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

Death Riding Shotgun: How Awareness of Our Mortality Impacts Poetry

with

October 14 | 6 Weeks | $445$380Save 15%!

How can your own mortality inform your work? In this 6-week course, you'll use death to inspire and motivate your poetry writing.

,

Roads to Revelation: Write 6 Essays in 6 Weeks

with

October 14 | 6 weeks | $445

Explore diverse approaches to essay writing, hone your voice, and develop moments from your life into six brand-new essays.

, ,

From Writing Circle to Poems of Kindness, Wonder, Connection & Joy

with

October 21 | 4 Weeks | $345

Only 1 seat left!

Explore the power of joy, kindness, and community in this four week poetry workshop.

,

Opening the Door to Poetry

with

October 21 | 8 Weeks | $545$465Save 15%!

Only 3 seats left!

How do we use poetry to express life's marvelous complexity? Learn how to control language beyond the "ordinary" and discover the many possibilities of poetry.

Story Lab: The Story-Subplot Connection

with

October 21 | 8 Weeks | $545$465Save 15%!

Subplots are key to maintaining narrative pace and tension in a story. Drive your story forward with this deep dive into the elements of good storytelling.

, , ,

The Body and Soul of Your Memoir: Shape, Focus, and Write Your Memoir

with

October 21 | 8 Weeks | $545

Unearth your memoir's soul (its main focus and calling) and body (its organization and structure) as you write toward a completed draft. 

,

Old Forms, New Tricks: Modern Takes on Formal Poetry

with

October 28 | 8 Weeks | $645$550Save 15%! | NEW!

Create powerful contemporary poems by discovering how poetry’s best-loved forms can be a source of surprise, resonance, and play.

Tales From The Memory Palace: 6 to 250 Word Memoirs

with

October 28 | 4 Weeks | $345$295Save 15%!

If you want to be an in demand storyteller in the digital age, you need to get in, get out and get going. In this "short" four-week memoir writing adventure, you'll learn to scope out, swoop down and snatch up important memories from your life then speed write them into miniature masterpieces.

, ,

Writing to Heal: Exploring Trauma and Truth on the Page

with

October 28 | 8 Weeks | $545$465Save 15%!

Discover how writing can help us heal. We'll explore personal storytelling to make sense of difficult experiences, and find the seeds of meaning and connection within them.

, , ,

November Courses

Thirty Days of Flash Memoir 

with

November 1 | 6 Weeks | $395$340Save 15%!

Transform your personal experiences into art. Enjoy inspiration, encouragement, and support as you write flash memoir daily across six weeks.

, ,

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

Kristin Curry – Plot Your Novel

October 9, 2020

The course was great for a beginner but also for those who were further ahead in the process. Jack was readily available for questions and helping students along. He spent time on my work, provided helpful feedback and readily answered questions. He made helpful recommendations that I think will strengthen my work. I am so much further in the process than I would have been if I had not taken the class.

John Johnson – From Writing Circle to Finished Poem

October 9, 2020

This is a terrific course, especially if you are looking for a safe, open forum to simply write and write and write! I find that the Writing Circles led by Susan provide wonderful inspiration for my writing, and it keeps me going even when I might not feel like I have much to say. Most important, I have been very surprised how stimulating participating is to my overall writing practice–I find I keep generating ideas between classes.

Allison Smith – How to Firm Up the “Mushy Middle” of Any Story

October 5, 2020

I loved this class. Jeff and I have worked a bit together before in his Anatomy of a Premise Line class where he helped me figure out exactly what my story was. After taking this class – How to firm up the “mushy” middle – I learned the steps and story beats that the reader needed to follow along with me to get from Point A to Z. Jeff pushed me like crazy, taught me about the Enneagram-Story Connection, and helped me develop all those beats from Point A to Z. He challenges me like no other, and I love him for it.

Sophie Cayeux – How to Firm Up the Mushy Middle of Any Story

October 1, 2020

Jeff is a master in his trade. He picks up the problems with your story and he questions you, digs deeper and deeper, pushes you to find solutions until your story has a meaningful structure and your characters a clear arc. He offers private sessions by zoom. He is available, communicative and helpful at all times. He is incredibly engaged as a teacher. A brilliant tutor. He is brilliant at picking up the problems with a story and getting you to find the solution. 

Megan Rowlands-Sobieski – Ordinary to Extraordinary: Turning Everyday Experiences Into Poetry

September 19, 2020

I am SO happy I took this workshop. Tina Barry was a wonderful instructor — she was responsive, available and most importantly, provided extremely detailed, thought-out and tangible guidance. The format of the workshop was user-friendly, and the participants were a joy to be in class with. I will absolutely take other courses, including ones with Tina!

Patricia LaDouceur – Ordinary to Extraordinary: Turning Everyday Experiences into Poetry

September 18, 2020

Tina did an excellent job of both helping us generate ideas and providing feedback. The feedback by the teacher and students helped me improve my poems in surprising and interesting ways. I found it helpful to hear what was striking or moving in the poem, or what was confusing. The prompts were helpful in generating new ideas for poems as well!

Barbara Ensor – Write Your Novel! The Workshop with Jack

September 17, 2020

Jack was very patient and attentive. His comments were on the mark and he made helpful suggestions. Having a group of intelligent and sympathetic readers, including Jack, was enormously helpful. Especially during this disjointed time, when weekends and weekdays blend together and I’m not able to meet with friends, I found it much easier to make progress.

Nabila Zahur – Mastering the Elements of Fiction

September 14, 2020

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!

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.