Online writing courses with Writers.com

Follow the call to write.

Writers.com is a warm, welcoming space for all writers. Explore the joy and craft of writing in our inclusive community, join our online courses and coaching for personal feedback from our award-winning instructors, and explore our writing tools and resources. Wherever you are in your journey, we’re here to help you.

Find Your Writing Focus

Browse Courses by Genre

Whether you write poetry, memoirs, novels, or essays, there's a course here for you.

October Courses

Hived Like Honey in Your Head: The Art and Craft of Writing Confessional Poetry

with

October 15 | 6 Weeks | $445$380Save 15%!

Discover the power and intimacy of confessional poetry, and unlock your authentic voice. 

Rapid Story Development: A Master Plan for Building Stories That Work

with

October 15 | 10 Weeks | $645$550Save 15%!

In this 10 week story writing class, Jeff Lyons pairs the Enneagram with story development techniques to revolutionize your writing practice.

, ,

Six Flash Essays in Six Weeks

with

October 15 | 6 Weeks | $445$380Save 15%!

Tell the stories of your life in 1,000 words or less in this generative flash essay workshop.

,

Writing the Memoir-in-Essays

with

October 20 | 2 Single-Day Webinars | $195

Learn how to tell your story through the memoir-in-essays, a form that allows writers to interweave the facts of their lives in interesting and evocative ways.

, ,

Both Fish and Fowl: The Prose Poem

with

October 22 | 6 Weeks | $445

Course full. Contact us to join waitlist.

A successful prose poem reads like a magic trick. Learn how to wield the powers of poetry in the context of prose in this comprehensive prose poetry course.

,

Scene Study: Strengthen Your Writing with Compelling Scenes

with

October 22 | 5 Weeks | $395$340Save 15%!

Great stories are constructed with great scenes. Immerse your reader in your stories by learning the ropes of scene development.

, , , , , ,

The Magic of Flash Nonfiction

with

October 22 | 5 Weeks | $395

Tell your stories quickly and stylishly in this short form creative nonfiction workshop, where you'll come away honing the magic of flash nonfiction.

,

Write Your Novel! The Workshop With Jack

with

October 22 | 12 Weeks | $795$680Save 15%!

Get a good start on a novel in just ten weeks, or revise a novel you’ve already written. Free your imagination, move steadily ahead and count the pages!

,

Growing Smaller: The Art of Micro- and Short Fiction

with

October 29 | 4 Weeks | $345

Less is more. Learn the ropes of flash and micro-fiction in this 4-week course and hone the art of the short-short story.

,

Plot Your Novel with the Three-Act Structure

with

October 29 | 6 Weeks | $445$380Save 15%!

The 3 act structure gives us the scaffolding we can hang our stories off of. Come away from this class with a fully plotted novel and a plan to write it.

,

Our Online Writing Courses are...

Fully Digital

Join and participate from anywhere. A laptop or tablet is all you'll need.

Friendly and Welcoming

We can't wait to meet you and support your writing!

Open to All

We welcome writers of all backgrounds, experience levels, genres, and styles.

Student Testimonials

nabila zahur writers.com

It was so fantastic working with other serious writers and getting their input. I have taken part in other writer critique groups, but I felt that the difference here is that everyone who came in is really serious about the craft.

I managed to revise and rewrite the first half of my novel during this course, and I have a plan for how to tackle the rest.

The ultimate success for me was that my husband could see a lot of improvement between the writing he saw in week 1 vs in week 10. Feeling inspired and empowered from this course!

-Nabila Zahur, novelist

This was my first course with Writers.com, and my first course in this global format (we had members from London, Australia, Denmark, and the US). It worked very well.

The course content was thoughtful, informative, and well-organized. The instructor was supportive and encouraging to all, and matched her level of critique to the level of the participant. I felt we were in the hands of a master and mentor, and it was a privilege to have her undivided attention eight times in two months.

-Fred Lindgren

fred lindgren writers.com
melissa decarlo

Writers.com classes provide a great way to sharpen your writing skills and join a community of writers. Try a few-you won't be disappointed.

-Melissa DeCarlo, author of The Art Of Crash Landing (Harper Paperbacks/HarperCollins)

Browse More Testimonials

Moe Phillips – Observing What’s Vivid in Prose and Poetry

July 29, 2022

Marc Olmsted was a terrific and inspiring teacher. His genuine love for poetry is clear. The material he shared to explain poetic approaches were unique, interesting and well researched. His critiques were thorough, kind and supportive. It was a very free environment in his class and I felt encouraged to let the poet in me loose to work and play. Marc’s insights to everyone’s posts were helpful and on point. I really could see he cared about what we were writing.

