Do you love writing but feel like you need to improve your skills? So how about taking advantage of these quarantine and isolation times to take an incredible course and perfect your creative gifts? To help you with this we made this list with seven online courses in creative writing in English. Thus, you develop yourself in two things at once: your skills in the most important language in the world and your writing.

1. Creative Writing Certification Course – Wesleyan (Coursera)

This specialization involves elements of the three main genres of creative writing: Tale, Essay and Book of Memories. Participants learn to master the techniques necessary to compose a stimulating story with memorable characters written in a new descriptive style and to analyze and constructively evaluate writing by peers.

The content of the program is designed in a simple way so that it can be understood by anyone with any level of experience. After completing this course, you will not only develop a greater ability to write, you will also have more property to critique in general and find inspiration in the books you read.

Course summary:

• The complete program consists of 4 courses (which can be taken in any order) focused on the main aspects of writing
• The student will learn to master plot, character, setting, description and style
• In the final project, the participant must draft a complete story, a narrative essay or an 8 to 15 page memoir
• There is no prerequisite other than a passion for writing
• Duration: 23 weeks (approximately 1 to 5 hours per week)

2. Fiction Foundation (Writing Domain) – Udemy

Course suitable for those who wish to write novels, short stories, memories, mini-stories, scripts or plays. Participants will learn to create complex and realistic characters and to structure masterful and exciting plots to attract readers. The course focuses on the six fundamental tools for the composition of a good fiction: character, dialogue, narrative, point of view, scenario, style and plot.

Course summary:

• Creating vibrant and fascinating dialogues, building memory configurations and composing intricate prose that pique the reader’s interest
• Course topics are covered in two learning tracks: basic and advanced
• Students receive writing advice and tips, as well as examples of popular films and books
• 54 interactive lessons
• Duration: 6 hours

3. The Rhetoric of History: Creative Writing – Udemy

This Creative Writing course is focused on promoting storytelling as an art that can be learned. Students acquire a scientific view of history from an understanding of the seven main techniques of storytelling , covering issues such as the network of relationships, the importance of conflict and the three levels it must cross. It can be done by anyone with any level of experience.

Course summary:

• Participants are encouraged to obtain a psychological view of themselves
• Practical exercises accompany the video lessons
• 35 lessons + lifetime access
• Duration: 5.5 hours

4. Free Creative Writing Courses and Classes – Skillshare

On the Skillshare platform it is possible to participate in thousands of courses on different aspects of creativity at a nominal fee. The Creative Writing course is one of them, highly sought after by students who wish to master a specific aspect of the process and by professionals who seek different perspectives and learning techniques.

Course summary:

• Choose from a variety of courses, including Creative Impact Writing, Consistency Writing, Fundamentals of Creative Writing, Opening Scene Descriptive Writing, and many more
• Specific courses dedicated to understanding the fundamentals of creative writing, accompanied by advanced training on the subject
• The first month test costs almost zero and the monthly cost is low, providing high quality teaching in an affordable way

5. Creative Writing Margaret Atwood – Master Class

Taught by Margaret Atwood, one of Canada’s greatest writers, this course promises to be a journey that will enable participants to discover their own path and overcome obstacles such as fear to start writing, using the illustrious instructor’s creative process as inspiration.

Participants learn to build strong plots, structure novels and analyze case studies, among many other things. By the end of this training, you will be confident enough to push your imagination to the limit and create something incredible.

Course summary:

• Participants acquire creative writing skills with the help of some of Margaret Atwood’s original research and notes
• Analysis of literary classics and understanding of types of approaches for creating complex dystopias
• Download available summaries of classes, assignments and complementary materials
• Creating attractive characters through detailed description
• No duration limit (individual pace)

6. How to Become a History Genius – CreativeLive

In this training, Lisa Cron guides participants to learn how to write a novel or memoir that can attract readers. The assignments are designed in such a way that each exercise is based on the previous one.

The object along the journey is to build a novel, memoir or script, creating a material from which the story and plot will begin to appear organically, while demystifying the myths of writing that can hinder the creative process .

Course summary:

• Participants learn to write effective and practical drafts in order to reduce the rewriting process
• Understanding the reader’s mind in order to find out what he wants in a story
• Activities that provide a step-by-step method for finding the story you want to share with the world
• Exclusive bonus content and 17 HD video lessons
• Option to view offlinevideos on computer and mobile
• No duration limit (individual pace)

7. Writing Your Story – CreativeLive

In this course given by the celebrated journalist and writer Joyce Maynard, the necessary tools are presented to transform your ideas into an engaging memoir, capable of keeping readers up all night.

Students learn to identify their story and the appropriate format for it, and then to develop, with the help of language, aspects such as dramatic tension, the structure of the story, the editing and description of the dialogues.

Some of the interesting problems discussed in class include the challenges of a writer’s life; the creation of a productive writing practice; rejection and how to deal with it; the projection of a comfortable space to write and the healthy search for the audience. At the end of the course, the main objective is for the participant to gain confidence to tell their story at their own pace.

Course summary:

• Students learn what to include and what to cut in the writing process
• Overcoming fear of expressing the truth about yourself
• Deal with loneliness, with the concern to be judged and with the decisions that must be made when choosing a certain point of view
• 26 HD video lessons
• Option to view offline videos on computer and mobile
• No duration limit (individual pace)