with style, confidence, and impact. Over 240,000 students have enrolled in this course on Udemy by Shani Raja. He teaches you how to master 4 basic principles of writing:

  • Evocativeness

How much does Shani Raja’s Writing With Flair cost? This writing course costs $94.99, but Udemy often offers discounts, as you see in the screenshot above. There’s also a 30-day money-back guarantee. Buying the course gains you lifetime access to the 7 hours of on-demand video training. His basics form what he calls his “secret sauce” of writing. As stated above, this course is for writers of all types and skill levels. Even those learning to write English as a second language can form great writing habits with this course. This isn't the only writing course on Udemy. Check out my in-depth Udemy review for more course info.

Learn Amazon Ads for Free

Check out my full free video course that will teach you how to make effective Ads to increase your book sales

Children’s Book University by award-winning, bestselling author Eevi Jones takes a welcoming, comprehensive, and shrewd look at the children’s book self-publishing world. Not only does Jones guide you through the writing process for a children’s story, she even helps with the business side of things. I love reading with my kids, and that's only possible because of dedicated children's book authors like Eevi Jones. Writing a kid's book is more complicated than you would think. Often, books for kids are full of vibrant illustrations, creative fonts, and simple yet gripping storylines. Now imagine getting all of that ready to publish. It's a lot of work. There's a good chance beginners will get lost. That's why Jones’s course is so valuable. She carefully breaks down her process for you from start to finish. It's a critical resource for aspiring children's book writers. As an added bonus, you can go through her online writing classes at your own pace. According to Jones:

“I have interviewed more than 100 aspiring children’s book authors to ensure that this program covers and addresses every single burning question you may have.”

How much does Children’s Book University cost? This course costs $497, as long as you use Kindlepreneur’s link to enroll. This gains you immediate lifetime access. There is a 30-day money-back guarantee. Typically, Children’s Book University costs $997 — and it's worth every single penny. However, Eevi has given Kindlepreneur an amazing 50% discount on her program! This is a special deal that you can only get here. If you're looking to take your children's book writing to the next level, now's your best chance. Be sure to read Eevi Jones’s guest post on How To Write a Children’s Book , here on Kindlepreneur.

AMS Ads For Books is Kindlepreneur’s free course on how to sell more books with Amazon ads . (AMS stands for Amazon Marketing Services.) This robust course is free , on-demand, and easy to follow. Are you a writer wanting to sell more books on Amazon? Enroll today! Now, I'm not looking to boast here, but I honestly believe that my AMS Ads course is an absolute must if you plan to run ads on Amazon. AMS ads aren't very user-friendly. While they have the potential to send your book sales into the atmosphere, they can also eat up your advertising budget while you get them figured out. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't use them. You just need to learn how to set up your ads, manage your campaigns, and make necessary adjustments. How much do Kindlepreneur’s courses for authors cost?

  • Kindlepreneur’s AMS Ads for Books course is free .
  • Kindlepreneur’s MailerLite for Authors Email course is free.
  • Kindlepreneur’s Mastering Keywords and Categories costs $49.99.

There’s no credit card required for either of the free courses and no hidden fees, ever. Check out my in-depth look at Amazon Ads for Authors if you’re still considering whether to take this free course. AMS campaigns aren't just set-it-and-forget-it. In my free course, I show you how using Publisher Rocket can help you construct your book’s best possible ad campaign. If you're looking to create an AMS ad campaign or even self-publish on Amazon, I highly recommend you head over and check out my course.

Memoirama is the brainchild of Marion Roach Smith — an author featured in The New York Times and on NPR and a professional memoir coach. Smith's approach to teaching memoirs has been likened to a precise mathematical formula. She literally teaches you her writing algorithm. Writing a memoir might seem like an easy undertaking at first. You lived through the facts. It can't be that difficult to write them down. Right? Wrong. Navigating these life events can be overwhelming, confusing, and difficult to fully explain to a reader. That’s where Marion Roach Smith comes in to ease your mind, guide you through the process, and equip you with the necessary tools to write a memoir. Unlike other click-through courses, Marion teaches her course live. Seats for her class are limited to 30 people. That way, everybody gets to ask questions at the end. How much does Memoirama cost? Memoirama costs $59. It is taught live mostly on Fridays, with a few Tuesdays thrown in for good measure. This is the first of a 4-part series for learning how to write memoirs. It's highly recommended that you take the courses to get the maximum effect. These courses are broken down into easily digestible parts — with the first only 90 minutes long. Whether you're a beginner to memoirs, need a refresher, or looking to have some fun learning, this course is the one for you.

Western Colorado University’s Publishing MA Program is one of the only comprehensive master’s degree programs in the US that offers hands-on experience in the publishing industry, (mostly) from the comfort of your own home. Let me preface this course by stating that it is not entirely held online. You get to spend two weeks in the gorgeous Colorado mountains for summer orientation. After that, you can complete the rest of the course online. Or in the picturesque Rockies, if you decide to move there — your call. Seriously, this is the best course for indie publishers available today. For the first 2 in-residence weeks, you'll go through an intensive training regimen on the basics of publishing. Once that's done, you'll be put to work. Literally. You'll work for a small commercial publishing company, getting paid pro rates to:

  • Develop a concept for an anthology
  • Solicit submissions
  • Read the slush pile and choose what gets published
  • Issue contracts
  • Edit the piece
  • Design and produce the book and book cover
  • Publish the book
  • Market the book

How much is WCU’s tuition? WCU’s tuition for graduate students is $17,371/year. Like most master’s degree programs, WCU’s Publishing MA Program is a 2-year program. Of course, you may qualify for student aid. Also, great news for any of you Sci-Fi guys and gals out there looking to take this course — it's taught by Kevin J Anderson, a legend in the Science Fiction genre with over 56 national and international bestsellers. This includes his work on Dune , the Star Wars canon, the Seven Suns series, and so much more. Anderson’s personal publishing company, WordFire Press, has released over 350 titles from 95 different authors.

Freedom Machine is a great tool for bloggers who want to make a living by guest posting . If I had to pick just one online course for bloggers, it's this one. Created by one of the world's best bloggers, Jon Morrow, this course is the real deal. I make all of my new hires take this course as part of their on-boarding process. This course covers blogging from start to finish — from how to choose the right opening line to pitching a guest post idea. Morrow really drives home some extraordinary fundamentals of blog writing and guest posting. He also provides you with his “little black book” of websites for guest posting, sites that meet his criteria as great places to guest post. At the end of the course, you get a certificate of completion that carries some weight as a blogging qualification. Morrow makes it abundantly clear that if you don’t put the time and effort into his course, you won't go anywhere with it. You need to buckle down and get motivated, as well as do your daily assignments and homework. This is not a course for quitters or those looking to breeze through nonchalantly. How much does Freedom Machine cost?

  • $99.45/month for 12 months, OR
  • $999/one-time payment

Freedom Machine’s content and resources are valued at $10,000. For all the value it provides, the company even offers a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Free MailerLite Video Course

Learn how to setup and use your MailerLite account effectively to help sell more books.