Michael Mabrito – The Chronology of Mind

July 26, 2022

Excellent. This is the third or fourth course I have taken with Barbara and while each was excellent in its own right, this course was just superb. I own Barbara’s prompt book, excerpts of which were used in the class, and it was fun to practice these interesting exercises in a group of talented writers with the author of the exercises overseeing it all.

Janet Nodar – The Joy of Poetry

July 26, 2022

The course was encouraging and positive. Joy’s approach and poetry choices were substantive and she gave us valuable info and feedback in a kind and helpful way.

Nina Goss – The Chronology of Mind

July 22, 2022

As with every Writers.com course, this one was planned with care and delivered with engagement. The instructor, Barbara Henning, offered challenging prompts that really forced us to explore a space between experience and invention. For the entire 10 weeks, she responded promptly to each person’s post, with a close and constructive reading. And also as always, the participants were essential to the adventure: the writers brought generosity, insight, and creative energy every week.

Joanna Bottaro – The Joy of Poetry

July 22, 2022

Joy Roulier Sawyer was an absolutely wonderful teacher. She was so supportive of everyone and noticed positive aspects in each of our writing and responses. Her responses to poetry we submitted was thorough and thoughtful. I will be looking for another course to take with Joy as she inspired me to continue to write.

Lee Heffernan – The Chronology of Mind

July 21, 2022

I ventured into some new territory with this course. Barbara is top notch. Overall, I enjoyed it a lot.

Zola Northup – Writing for Kids

July 21, 2022

I had a great time and felt that I learned a lot. It was really fun and engaging, and I enjoyed the quick, ten minute writing and sharing sessions. Overall, I can confidently say that I would take this class again. Amanda was very fun!

Melissa Haylock – Poetry Workshop

July 18, 2022

I have been interested in writing poetry for a while, but didn’t know how to get started. This was an excellent introduction. The readings included craft information as well as inspiration. The instructor provided feedback on my work that was encouraging and helped me learn how to improve my work. I am thrilled that not only did I get started writing poems, but with the inspiration and guidance provided in this class, have actually written a few that feel meaningful to me. I even have had one accepted for publication!

About Writers.com

The First Writing School on the Internet

Since 1995, writers from over two hundred countries have visited Writers.com and thousands have completed our online writing classes. We are accessible 24-7 from any Internet connection in the world, uniting far-flung students with renowned instructors - all published, working writers with teaching experience- who offer feedback and encouragement.

Writing can be a lonely road but it doesn't have to be. Whether you're just beginning to write or polishing your next piece for publication, we can help. Let us provide inspiration, direction, community and deadlines to start you writing and keep you working.

Support And Constructive Criticism

You're never just a face in a crowd at Writers.com. Small groups keep our online classes lively and intimate.

Each class provides written lectures, projects and assignments, and discussion forums where you'll share your work with the instructor and the other students.

Best of all, a teacher offers insights on every project you submit. These critiques help identify the patterns that can plague even the most talented and experienced writers. So whether you're dusting off a grade-school passion or breaking onto the bestseller list, we can boost you up the ladder a few rungs.

Can't bring yourself to share your work? We offer private classes,  just you - or just you and a friend or two - working with the instructor. Click on private classes in the navigation bar at the top of the page to read more.

We also offer one-to-one services such as coaching and editing but it's highly recommended you take one of our classes first.

Writers.com commits to providing the best online writing classes for creative writers available anywhere. (If you're interested in learning other kinds of writing, such as business or technical writing, you can start with Hidden Front Door or a similar site.)

Caring And Community

Writers.com remains a rock in a sea of audit-only and feedback-light classes. We've had decades to fine-tune our approach, recruit top instructors and build a supportive network of writers. When you send us an email, you'll always hear back from a real person, not an auto-responder. And while you're in class, we're available to help seven days a week if you run into a problem or have a question.

Over a third of our alumni return to take a second class with us, and some have been taking our classes for 20 years or more. That's the highest compliment we can imagine - and it inspires us daily to keep growing as writers' needs and the literary landscape shift.

We pioneered teaching online writing classes. And we still do it with pleasure every day.

Contact Us

Questions? Comments? Lavish praise? We want to hear it all! Please contact us through the form below. We'll be in touch ASAP.

Please note: many of our courses are completely text-based. If you're reaching out with a question about course meeting times, check the course description to see whether it has a live video component or not. For more information, check out how our courses work.

We do check email seven days a week. Please allow for some delay as chances are we're not in your time zone and, though the Internet never sleeps, we do.