Position:Home>Books & Authors> Does anyone know any free online courses that I could take for creative writing?

I'm going to agree with the first response: read writing books!.
The problem becomes, which ones are worth it!? There are many 'How to' books out there, and many of them are just terrible, and the author tries to get you to write in their style!. With a decent book, though, you pay a small amount ($20 at most) and get something you can return to time and again!. Even if you buy five books on method and only find one good one, it's worth the payoff!. Those other four probably have one or two decent suggestions, but here's a list to good ones to get you started, regardless of which genre you are writing in:
'The Portable MFA in Creative Writing' edited by The New York Writers Workshop (when I say buying 5 books and getting 1 good one is worth it!.!.!.I mean it!.!.!.this book is worth 5 times what I paid for it at the store, especially for those of us with little writing background)

'Writing Life Stories' by Bill Roorbach

'On Writing' by Stephen King (Honestly, the first part might not be all that relevant to writing!.!.!.it's been awhile since I read it!.!.!.but when he gets into discussion on it, this is well worth the time and money)

'How to Write Killer Fiction' by Carolyn Wheat

Again, regardless of which genre you want, visit www!.horror!.org/writetips!.htm and view their articles!. Some, notable by the titles, pertain strictly to horror, but many are very useful even if you're writing a western romance or a children's book about a happy puppy!.

also realize you will need to do research to understand how the publishing world works!. www!.pw!.org has useful advice, as does www!.ehow!.com (avoid self-publishing)!.
As far as online courses go, I don't know of any free ones!. I did get a degree in creative writing though, and while I loved the school and professors, a lot of what I learned was in the books listed above (most of which were assigned reading)!. The biggest benefit to a course is you get workshops to see where your story is and how it can be improved!. www!.ourstories!.us is a great--and free--alternative to this!. Once you have a decent draft, send pieces/chapters to them and you will get a critique (or, if your work is good enough as is, you'll get your chapter published!.!.!.which helps your credibility when you send your work to agents and editors)!. The only setback is that you can only submit once every quarter!. Their advice, however, will help immensely!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

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Why not just read a couple of writing books!? There isn't anything in a creative writing class that you can't learn from a couple of writing books!. And join several on-line groups and apply what you know to your writing!. Then, have those practice pieces critiqued!. You aren't going to learn much in an on-line creative writing course if your "teacher" doesn't critique what you write!. It'll be a waste of your time!.

I've read ten writing books and I've joined several on-line writing groups and have had my work critiqued, and that has helped me out tremendously!. I know A LOT more about writing than my own dad, who took a creative writing course in college!. Www@QuestionHome@Com

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check on ilearn!.ivillage!.com

they have different little courses and they are free!.

also check on yahoo groups!. they have groups for almost any topic and can be a good reference source tooWww@QuestionHome@Com

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Uncle Orson's Writing ClassWww@QuestionHome@Com

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