Writers of the Future Online Workshop is an amazing course if you're a science-fiction writer or looking to become one. Mind you, this is an intermediate course, not necessarily for writers who are just starting out. How much Writers of the Future Online Workshop cost? This course is completely free. The course is 11 lessons long with 13 videos chock full of priceless information. You also gain access to personal essays from the workshop founder, L. Ron Hubbard. This online writing workshop features 3 top-notch teachers:

  • Orson Scott Card
  • David Farland

If you're a sci-fi fan, you've heard of at least one of those names, if not all 3. They're legends in the sci-fi community. This is like the ultimate masterclass for science fiction. One of the coolest parts of this course is its associated contest. The Writers of the Future contest is open to beginning writers only — meaning you can't have published more than 3 short stories or any novels or novellas. By the end of the course, you'll have already written your submission. And since this course is free (along with the contest entry), you may actually win $5,000 just by learning and participating.

A Fearless Way to Write Novels is taught by award-winning, 7-time New York Times bestselling author Alessandra Torre. She uses her experience to teach simple, step-by-step methods to write a great novel. Novel writing is a lot more than simply throwing a story on paper. There’s social media, equipment, software, idea generation, outlining, writing scenes, cliffhangers, copyrights, book blurbs, book descriptions, etc. It can get overwhelming if you don’t have an experienced guide. What I love about Torre’s course is the breadth of topics she covers. From generating story ideas to perfectly typing up a book’s conclusion, this course covers it all with over 75 video lessons. Besides step-by-step lessons, there are also practical writing assignments and bonus content interviews with other bestselling authors. Course lessons include:

  • Finding Your Story
  • Developing Your Idea
  • How to Actually Write
  • Your First Chapter
  • Rewrites and Final Steps

How much does A Fearless Way to Write Novels cost? This course costs $297, or 3 monthly payments of $100. You gain immediate, unlimited, lifetime access, including future updates, at no extra charge. There is a 30-day money-back guarantee.

Sometimes the best things in life are free. When it comes to the best online writing courses, free does not have to mean bad. Here are a few free online writing courses you can consider:

  • Coursera : Founded by Stanford professors, Coursera offers many free creative writing classes, such as creative nonfiction, on top of many other subjects. These free video lectures and online assignments are on-demand at your leisure. Just search “free writing” at the link.
  • The Crafty Writer's Creative Writing Course : This course is for anyone interested in creative writing. Discover your personal writing style and how you can use it to build vivid worlds . This course even touches on the basics of publishing and marketing.
  • Brandon Sanderson’s lectures : Much revered in the writing community , Brandon Sanderson has made some of his lectures free-to-view on YouTube . They cover sci-fi writing, worldbuilding, and even a little bit of publishing.
  • The Non-Sexy Business of Writing Non-Fiction : Offered by Reedsy’s Azul Terronez, this 10-day email course gives you the lowdown on high-quality non-fiction writing. He teaches you how to avoid writer's block, hit word count goals, and stay focused while writing.
  • Start Writing Fiction : This free class teaches you everything you need to know about the basics of fiction writing, including journal keeping, plot development, and dialogue. Over 350,000 people have joined this 8-week course. Once 8 weeks pass, you lose access to the lecture materials. However, you can upgrade for $64 to keep the course material for future reference.
  • Arizona State University's Introduction to English Composition : Great for all skill levels, this class is about building the fundamentals of writing. Although this course is free, you can pay an extra $499 to get a verified certification. But the course alone is just fine for most.
  • Finally, check out my Book Marketing Show Podcast , mainly covering — you guessed it — book marketing . It’s free, fun, and informative (if I do say so myself!).

What’s your favorite online writing course?

Let me know what your favorite online writing courses are. Did I miss any excellent ones? Remember, these courses aren't just for those who don't know how to write. Don't be afraid to go out there and expand your knowledge base, no matter how much experience you have. I believe my breakdown of the best online writing courses will guide you to make the best decision for your individual situation. What's the best online writing course you've ever personally taken? Was it cheating to list all MasterClass courses under one umbrella? Let me know down in the comments below. I keep up with comments long after posts are published.

Dave Chesson

When I’m not sipping tea with princesses or lightsaber dueling with little Jedi, I’m a book marketing nut. Having consulted multiple publishing companies and NYT best-selling authors, I created Kindlepreneur to help authors sell more books. I’ve even been called “The Kindlepreneur” by Amazon publicly, and I’m here to help you with your author journey.

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Titling your book can be hard…really hard. As you go through choosing your book title, use this checklist as your guide and make sure you have a title that will sell!

6 thoughts on “ 16 Best Online Courses for Writers in 2024 [Free & Paid] ”

What about academic graduate writing courses online?

Haven’t come across one yet. But if you do, let me know.

Thanks Dave … the Marion Roach Smith Webinar was AMAZING. Packed full of information, tips, and advice about getting a memoir off the ground. Thanks for hosting .. and I hope all went well with getting your daughter from college …. crazy times indeed!

You bet…and no kidding!

Hi, I am going through Holly Lisle`s writing classes – in particular her How To Write A Novel class – at the moment and I am finding that she is one of the most thorough teachers in writing craft that I have found on-line. She is a published author with around 30 books and has moved from traditional publishing in the 1980`s/1990`s through to self-publishing today. She has many paid short courses for a small price and also much larger classes. She offers a short (3 week) flash fiction class for free called “How To Write Flash Fiction That Doesn’t Suck” so you can test out whether her teaching style suits you and learn new skills at the same time. As a satisfied student I highly recommend her courses to anyone wanting to learn writing craft. Cheers Fae

Yes, my sister took Holly`s class and said it was tremendous. If you get a chance to take a dialogue class from Kristen Higgans, that is all you need for dialogue.

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10 Best FREE Online Writing Courses with Certificates (2024)

Alyssa Walker

There are many beginner professionals who want to improve their writing skills and get ahead in their writing careers. Moreover, it is also not feasible for working professionals to go back to school and improve their scribing skills. Thankfully, you will find many online writing classes on the Internet that help you polish and enhance your writing and authoring skills.

Following is a handpicked list of the Top Online Writing Courses & Certifications to gather knowledge about this subject. The list contains both open source (free) and commercial (paid) courses.

BEST Free Online Writing Courses for Creative Writers & Beginners

1) good with words: writing and editing specialization (coursera).

Specs: Duration: 4 hours a week | Pricing: Free | Certificate on Completion: Yes | Level: Beginner | Mobile apps: iOS and Android

Articles effectively communicate complex ideas and stories in a friendly, credible, and easy-to-follow way. This course, Good with Words , helps you learn how to write and publish an article of your own.

This free writing course explains how you can determine your writing approach, pitch your story to a publication, completely research your subject matter, and write and polish your article content. This course also discusses how you can submit a complete package to editors.

It is one of the best free online writing courses for new writers. It helps you to learn the skills you need to write a well-crafted article that connects with readers.

Good with Words Writing and Editing

Key Topics:

  • Determining Your Article Writing Approach
  • Techniques for adding nuance to your sentences and slogans
  • Creative ways to use syntax
  • Polishing and Submitting Your Article
  • Promoting Your work

Enroll Now >>

2) Creative Writing Specialization (Coursera)

Specs: Duration: Approx. 6 months to complete (1 hour/week) | Pricing: Free | Certificate on Completion: Yes | Level: Beginner | Languages: English, Arabic, French, Portuguese (European), Serbian, Chinese

This Creating Writing specialization course covers three important elements of writing genres: short story, narrative essay, and memoir.

