If so, this article is for you. We will walk through the best online writing courses and discuss what each would be best suited for.
1. Secret Sauce of Great Writing – Best Writing Essentials Online Course
Udemy’s course is taught by a former Wall Street Journal editor and is one of the most popular courses for developing your own writing style. The course emphasizes the principles of Clarity, Elegance, Simplicity, and Evocativeness in your writing process. It boasts thousands of 5-star reviews and even offers a certificate upon completion.
Provider: Udemy Price: Free Duration: 15 Lectures, totaling 44 minutes of videos Level: Intermediate Rating: 4.6 Certificate of Completion: Yes
2. Writing with Impact – Best Online Writing Improvement Course for Mastering the Basics
This course, offered by LinkedIn, allows the attendees to find their own individual writing tone. It teaches how to be concise and clear with your words, along with understanding what your audience wants to see.
From learning about sentence structure and grammar usage, this online writing class will amplify the effectiveness of your writing style. The course is widely trusted, with 3800+ people endorsing it on LinkedIn. Provider: LinkedIn Price: First month free, then $55 per month Duration: 1 Hour with on-demand video Level: Intermediate Certificate of Completion: Yes
3. Creative Writing Specialization – Best Creative Writing Online Course
This online writing course focuses on the art of fiction writing, short story writing, and creative nonfiction. It teaches the fundamental principles of good storytelling.
This course teaches the writer how to go from having a story idea to generating a plot, crafting a character, and stylizing their writing to make the story cohesive. This creative writing course is ideal for beginners who already have their creative juices flowing but need some help crafting the structure of the story. Provider: Coursera Price: Free to audit, with small fees for certificate of completion that vary depending on which course you are taking Duration: 6 months Level: Beginner Certificate of Completion: Yes
4. How to Write an Essay – Best Essay Writing Course Online
For students of any age, learning the fundamentals of writing an essay is crucial. edX’s essay writing course lays the foundation for the writer to excel in their academic assignments It focuses on correct grammar and clear messaging, and provides strategies specific to writing essays with thesis statements.
Provider: edX Price: One-time payment of $169 Duration: 5 weeks Level: Intermediate Certificate of Completion: Yes
5. Novel Writing 101 – Best Online Course for Writing Novels
Ben Galley, a bestselling author of fantasy and historical fiction, teaches Reedsy’s online course designed to be short and sweet, requiring only 5 minutes a day for 10 days.
A wide variety of lessons are included in this course, including what the journey of writing a book looks like, how to make your novel flow, and how to be as productive as possible. Provider: Reedsy Price: Free Duration: 5 minutes a day for 10 days Level: Beginner Certificate of Completion: Yes
6. Finding Your Voice as a Playwright – Best Creative Playwriting Workshop Online
While edX’s playwright writing course features lessons to improve creative writing, it focuses on a critical and analytical theory about performance to help you adapt your writing process to fit the unique requirements of playwriting. You’ll also learn about the history of plays and the theories behind playwriting.
Provider: edX Price: $199 Duration: 4 Weeks Level: Intermediate Certificate of Completion: Yes
7. Writing Successfully for the Stage – Best Technical Playwriting Course for Publishing
While edX’s “Finding your voice as a playwright” course focuses on the creative aspects of playwriting, its “Writing successfully for the stage” course explores the more technical aspects of the process.
It focuses on the principles of communication to make your writing as engaging and effective as possible and explores the technical skills required to craft a technically sound that appeals to producers and directors. Provider: edX Price: $199 Duration: 4 Weeks Level: Intermediate Certificate of Completion: Yes
8. Start Writing Fiction – Best Fiction Story Writing Course Online
Future Learn’s fiction writing course is great for all fiction-based genres, from stories for children’s books to high-concept science fiction. This course focuses on the basic principle of creating well-rounded characters and presenting them in your writing effectively.
