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

Growing Smaller: The Art of Micro- and Short Fiction

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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.

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Plot Your Novel with the Three-Act Structure

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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.

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The Lyric Essay: Invitation to Play

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October 29 | 10 Weeks | $595$510Save 15%!

Create dynamic, genre-bending works of musical prose in this playful and exploratory lyric essay workshop. 

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The Spirituality of Poetry

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October 29 | 6 Weeks | $445

Let the spirit of language move through you. In this 6 week course, we will study, write, and share poetry about the sacredness of human experience.

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November Courses

30 Super-Short True Stories in 30 Days

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November 1 | 4 Weeks | $395$340Save 15%! | NEW!

Write a flash nonfiction piece every day! Sharpen your skills, build momentum, and leave with a stack of pieces to publish, polish, or expand.

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Write into Mystery: Writing Flash Memoir on Wonder and the Unexplained

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November 2 | 4 Weeks | $345$295Save 15%!

We often encounter wonder, mystery, and the unexplained in our everyday lives. Turn those experiences into flash essays in this community-centered course.

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An Insider’s Guide to Publishing

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November 5 | 4 Weeks | $345$295Save 15%! | NEW!

Demystify the publishing process for your novel or memoir. Master book publishing's practical essentials, and come away with a polished query letter and the confidence to move your work into the world.

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Observing What’s Vivid in Prose and Poetry

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November 5 | 4 Weeks | $345$295Save 15%!

Learn how to spotlight beauty through fresh, vivid, and surprising language, in this four week mindfulness writing course.

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Plot Your Novel

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November 5 | 8 Weeks | $545$465Save 15%!

Over eight weeks, you'll develop a solid basis in the fictional elements—protagonist, setting, secondary characters, point of view, plot, and theme—while you develop the outline of your novel. You'll receive feedback at all stages from your fellow writers and your instructor.

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Poetry Workshop: Bring Your Poems to Life

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November 12 | 8 Weeks | $545$465Save 15%!

Join us for this workshop on creating powerful poems—poems that are clear and organized, fresh and moving, full of life.

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

Emma Llewelyn — The Lyric Essay: Invitation to Play

November 21, 2024

Elizabeth Winder is a wonderful teacher, supportive, perceptive, responsive and generous with her time and experience. The joy and breadth of possibility within the lyric essay and Elizabeth’s teaching approach has freed me as a writer to follow my truth with courage.

Davinia Roberts — From Memory

November 21, 2024

this was my first writing workshop and it far exceeded my expectations. Chin-Sun Lee is an extraordinary instructor, cultivating a Zoom-based environment that felt welcoming and supportive, no matter your experience level. Her ability to engage, inspire and offer perspective is truly a gift. I’m leaving this four-week course with an overwhelming sense of inspiration, new techniques, and excited to expand on the pieces I developed. This class has reignited my passion for writing, and I cannot wait to continue.

Larry Dembski — Telling Truth

November 21, 2024

Ollie’s instruction and feedback was extremely constructive & motivating. They created a compassionate and creative environment with their philosophy, “Don’t be afraid to be bad”! They addressed individual questions in depth without losing track of the classes’ focus, and their editing tips were always very specific and helpful.

Janice Scudder — Warp and Weft

November 21, 2024

Anna worked her magic and turned us into a true writer’s community. Anna brought something fresh, lively, and challenging to each session: a new way of reading, of writing, of listening, and giving feedback.

Janice Apicella — Both Fish and Fowl

November 21, 2024

Anna is wonderful teacher and exceptional poet. Patient, kind, and informative, she cultivates the best in each poet, helping them on their journey. Besides her insightful critiques, her class discussions are educational, informative, and enjoyable. She imbues each discussion with her enthusiasm and love of poetry.

Barbara Santucci — Both Fish and Fowl

November 21, 2024

Anna Scotti is an exciting and compassionate teacher. I was a little worried about taking this class because I had never written a prose poem. But each week, with her guidance, I felt more and more confident. 

Lisa Moreau — Rapid Story Development

November 21, 2024

Jeff was fabulous: no frills or fluff, just straight to the point on exactly what we needed to figure out to make our stories work. He was also positive and highly encouraging and was adamant that we know our main characters, he’s just helping us get clear, which is exactly what he did.

Lisa Barnett — Finding Confidence in the Braided Essay

November 21, 2024

Margo is smart and thoughtful and generous with her knowledge. Her feedback was encouraging and helpful in pointing out ways to improve the writing. I appreciate that she took time to send a written response to each of us about our work. I had a great experience in this course. 

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.