In this course, you will master the techniques that any good writer uses to create a story full of memorable characters. This beginner’s writing workshop also helps you to analyze and constructively evaluate peer writing. It is one of the best writing courses designed for anyone, from aspiring short story writers to established novelists.

Creative Writing Specialization

  • The Craft of Plot
  • The Craft of Character
  • Setting and Description
  • The Craft of Style
  • Self-Paced learning option for students
  • HD quality course videos
  • Practice quizzes
  • Graded assignments with peer feedback
  • Quizzes with Feedback
  • Programming assignments

3) Creative Writing: Crafting Personal Essays with Impact (Skillshare)

Specs: Duration: 1 hour 1 minute | Certificate on Completion: Yes | Level: Intermediate

Creative Writing is an online proofreading course that shows how to give your writing more impact, regardless of its purpose. In this online course, the writer and journalist Tom Geller help you to search reasons for writing with the demonstration. The writer also teaches you how to use those reasons to drive the words you select and the tone you take.

The author of this course also shares his understanding of grammar and sentence structure for writing with maximum impact. After completing this free online writing course, you will be equipped with plenty of practical writing tips to make your writing clear and crisp.

Creative Writing: Crafting Personal Essays with Impact

Key topics:

  • Meaning of writing with impact
  • Learning about your Readers
  • Understanding How People Read
  • Key Idea: Looking Inward and Outward
  • Helps you qualify for continuing education units.
  • Professional author instructor.
  • Certificate on completion.

4) Secret Sauce of Great Writing (Udemy)

Specs: Rating: 4.5 | Duration: 41 minutes of on-demand video | Pricing: Free | Certificate on Completion: Yes | Level: Intermediate

Secret Sauce of Great Writing is a course designed by Shani Raja. This course will teach you the four main concepts of good writing: Simplicity, Clarity, Elegance, and Evocativeness. It will also help you learn how to add those ingredients skillfully.

At the end of this online writing course, you will have a good grasp of how professional writers create powerful and beautiful prose. In this online writing course, you can quickly identify your writing weaknesses, understand the principles, and fix and improve it significantly.

Secret Sauce of Great Writing

  • The Secret Sauce of Flair
  • The Four Crucial Ingredients
  • How I Discovered the Sauce
  • The Power of Simplicity
  • Simplicity Exercises
  • The Power of Clarity
  • Clarity Exercises
  • The Power of Elegance
  • Elegance Exercises
  • The Power of Evocativeness
  • Evocativeness Exercises
  • Online video content
  • Instructor Q&A
  • Instructor direct message

5) Essay Essentials: Improve Your Academic Writing (Udemy)

Specs: Rating: 4.4 | Duration: 1hr 14min of on-demand video | Certificate on Completion: Yes

Essay Essentials: Improve Your Academic Writing is a video course that helps you learn how to write essays. This free writer’s course will help you find the essay writing success you deserve by learning essay writing foundations.

Essay Essentials: Improve Your Academic Writing

  • How the writing situation, process, and classroom resources.
  • Brainstorm to create and use ideas that help you to develop the essay.
  • Develop and structure introduction and conclusion paragraphs.
  • Write a clear, specific, and well-connected thesis.
  • Understand the organization of essay paragraphs.
  • How to create detailed, specific, and appropriate content.
  • Proof-read spelling and grammatical errors using helpful rules and tips.
  • Certificate of completion accredited by universities.

6) Writing With Confidence: Writing Beginner To Writing Pro (Udemy)

Specs: Duration: 5 hours 50 minutes | Pricing: $24.99 | Certificate on Completion: Yes | Level: Intermediate | Mobile apps: iOS and Android

Writing With Confidence is an online course that helps you create ad copy that effectively conveys your brand and drives traffic to convert clicks into sales. The course designer Michael Duquet also teaches you the rules for writing ads for different platforms.

The author of this course, Clare Lynch, explains how you can change your message and tone according to your target audience and customer personality.

In the last chapters, you will learn about Create musical sentences that readers can’t resist.

Writing With Confidence

  • Rules of Ad Copy Writing
  • Ad Copy Goals
  • Writing Ad Copy for various media
  • Understanding Your Audience
  • Personas and Tone
  • Do and Don’ts.

7) Craft Your Cover Letter (Udacity)

Specs: Duration: Approx. 1 Day | Pricing: Free | Certificate on Completion: Yes | Level: Beginner

Craft Your Cover Letter is a short course where you will learn to use proven writing techniques to show why you are the best person to do this job.

In these writing classes for beginners, you will also learn how to research company values, target your writing pitch, and develop an authentic story. It offers the research and writing tools you need to show why you are the best person for the specific job!

Craft Your Cover Letter

  • Target your applications to specific opportunities.
  • Students are able to understand the purpose of a cover letter.
  • Write an effective introduction, body, and conclusion.
  • Rich Learning Content
  • Interactive Quizzes
  • Instructor videos
  • Learn by doing exercises.
  • Taught by industry professionals.

8) Write a Book! (Udemy)

Specs: Rating: 4.3 | Duration: 30 hours on-demand video | Certificate on Completion: Yes

Write a Book is an online writing course offered by Udemy. This course explains how to organize and begin writing a short story, novel, or nonfiction book with concepts similar for each form. This online course is ideal for someone looking to grasp the fundamentals of writing using the English language.

Write a Book!

  • Learn to write basics, like including punctuation, sentences, paragraphs, etc.
  • Learn about advanced writing techniques.
  • Learn to write short nonfiction books.
  • The advanced dialog to draw the reader into your story.
  • How to use MS PowerPoint to create a book cover.
  • How to discover your writing style.
  • Learn how to self-edit your book manuscript.
  • 28 articles
  • Full lifetime access for students
  • Access on mobile and TV
  • Certificate of completion

9) The Complete Freelance Writing Course (Udemy)

Udemy offers a wide range of writing courses. This Complete Freelance Writing Course can be viewed on all devices connected to the Internet. You do not require any prequalification to take this course.

Udemy is an online platform that helps you create courses for business, writing, design, marketing, etc. You can develop new skills and achieve your goals by taking training and learning from the extensive library of various Udemy courses.

The Complete Freelance Writing Course

  • Understand different forms of writing styles and methods as per target audience.
  • Learn best practices for Blog Writing.
  • Learn how to do screenwriting to tell a compelling story.
  • Develop methods that help you to stay productive as a writer.

Key Courses:

  • Grant Writing for Nonprofits and Freelance Writers
  • The Complete Freelance Writing Course
  • How to Start a Freelance Writing Career
  • The Complete Freelance Writing Online
  • Freelance Copywriting: Write Dirty. Go Big
  • How to Start Profitable Freelance Writing Business in 5 Weeks

10) Online Creative Writing Classes (Skillshare)

Skillshare is an online course platform that is focused on education. It includes various topics related to graphic design, data science, e-commerce, analytics, etc. This online course will expand your horizons to learn more about creative writing. You can try these online classes that teach about creative writing techniques, tools, and topics like character development, outlining, storytelling, creating a compelling plot, and how you can make your words more artful.

This course helps you to enhance and helps you to create character-driven stories with creative writing prompts. This online class is broken down into short lessons that include hands-on projects to complete and share.

Online Creative Writing Classes

  • Learn creative writing in various genres like fiction, poetry, humor, etc.
  • It helps you to find classes that are designed for real life.
  • Get ideas for writing daily journals.
  • Real creators teach the classes.
  • You can learn from any device.