Provider: Future Learn Price: $64 Duration: 8 Weeks Level: Intermediate Certificate of Completion: Yes Rating: 4.7
9. Write A Feature Length Screenplay for Film or Television – Best Online Screenplay Writing Course
This writing course teaches writers how to develop their idea into fully-realized screenplay. In 93 hours, it thoroughly covers everything from developing a character and crafting a three-act story arc to the formatting software that’s involved in production.
It also goes beyond the writing and features information about table reads and script finalization to give you a picture of where you’re headed after you finish your screenplay. Provider: Coursera Price: Free to audit, with small fees for certificate of completion that vary depending on which course you are taking Duration: 93 hours Level: Beginner Certificate of Completion: Yes Rating: 4.6
10. Transmedia Storytelling: Narrative Worlds, Emerging Technologies, and Global Audiences – Best Writing Course for Addressing a Global Audience
This course on transmedia storytelling focuses on how to develop an extensive and detailed world within your writing. It also details strategies on how to market to a broader audience, the principles of which can be applied to almost any kind of entertainment marketing.
Provider: Coursera Price: Free to audit, with small fees for certificate of completion that vary depending on which course you are taking Duration: 26 hours Level: Beginner Certificate of Completion: Yes Rating: 4.7
11. Business Writing Techniques – Best Business Writing Online Course
This course focuses on formal business writing techniques and details what the “6 C’s” of business writing are and how to use them effectively. It also features details about the proper etiquette for business writing, which can be used in all business-related communications.
Provider: edX Price: $149 Duration: 4 Weeks Level: Intermediate Certificate of Completion: Yes
12. Using Email for Networking in English – Best Business Email Writing Course
edX’s paid course on email correspondence will help you hone your email strategy to fit the different audiences to whom you send emails.
This course is geared specifically toward non-native English speakers who are looking for a job or are trying to build their professional network but could be helpful for anyone who is looking to nail down the correct tone and style of their emails. Provider: edX Price: $149 Duration: 4 Weeks Level: Intermediate Certificate of Completion: Yes
13. Academic and Business Writing – Best Technical Writing Skills Training
Developing your writing skills to make your writing more persuasive is important in today’s business world. This online course helps you build a foundation to help you communicate clearly, and includes the elements of proofreading and editing effectively, which can be half the battle when it comes to professional writing.
Provider: edX Price: $199 Duration: 6 Weeks Level: Beginner Certificate of Completion: Yes
14. Academic English: Writing Specialization – Best Academic Writing Skills Improvement Course
For those who are interested in going beyond just essay writing, Coursera’s specialized paid course for Academic English is a great place to start. This course starts off with grammar and punctuation to build a solid foundation for writing, then expands into concepts such as academic research and specific formatting that is required in academia.
Provider: Coursera Price: $69 Duration: 6 Months if you follow their suggested pace of 4 hours per week Level: Beginner Certificate of Completion: Yes
15. Grant Writing and Crowdfunding for Public Libraries – Best Online Grant Writing Course
This online course teaches students how to write an effective grant proposal. This course focuses specifically on securing funding for libraries, but the fundamentals of crafting a grant proposal to fund a non-profit institution are transferable to many other grant-writing topics.
Provider: edX Price: $49 Duration: 4 Weeks Level: Beginner Certificate of Completion: Yes
16. English for Journalism – Best News Writing Course for Journalism
If you’re already passionate about writing and current events, this course can help you develop the technical skills required for a career in modern journalism. The course features the history of the field of journalism, crucial research skills, and language and tone that are important to convey your message effectively.
Provider: Coursera Price: $49 Duration: 43 Hours Level: Intermediate Certificate of Completion: Yes
17. College Composition – Best Writing Course for the CLEP College Composition Exam
Modern States’ College Composition course is a great way to prepare for the CLEP test to earn college credit. This course starts with structure and grammar, then jumps into the analysis and argumentation skills required to write a persuasive college essay.