11) Write A Feature Length Screenplay For Film Or Television (Coursera)

Specs: Rating: 4.5 | Duration: Approx. 93 hours to complete | Pricing: Free | Certificate on Completion: Yes | Level: Beginner | Mobile apps: iOS and Android | Mobile Compatible: Yes

Write A Feature Length Screenplay For Film Or Television teaches you how to write a feature-length screenplay for film or television or web-series. In this screen playwriting course, you will also learn to break down the creative process into components. You will also discover a structured process that helps you produce a polished and pitch-ready script.

Completing this online course helps you to improve your confidence in your ideas and abilities. After learning this online course, you will feel prepared to pitch your first script and start with the next one.

Write A Feature Length Screenplay

  • Creating The Idea.
  • Logline and Dramatic Question.
  • Create your character profile.
  • The Three Act Story Arc.
  • Screenplay Formatting and Software.
  • Begin your screenplay.
  • Write the final section.
  • Table read your entire script.
  • Finishing things up.

12) Start Writing Fiction (Future learn)

Specs: Rating: 4.7

Start Writing Fiction is a course that helps you to create how to develop your ideas, which reflect on your writing and editing. This online writing class is intended for those interested in writing fiction or improving their fiction writing.

Start Writing Fiction

  • Creation of characters in fiction
  • Different sources for characters in stories
  • Ways of presenting characters in stories
  • Reading as a writer
  • Writing skill like creativity, research, observation, and editing
  • It provides the freedom to keep access to any online course you’ve achieved a digital certificate of.
  • It offers the flexibility to complete your choice of short courses in your own time within the year.

Link: https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/start-writing-fiction

13) English Writing Skills–Revised (Alison)

Specs: Rating: 2.5 | Duration: 1.5-3 Hours | Pricing: Free | Certificate on Completion: Yes | Level: Intermediate | Mobile apps: iOS and Android | Mobile Compatible: Yes

English Writing skills is a free online English language course that will guide you through the most important English writing styles. It shows you how and when to apply each one verb and improve your knowledge about the correct usage of punctuation and grammar.

This online writing course helps you express yourself clearly and effectively in your writing. This online learning material also helps you fulfill your dream of becoming a professional writer or improving your English writing.

English Writing Skills–Revised

  • English Writing Skills
  • English-Writing
  • Story Writing
  • Descriptive Writing
  • Science Fiction, Nonfiction, Instructional, Opinionative
  • Reflective Writing

Link: https://alison.com/course/english-writing-skills-revised

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🏅 How to choose an Online Writing Course?

Here are some important guidelines for selecting an online writing course:

A. Identity your goal:

First, you need to find out your goal. Like you want to learn basic writing skills like improving your grammar, you want to learn notification writing, fiction writing, nonfiction writing, etc.

B. Set your course budget:

Then you need to decide yourself how much money you want to spend, both in terms of time and money. There are many free online writing courses. However, if you want to learn an advanced creative writing course, then you need to pay for that.

C. Pick a Commitment Level:

It is certainly the most important aspect for selecting the online writing course. How much daily or weekly time can you spend learning the course. There are many online courses that are completely self-paced, which means you work through the material on your own and take time as much as you want.

❓ What are the Pros And Cons Of Online Writing Courses?

Here are some important Pros and Cons of Online Writing Classes:

  • These courses are meant for independent study, so you can learn at your own pace.
  • Some courses do not even have homework assignments, writing exercises, or time constraints.
  • Online courses give you exclusive information and learning materials.
  • You are able to interact and learn with other writers using online communities, which helps you learn to write skills.
  • Online writing course sometimes not allows any personal touch of classroom writing courses.
  • You will never have face-to-face interactions with associate learners.
  • Some online writing courses have no instructor feedback.
  • The quality and price of online writing courses vary greatly.

⚡ What is the best app for writing letters?

Here are some of the best writing apps which help you to write professional letters:

  • Grammarly: Grammarly is a widely used writing enhancement tool. It offers numerous writing styles, suggestions for grammar, vocabulary, and syntax. You can use this tool via the website, as a browser extension, or as an app that you can download to your computer.
  • Prowritingaid: Prowritingaid is a tool that offers a world-class grammar and style checking facility. It helps you to edit documents faster. This software includes more than 1000 styles to improve your writing skills.
  • Microsoft Word: Microsoft Word is a writing app that helps you transform documents into web pages. It offers a real-time translation facility with just one tap. This program enables you to read and edit documents attached to the email.
  • Calmlywriter: Calmlywriter is free writing software. This online application is designed to help you focus on your writing skills. It has a “focus mode” option that can highlight the paragraph you are writing.
  • FocusWriter : It is a writing tool that enables you to access the interface by moving the mouse to the edge of the screen. The software helps you to translate the content into more than 20 languages. It helps correct spelling effortlessly.

❗ What can you expect from a Free Creative Writing Class?

There are many free creative writing courses that help you to learn how to express yourself in words. A free writing course gives you training about general grammar, writing style, and other important stuff related to writing instead of teaching any specific fiction, nonfiction, or scientific writing skills.

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75 Best Free Creative Writing Classes in 2024

Showing writing courses curated by Reedsy.

  • Copywriting
  • Playwriting
  • Science Fiction
  • Short Story
  • Kansas City
  • Los Angeles
  • Minneapolis
  • Philadelphia
  • San Francisco

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 .

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online free writing courses beginners

May Seaport Free Write

What's more satisfying than leaving work behind on a Friday evening? Rounding out the week with a free writing session of course! Maximize that Friday feeling and kick off your writing weekend with us! In 60 jam-packed minutes, you’ll meet fellow writers and get your creative juices flowing!

Location: Boston

Categories: Free

Price: Free

Start date: May, 2024

Website: https://grubstreet.org/findaclass/class/may-seaport-free-...

Writing the First Feature Film Treatment Toolkit

UCLA Extension

Learning to write a screenplay is a process, and to do it well can take years of practice. Boil down your story into a short pitch and then expand that into a complete treatment for a feature-length script.

Location: Online

Website: https://www.uclaextension.edu/writing-journalism/screenwr...

Hard Times Writing Workshop

Jefferson County Public Library

This workshop offers a supportive environment for adults to process life experiences through storytelling. It's a free and open weekly writing workshop.

Prerequisites: No prerequisites

Location: Denver

Class size: Unlimited

Start date: Open all year round

Website: https://jeffcolibrary.bibliocommons.com/events/656ea59208...

online free writing courses beginners

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Your story matters. Unlock your potential with daily video lessons from bestselling ghostwriter Tom Bromley, and finish your first draft in just 3 months. Learn more →

Personal Writing in Unprecedented Times

Kansas City Public Library

This course invites participants to delve into their unique perspectives and how these can enrich the world of creative writing. Focusing on creative nonfiction, the course covers three genres: prose poem, personal essay, and memoir or micro-memoir, guiding participants in exploring and expressing their individual viewpoints through these formats.

Location: Kansas City

Start date: May, 2023

Website: https://kclibrary.org/blog/library-launches-online-writin...

Adventures in Creative Writing

Tailored for middle and high school students, this course provides a foundational understanding of writing essentials. Students will explore character development, dialogue, imagery, structure, point of view, and the art of language selection. The course includes reading, analysis, discussion, and practical writing exercises to build these core skills.

Start date: June, 2023

Writing Found Poems

In this poetry workshop, participants will engage in the creative exercise of writing a poem each week, using words from an existing source. This method of adapting pre-existing text adds depth and new insight, creating a dynamic interplay between the original source and the newly crafted poem, enriching both with added layers of meaning.

Start date: July, 2023

Writing Mysteries & Thrillers

Writing Adventures

Step into the world of suspense with our "Mysteries and Thrillers" class. Delve into writing mysterious and thrilling narratives, creating enchanting plots, eerie characters, and ingeniously hidden clues.

Location: Las Vegas

Level: Beginner

Class size: 12

Website: https://www.hisawyer.com/writing-adventures/schedules/act...

Improv + Scene Writing

"Improv + Scene Writing" merges comedy, performance, and writing in a dynamic one-hour class. Enhance your skills in plot crafting, character development, pacing, and comedic timing, all while collaborating and performing with peers.

Electrifying Creative Writing

"Electrifying Creative Writing," our standout course, promises to ignite your creative spark like never before. Explore a diversity of themes and genres, embarking on a year-long adventure that empowers you to find and develop your own writing style and talents.

Class size: 10

Advanced Writing Essentials

"Writing Essentials" redefines your approach to essays. Move beyond traditional structures and dull topics, embracing a journey to discover your unique writing talents and style. Write about what truly matters to you within a nurturing and social writing community.

Writers Room Experience

Writers Room

This experiential studio class, led by instructor Lauren Lowe, focuses on developing an understanding of the self in relation to the world. It emphasizes building community and working towards a more equitable world through writing and sharing stories​​.

Location: Philadelphia

Class size: Limited

Website: https://www.writersroomdrexel.org/courses

Blackout Poetry Workshop

Willoughby City Library

This workshop focuses on creating stories and poetry through the technique of blackout poetry, where a page of text is blacked out except for a few select words, creating a new story from the existing text. It's an interactive and fun approach to creative writing. The workshop is held at The Creator Space, Chatswood Library, and materials are provided for participants. The workshop is free of charge and scheduled for a specific date and time.

Location: Sydney

Website: https://libraries.willoughby.nsw.gov.au/Eventbrite/Blacko...

How to choose a free creative writing class

Looking to build your writing skillset, learn more about your genre, or finally finish that book you’ve been working on? You’re in the right place. That’s why we built this directory of the best creative writing courses.

However, creative writing classes aren’t one size fit all. If you’re planning to join a free writing class in particular, you’ll want to make sure that it matches what you’re seeking to learn about creative writing.

So make sure to consider the following questions when you’re researching free writing courses:

  • Who is the instructor? How many years of experience do they have in creative writing?
  • Is there something in particular you’d like to learn about creative writing? Does this course include it?
  • How long is the course, and where is it taught?
  • Are there any hidden fees advertised in this free creative writing class?

More free 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 writing a book. 

Free online materials

  • Creative Writing Prompts (resource)
  • How to Self-Publish a Book (blog post)
  • How to Publish a Novel (blog post)
  • How to Edit a Book (blog post)

Recommended books

  • For writers in the UK:  Writers' & Artists' Yearbook  
  • For writers in the US:  Writer’s Market 2020

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Free online English Literature / Creative Writing courses

Creative writing and critical reading

Creative writing and critical reading

This free course, Creative writing and critical reading, explores the importance of reading as part of a creative writer’s development at the postgraduate level. You will gain inspiration and ideas from examining other writers’ methods, as well as enhancing your critical reading skills. Examples will cover the genres of fiction, creative ...

Free course

Level: 3 Advanced

Writing what you know

Writing what you know

Do you want to improve your descriptive writing? This free course, Writing what you know, will help you to develop your perception of the world about you and enable you to see the familiar things in everyday life in a new light. You will also learn how authors use their own personal histories to form the basis of their work.

Level: 1 Introductory

Start writing fiction

Start writing fiction

Have you always wanted to write, but never quite had the courage to start? This free course, Start writing fiction, will give you an insight into how authors create their characters and settings. You will also be able to look at the different genres for fiction.

Exploring books for children: words and pictures

Exploring books for children: words and pictures

Many people have fond memories of the stories they encountered in childhood, perhaps especially of those wonderful picture books and illustrated tales which fired our young imaginations and transported us to magical worlds. To an adult’s eye, some picture books may seem remarkably simple, even oversimplified. However, in this free course, ...

Level: 2 Intermediate

Reading Shakespeare's As You Like It

Reading Shakespeare's As You Like It

Do you enjoy watching Shakespeare's plays and like the idea of finding out more about them? This free course, Reading Shakespeare's As You Like It, will guide you through some of the most important speeches and scenes from one of Shakespeare's best-loved comedies.

Icarus: entering the world of myth

Icarus: entering the world of myth

This free course, Icarus: entering the world of myth, will introduce you to one of the best-known myths from classical antiquity and its various re-tellings in later periods. You will begin by examining how the Icarus story connects with a number of other ancient myths, such as that of Theseus and the Minotaur. You will then be guided through an...

Sam Selvon, The Lonely Londoners

Sam Selvon, The Lonely Londoners

This free course concentrates on Sam Selvon's twentieth-century novel, The Lonely Londoners. It considers the depiction of migration in the text as well as Selvon's treatment of memory as a vital part of the migrant's experience.

Introducing Virgil’s Aeneid

Introducing Virgil’s Aeneid

This free course offers an introduction to the Aeneid. Virgil’s Latin epic, written in the 1st century BCE, tells the story of the Trojan hero Aeneas and his journey to Italy, where he would become the ancestor of the Romans. Here, you will focus on the characterisation of this legendary hero, and learn why he was so important to the Romans of ...

Exploring Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd

Exploring Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd

This free course, Exploring Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd, is designed to tell you something about Hardy's background, and to introduce you to the pleasures of reading a nineteenth-century novel. Why do we believe in fictional characters and care about what happens to them? You will discover some of the techniques that Hardy ...

John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi

John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi

This free course, John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi, concentrates on Acts 1 and 2 of John Webster's Renaissance tragedy, The Duchess of Malfi. It focuses on the representation of marriage for love and the social conflicts to which it gives rise. The course is designed to hone your skills of textual analysis.

Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus

Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus

What does Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus tell us about the author and the time at which the play was written? This free course, Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, will help you to discover the intricacies of the play and recognise how a knowledge of the historical and political background of the time can lead to a very different ...

Approaching poetry

Approaching poetry

Do you want to get more out of your reading of poetry? This free course, Approaching poetry, is designed to develop the analytical skills you need for a more in-depth study of literary texts. You will learn about rhythm, alliteration, rhyme, poetic inversion, voice and line lengths and endings. You will examine poems that do not rhyme and learn ...

Approaching prose fiction

Approaching prose fiction

Do you want to get more out of your reading? This free course, Approaching prose fiction, is designed to develop the analytical skills you need for a more in-depth study of literary texts. You will learn about narrative events and perspectives, the setting of novels, types of characterisation and genre.

Approaching plays

Approaching plays

Do you want to get more out of drama? This free course, Approaching plays, is designed to develop the analytical skills you need for a more in-depth study of literary plays. You will learn about dialogue, stage directions, blank verse, dramatic structure and conventions and aspects of performance.