Expect to be challenged, as this is a college-level course preparing you for a test to earn credit. The principles learned in this free online course can also be translated to writing your personal essay for college applications. Provider: Modern States Price: Free Duration: 4 Weeks Level: Intermediate Certificate of Completion: Yes
18. Technical Report Writing for Engineers – Best Technical Writing Course Online
It is vital for individuals in STEM-based careers to be able to effectively communicate their findings to audiences both inside and outside the industry. This course focuses on the technicalities of citations and references, as well as the effective presentation of data in the report.
Provider: Future Learn Price: $64 Duration: 6 Weeks Level: Intermediate Certificate of Completion: Yes
19. Stand Up! Comedy Writing and Performance Poetry – Best Humor Writing Course Online
If you’ve ever dreamed of performing at an open mic night, edX’s Stand Up! course will help you hone the writing and performance skills you’ll need to captivate your audience.
Although the course is primarily geared toward performers, it boasts writing skills that are applicable to almost any kind of communication. Provider: edX Price: $199 Duration: 4 Weeks Level: Intermediate Certificate of Completion: Yes
20. Sharpened Visions: A Poetry Workshop – Best Poetry Writing Online Course
If you’re an amateur poet or even just want to learn more about how to write poetry, this course is for you. It teaches principles of self-expression and how to take ideas and turn them into something compelling. This course is a great mixture of history about poetry and poets and crafting your own poetry.
Provider: Coursera. Price: $49 Duration: 8 Hours Level: Beginner Certificate of Completion: Yes
21. The Art of Washi Paper in Japanese Rare Books – Best Course on the History of Writing and Publishing
The Art of Washi Paper is the ideal course for individuals interested in the history of books and book-making. It does not teach any writing skills but provides invaluable information about the historic usage of particular types of paper in Japan.
Provider: Future Learn Price: $64 Duration: 3 Weeks Level: Intermediate Certificate of Completion: Yes
22. How to Write a Winning Resume and Land Your Dream Job (with Examples) – Best Resume Writing Course
SkillShare’s resume writing course is taught by recruiters and resume experts and teaches you how to fine-tune it to meet the requirements of employers and help your resume stand out from the crowd.
Provider: SkillShare Price: Free with a SkillShare subscription. There is a free one-month trial. Then the subscription costs $32 per month Duration: 49 Minutes Level: Beginner Certificate of Completion: Yes
What are the requirements for an online writing career?
It depends on the type of online writing job you are pursuing; most jobs already have a list of requirements depending on the quality of content required. For typical online writing, you would just require a fast and reliable internet connection, a computer or laptop, and of course some form of word-processing software. You also need someone willing to publish your work. If you’re writing as a freelancer, be prepared to pitch yourself to publishers.
Can I become a writer without a degree?
Again, depending on what kind of online writing job you’re pursuing, a degree may not be required to become a writer. If you already have career experience in writing, you are less likely to need a degree to be successful, but if you’re a beginner, it may be hard to break into the industry without one. Regardless of whether or not you have a degree, networking within the writing community, utilizing literary agents, and continuing to hone your writing skills are all crucial to success.
Do you need qualifications to be a freelance writer?
The type of qualifications you’ll need depends on what kind of freelance writing you’re looking to do. Typically you’ll either need a degree or a portfolio of your work. Regardless of what kind of freelance job you’re looking for, you’ll need one or the other to prove that the client should hire you.
What are the 5 types of writing?
There are many different types of writing, but most of them can fall into the following categories:
Creative writing Persuasive writing Descriptive writing Narrative writing Expository/research-based writing
What counts as a writing skill?
Anything that allows you to put words together in a convincing way could be considered a writing skill. The obvious ones are spelling, grammar, and vocabulary. Some of the less obvious skills that could be considered writing skills are logic, technical knowledge, and stylistic skills. It probably isn’t obvious, but our own reasoning skills are the most-utilized writing skill, as it’s hard to write well without some kind of sound logic behind the writing.
What are 3 writing strategies?
Conclusion
All writing, from professional content writing and academic writing to creative writing just for fun, requires certain skills to be successful. The courses on this list can help you hone your writing skills to help you produce your best writing yet, regardless of what your goal is. Register for one now, and maybe you’ll surprise yourself with your writing talent. About