Approaching literature: reading Great Expectations

Approaching literature: reading Great Expectations

This free course, Approaching literature: reading Great Expectations, considers some of the different ways of reading Great Expectations, based on the type of genre the book belongs to. This is one of the most familiar and fundamental ways of approaching literary texts. The novel broadens the scope of study of a realist novel, in both literary ...

The poetry of Sorley MacLean

The poetry of Sorley MacLean

Sorley MacLean (1911-1996) is regarded as one of the greatest Scottish poets of the twentieth century. This free course, The poetry of Sorley MacLean, will introduce you to his poetry and give you an insight into the cultural, historical and political contexts that inform his work. MacLean wrote in Gaelic and the importance of the language to ...

Exploring Virginia Woolf’s Between the Acts

Exploring Virginia Woolf’s Between the Acts

This free course introduces Virginia Woolf’s last novel, Between the Acts (1941), with the aim of understanding how she writes about time, memory, and ideas about identity. It also considers why Woolf’s fiction is often considered difficult. Selected extracts from her essays on writing help to clarify some of these perceived difficulties, ...

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Small Revolution

Start Writing Today With These 4 Free Online Courses for Beginners

online free writing courses beginners

Outstanding writing skills are an asset to anyone looking to write a book, take the next step in their writing career, produce an award-winning web article, or get the freedom to work from anywhere.

However, online course , you’ll need to hone your skills before tapping away at your keyboard.

Thanks to revolutions in the educational landscape, there are many free online courses to help you polish your skills and become a better writer.

Today, you’ll learn about these 4 outstanding free online writing courses for beginners: 

  • Writing With Impact (LinkedIn Learning)
  • Secret Sauce of Great Writing (Udemy)
  • The Writer’s Toolkit (Skillshare)
  • Start Writing Fiction (Future Learn)

1: Writing With Impact (LinkedIn Learning)

The Writing With Impact course offers you the opportunity to learn how to craft engaging, powerful, and persuasive content. It’s also a great refresher for writers looking to stay up to date on the latest skills. 

You’ll not only learn how to craft better sentences and paragraphs but also how to structure your writing for maximum impact. By the end of the course, you’ll be able to write short, clear, and purposeful pieces.

Your instructor for this one-hour on-demand course, Tom Geller (writer, journalist, and communications consultant), will cover key topics including:

  • Meaning of writing with impact
  • Learning about your readers
  • Understanding how people read
  • How to write short and clear sentences and paragraphs 

The course includes supplemental reading resources and chapter quizzes to help you learn more effectively, enjoyably, and efficiently. Upon completion, you will receive a shareable certificate.

Besides learning how to Write With Impact on LinkedIn’s official website, you can also study offline with the LinkedIn Learning app for Android or iOS.

online free writing courses beginners

2: Secret Sauce of Great Writing (Udemy)

You’ve probably spent time in front of a screen, punching out some words, and realized no one would read them. 

If this is the case, then the Secret Sauce of Great Writing is the course for you!

The course is designed to teach you how to write your message such that it captures the attention of your reader from the very first sentence. 

You’ll discover how other authors use the 4 components of excellent writing (simplicity, clarity, elegance, and evocativeness) to craft compelling copies.

Renowned journalism tutor, Shani Raja , will guide you through the course. The ex-Wall Street Journal senior editor has taught hundreds of thousands of students how to make their writing sparkle.

The course is structured into 9 topics, covering distinct components of outstanding writing:

  • The secret sauce of flair
  • The four crucial ingredients
  • How I discovered the sauce
  • The power of simplicity
  • Clarity exercises
  • The power of elegance
  • Elegance exercise
  • The power of evocativeness
  • Evocativeness exercises

This self-paced course uses learning techniques such as direct messages from the instructor and continuous writing exercises to ensure active participation.

★★★★★ I liked that a lot ! The instructor did a perfect job in explaining and giving real-world examples. I liked that a lot. Joseph W. Learner

All you need to enroll is a laptop and internet connection. After finishing the course, you’ll receive a certificate of completion.

3: The Writer’s Toolkit (Skillshare)

Best Proofreading

If you’re struggling to write well because of bad habits (such as not reading, lack of a writing plan, not receiving constructive criticism well), this course will assist you in developing successful writing habits .

Simon Van Booy, best-selling and award-winning author, will walk you through the six critical stages to developing an effective writing routine:

  • Make your own pace
  • Find your medium
  • Read inspiring works
  • Set your conditions
  • Stick to a routine
  • Sketch to stay inspired

The table below lists some of Van Booy’s best books:

Apart from video lessons, you’ll be assigned a project in which you’ll have to employ at least one of the above steps in your writing.

You can enroll for this course by visiting the Skillshare website or downloading the Skillshare app on your Android or iOS phone.

4: Start Writing Fiction (FutureLearn)

motivational words for authors

Anyone who thinks fiction writing can’t be taught is mistaken. 

While there are no definitive rules to follow for fiction writing, many widely-used techniques can help you kick-start your writing journey, improve your writing, or craft an amazing story . 

In this course, you’ll learn from established fiction writers such as Monique Roffey, Louis de Bernières, Michèle Roberts, Patricia Duncker, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Alex Garland, and Tim Pears. 

The course covers:

  • How to read as a writer 
  • Character creation in fiction
  • Character sources for different stories 
  • How to present characters in stories 
  • Writing practice (observation, research, creativity, and editing)
  • Workshops ad peer-reviewing

This self-paced course lets you explore a writer’s notebook, learn how to develop unique writing ideas through research and observation, and get inspired to write.

★★★★★ Great course ! This course was fantastic. It was informative, challenging, and inspiring, I’m so glad I did it. Janice M. Verified Learner, USA

Get Started…

We all want to hone our writing skills, master our craft and succeed in our writing careers.

However, many of us don’t want to go back to school and pursue an MFA in creative writing. 

Thankfully, there are many free online courses that teach you how to write effectively and market your work, all from the comfort of your home.

Whether you’re a novice writer or just need to brush up on your craft, these courses will help you get the most out of your writing.

Here are some other free online courses for beginners in 2022:

  • Writing For Online Engagement (Skillshare) 
  • Writing with Flair (LinkedIn)
  • Writing What You Know (The Open University)
  • Creating Content that People Love to Read (Skillshare)

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Katrina McKinnon

I'm Katrina McKinnon, the author behind Small Revolution . With two decades of hands-on experience in online work, running eCommerce stores, web agency and job boards, I'm now on a mission to empower you to work from home and achieve work-life balance. My passion lies in crafting insightful, education content. I have taught thousands of students and employees how to write, do SEO, manage eCommerce stores and work as Virtual Assistants. Join our most popular course: SEO Article Masterclass

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8 Free Freelance Writing Courses that Will Blow Your Mind

FREELANCE WRITING COURSES-1

8 Free Freelance Writing Courses that Will Blow Your Mind.

So, you’ve decided that becoming a freelance writer is the right thing to do this year. Awesome! But now you’re not sure what you need to actually achieve your goals of becoming a writer working from home.

Do you have to pay hundreds of dollars for fancy courses to learn how to be a successful freelance writer ? The good news is the answer is no!

You’ve come to the right place because I compiled this list of free freelance writing courses that can seriously increase your knowledge and freelance writing skills as well as help you earn more money faster.

Here’s What You’ll Learn in This Post:

  • The best freelance writing courses for beginners
  • The skills you’ll gain from each course
  • Where to find these incredible free freelance writing courses

Now on to the list.

Elna Cain Freelance Writing Course

1. Get Paid to Write-Elna Cain

Just about every aspiring freelance writer knows Elna Cain. She forged a path to freelance writing success and now she teaches other people to be freelance writers and even helps you find your first writing client.

This free freelance writing course is a six-day email course. Elna shows you that you can get paid to write anything if only you have the tools you need first.

I’ve taken Get Paid to Write , and Elna is motivating and extremely knowledgeable. We share the same goal for you to make your freelance writing journey much easier than ours was. Get Paid to Write is everything she promises-a a great way to learn the most important things you need to be a successful WFH writer.

This class isn’t about grammar and punctuation, and it won’t teach you how to write. Instead, Elna gives you six actionable steps you can do this week that gets you closer to getting paid to write online .

You’ll learn why choosing the best profitable niche is vital, as well as having samples for your portfolio and how to create them.

HOW TO FIND A PROFITABLE NICHE IN 5 EASY STEPS

online free writing courses beginners

Related: 25 of the Best Gifts for Writers that Are Totally Unique

2. 3 Steps to $1,000 Freelance Writing in 45 Days or Less-Jorden Makelle

There’s so much to love about Jorden. She cusses like a sailor, like me, and has a spunky, feisty attitude. And she lives up to her promises.

I’ve taken both of her paid online writing courses, Killer Cold Emailing and Fuck Yeah Freelance Blogging, and they’re amazing. She provides tons of valuable information on how to make your first $1,000 freelance writing and follows up with how to get paid $200-$400+ for each blog post you write in Fuck Yeah Freelance Blogging.

Jorden started her freelance blogging career after getting fired from her full-time job on the exact same day that her husband’s work contract ended at the same company.

She had no clue how they were going to pay their bills. But just four months after getting fired, she made $5,000 in one month . And she did it all with no experience and no college degree so you can too.

I think one thing that really worked to her advantage is she dove in with both feet because she HAD to. That brought fire and determination that many don’t have.

There’s never been a better time to be a freelance writer. Businesses still need writers to craft engaging blog articles, and the secret to successful content marketing is incredible high-quality content.

Her free class helps you make $1,000 in 45 days or less even if you’re clueless and broke with no experience or degree, just like her.

In this class you’ll learn:

  • Why a portfolio isn’t enough
  • How to set yourself apart and get businesses to hire you over other writers that have more experience
  • The best method for landing your very first client-a high paying client

And probably one of my favorite parts is you can do that without working at a content mill and losing your sanity.

Jorden Makelle

3. Freelance Writing Rockstar-Elna Cain

Elna is a favorite in the freelancing world, that’s why she made this list of freelance writing courses twice. After you take Elna’s other free class, you can take Freelance Writing Rockstar to learn the steps you need to take to succeed as a writer.

To be a Rockstar freelance writer, you can’t afford to waste time, so you need to focus on what’s important.

Unfortunately, many new writers fail because they don’t have the blueprint that shows them how to succeed. But Elna’s free (and paid) classes all help you succeed by showing you how to start your freelance writing career .

This course is for the new writers who want to be a great success but don’t quite know the right steps to take on the path to finding that success.

As I mentioned above, she is a VERY successful writer and fabulous coach who helps fledgling freelance writers spread their wings and fly. You’ll learn how to be a Rockstar using her proven framework for success if you put in the work and follow her methods.

Starting your freelance journey can be overwhelming and scary, and Freelance Writing Rockstar gives you the blueprint to make money as a freelance writer.

Related: Content Writing Tips for Beginners: How to Look Like a Pro When You’re Not

FiveStar

Related: The Ultimate Guide to Freelance Writing for Beginners

4. The Strategy of Content Marketing University of California Davis Through Coursera

The Strategy of Content Marketing is a partnership between Copyblogger and UC Davis Continuing Education. If you haven’t heard about Copyblogger yet, check them out. Copyblogger is considered THE leading authority in content marketing.

This course is four weeks long and teaches you the fundamental strategies content marketers utilize to find clients and retain them. What I love about this course is that it teaches you how to develop and execute a content strategy. You’ll learn how to analyze its effectiveness.

The Strategy of Content Marketing also teaches you the basics of copywriting like how to write compelling content, use a proven framework, and establish yourself as an expert and authority in your niche. Through the process, you’ll also learn how to build your brand using content marketing.

I signed up for this class just to see what it’s about because I saw “free” and UC Davis in the same sentence. It seems to be legit so far, and it’s like taking a regular class in that you have assignments each week and quizzes. I’m a lifelong learner who always takes something away from every course, so I’ll keep you posted.

So how do you get it for free? Well, I’ll let you know as I investigate further, but if you want a certificate, you need to pay $49. I think having the certificate might be nice, so I’m thinking about adding it, but otherwise, it’s free.

*Update -I have decided to pay the $50 for the certification as if I’m going to take the full course I might as well get certified, right? I’ve been a fan of Copyblogger for a while and must say that this class doesn’t disappoint.

It also further establishes my expertise and satisfies Google’s EAT in terms of SEO and we all know making Google happy is important!

While this isn’t an in-depth Copyblogger certification review, I can tell you without a doubt that if I get to take more courses from these guys I definitely will. There are few writing courses that are free that provide this much value.

Coursera also lets you take specific courses geared towards specialization such as Content Marketing for Professionals . For instance, Coursera describes this specialization as, “Create and implement engaging content. Master communications strategies to make you and your enterprise stand out.”

Freelance writing courses

5. How to Become a Freelance SEO Writer-Yuwanda Black

If you want to write web content for yourself or other companies, then you need to learn SEO ASAP! Don’t wait like I did. It set the growth of my blog and business back a bit, plus SEO is a critical part of content writing if you want to be successful.

Over the years, Yuwanda Black has worked as a digital nomad writing wherever she has an internet connection. She runs an SEO content writing company called New Media Words and gets a lot of questions about SEO.

Her course answers all the questions she’s gotten over the years like:

  • How much you should charge to write SEO articles
  • Where to find SEO content writing jobs
  • Whether or not you should niche down to write SEO content or be a generalist
  • What to do  if your clients ask you an SEO question that you don’t know the answer to

And many more.

Like me, Yuwanda wants to get you away from your boring 9-5, so you can work anywhere you want to and make more money than you’ve ever dreamed of. And the best part is you get to make your own schedule and work towards achieving your goals and not working to further someone else’s.

And I added it to this list of free freelance writing courses because it’s freelance SEO writing which make your writing even more valuable to businesses.

Check out How to Become a Freelance SEO Writer now.

GET THE FREE EMAIL COURSE ON HOW TO START YOUR FREEANCE WRITING BUSINESS

online free writing courses beginners

6. Earn More Money as a Freelance Writer-Nicole Dieker

So, this is more an eBook than a class, but it makes this list of freelance writing courses because it’s the strategies behind Nicole Dieker’s success. This eBook is now free though The Write Life used to charge for it.

Learn how Nicole went from earning zero to six figures so you can implement her strategies on how to ditch low-paying clients for better-paying ones.

You’ll also get a sample pitch template and a note you can send those low paying clients when it’s time to move on the ones that pay more. One of my favorites parts is that Nicole shares the exact tactics she used to increase her rates.

Read Earn More Money as a Freelance Writer on your own time since it’s yours to keep. This book may not be for the brand-new freelance writer who isn’t earning money from writing yet. It’s more for writers who want to kick their income up a notch.

Take one of these other free classes first and then sign up for this eBook to take your career writing online to the next level.

They decided to give it away so they could help more writers because Nicole’s advice is spot on, and they stand behind it.

AT-A-GLANCE

7. Freelance Writing Path to Profits

Of course, I couldn’t write a list of free freelance writing courses without adding my own! In Freelance Writing Path to Profits , Much more than other mediocre free freelancing courses, this one provides in-depth and actionable tips to start your freelance writing career faster.

I teach you the basics of how to be a freelance writer, including choosing a profitable niche, nailing down your avatar, building your first website, setting your freelance writing rates , and other things you need to know about starting a freelance writing business.

I also give you a few tips on setting up your social media accounts to get your name out there as well as creating a portfolio even if you have no experience. In this 7-day email class, I also tell you where to find freelance writing jobs for beginners , and no, it’s not a list of content mills.  These are legitimate places to find quality freelance writing jobs.

I want my students to live the writer’s life lying on a beach somewhere on a sporadic vacation they took. All because working from home gives them the freedom and flexibility to go where they want to when they want to.

Living the writer’s life also means that you have great clients that pay you what you’re worth, and my Freelance Writing Path to Profits sets the groundwork for all of that.

freelance writing for beginners the basics hero

Want to learn more about how to make money as a freelance writer ? Check out my eBook Freelance Writing for Beginners: The Basics . It’s over 96 pages packed full of the tips you need to succeed as a freelance writer .

Microsoft

8. Busting Ghostwriting Myths

Busting Ghostwriting Myths is my 2 nd free email course and it’s a little different than other free freelance writing courses online. It’s a 5-day course that you get in your email box once a day that gives you a look behind the scenes of ghostwriting.

This free email course illustrates that being a ghostwriter is probably different then you thought it was. I’m telling all about the ghostwriting myths you’ve probably heard about and setting the record straight.

You’ll learn what ghostwriting is really about and if it’s right for you. I’m holding nothing back and giving you tips and tricks on how to be a successful ghostwriting, earning a healthy income. All this so you can be a digital nomad or go on vacation whenever you want to.

So, if you want to be a ghostwriter, this class is for you.  

I’ve really worked hard on these free email courses to give you tons of actionable information you can implement to get you closer to living the writer’s life. So, check them out today.

The Ultimate Guide to Ghostwriting hero mockup

Ready to learn more about Ghostwriting ? I wrote an eBook you’ll love on How to Be a Ghostwriter and Make Serious Money . This eBook is over 100 pages of everything you want to know about being a ghostwriter.

There are other things you can do as well to become a better freelance writer . One really important aspect of freelance writing is using the right tools that guarantee success.

One incredible tool you should think about investing in is Grammarly Premium . If you haven’t heard of Grammarly, it’s an editing tool. Hands down Grammarly Premium is the best investment I make in my blog every year.

But don’t worry if you can’t quite afford it yet because the free version is pretty awesome too. You can check them both out in the link above. I also wrote a super in-depth review of Grammarly so check it out.

Final Thoughts on Free Freelance Writing Courses

Freelance writing is a rewarding and well-paying career that allows you to work from home for a better work-life balance.

So, sign up for one, or heck, ALL of these freelance writing courses, and you’ll be well on your way to becoming richer faster and living the writer’s life.

Here are some great books on freelance writing. The first by Gina Horkey and Sally Miller is awesome because these two have made serious money writing online.

online free writing courses beginners

Related Posts to Free Freelance Writing Courses

How to Be a Ghostwriter and Make Serious Money

How to Become a Freelance Writer with No Experience

13 of the Best Books on Freelance Writing and Business That Will Make You Successful

Freelance Writing vs Blogging: Which One is Better

10 Professional Writing Projects You Can Easily Make Money Doing

How to Create a Freelance Writing Contract that Protects

Try one of these free freelance writing courses today.

8 Free Freelance Writing Courses that Will Blow Your Mind

About The Author

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Heather Ritchie

26 thoughts on “8 free freelance writing courses that will blow your mind”.

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Great resources for freelance writing. Will check out Elna Cain one. Thank you

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Elna Cain is awesome! You’ll like those courses. I personally went through them.

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As someone who has just started a freelancing myself I am frantically looking for a way out. Thanks for the post. I am bookmarking this for future reference.

Great, I’m glad it was helpful. Ditching your day job for more freedom and flexibility is a great goal.

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Sounds like I need to get busy checking out some courses. Free courses are just the thing for me right now. Thank you for posting this. Making some extra money writing is something I am interested in doing. Pinning this for later.

Great! Writing is the perfect side hustle and as a blogger, you’re halfway there already. All these courses are great.

' src=

Very informative! I will look into some of the free ones for sure!

Thank you! They’re all great!

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Fantastic post! I will definitely be checking some of these out! As a blogger, writing is so important.

Thank you! Yes, writing is one of the most important skills bloggers need to learn. Of courses, there’s outsourcing too but really everyone should have a firm grasp on writing.

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Wow!! Impressive list of FREE courses! I personally think you can never learn enough about writing and taking classes, reading Ebooks etc..are a great way to learn esp with the way things change constantly! I can not always afford to buy so the fact that you have such a high quality list of courses for FREE is amazing! I know i for one am very grateful for your post, i signed up for everything on here and also book marked your site for further reading! Thanks so very much for writing!?

Awwww thank you! I’m glad it was helpful. I agree you can never learn too much about reading and writing, especially if you’re a full-time blogger and writer. Free classes just make it even easier to learn.

' src=

I’m definitely going to take a couple of these! Thanks for sharing. ??

Great! Free courses are so important when you first start and don’t have the money to invest and these don’t disappoint.

' src=

Great resource list! Thank you for sharing!

You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked it.

' src=

Awesome post, I never really thought about freelance and blogging in the same sentence but there are definitely ways to improve and resources to improve in writing so thanks for sharing!

Thank you! Me either when I started. But when you put it together it makes sense!

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Wow! This is a great list! Helps get the ball rolling to being a Freelance Writer

Yes most definitely! These courses provide a starting point!

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Impressive list !!! This is definitely helpful especially for newbies. Thank you for sharing.

You’re welcome! I’m glad you like the article. Thanks for stopping by and reading.

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You’ve made some decent points there. I looked on the internet to learn more about the issue and found most people will go along with your views on this web site.

Awesome! Thank you so much for reading. I try to offer the best advice for sure!

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What a fantastic wrap-up on free freelance writing courses! Yours Truly Rahul Dubey https://techreviewpro.com

Thank you! These are some of my favorite freelance writing course to help when you’re just getting started.

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Close skill gaps and focus your time more effectively and efficiently with curated prep recommendations. Receive evolving guidance on where to focus your efforts and which prep offerings to try next based on insights drawn from your past performance.

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Monitor your progress in real time with tracking of overall performance, section performance and question type performance. Your personal Insights page showcases your skill trends, as well as an estimated TOEFL iBT score and CEFR level to help you gauge your readiness.

1 Source: Statistics gathered from 765 users who also took the TOEFL iBT test (China, India, and the U.S.)

2 Source: Survey of 765 users across China, India and the U.S.

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