How To Find the Perfect Writing Course

While I've always been a hard-core do-it-yourselfer, I did take a writing course or two in college. Because it's what I wanted to do most. And I figured I needed help getting good at it.

Only trouble was, in my case (as you'll find in some cases), the classes actually inhibited my creativity and did little to increase my writing skills.

Why? Probably because the professors I took writing classes from were frustrated, barely-published-locally authors who thought their style of writing was the only style worth using.

Great. But one was a poet, the other a literary writer, and I wanted to
write novels.

The fix? Buy lots of books and magazines on novel writing and fiction techniques. Study what I like to read to learn how to write it well.

I'm not saying a good creative writing course won't help you out. I'm sure plenty of good classes are out there. You just need to weed out the useless ones before you dive in.


How to Choose a Good Course

When you start your search for a suitable writing class, you'll probably find millions of options out there. Narrowing them down begins by deciding what you want to learn.

Do you want to get better at description? Take a course in descriptive writing. Need a general introduction to fiction? Take a writing fiction course.

If there's a college or university nearby, find out if you can audit a class session or two without paying to see if it will work for you.

No college in town? Lots of online options exist. An online creative writing course might broaden your horizons with poetry, or hone your character creation skills. More general online writing classes can help you with basics like grammar or style. If you're a novelist, you'll probably want to find an
on line fiction writing course that emphasizes the elements of novel writing.

Another thing to look for is whether or not you get teacher feedback, feedback from fellow students or no feedback. Most colleges that offer a creative writing class will obviously have a teacher who critiques student writing. The students may or may not critique each other's work, which may or may not be helpful. (Read my page about fiction writing workshops to see why.)

An online writing course may not have an instructor "attached". They may only be a series of lessons you do at your own pace. So if you need feedback, be sure it's offered before signing up for a course.

Probably the best way to find out if the course you want to take is good is to ask students who've taken it what they think. This may be difficult, if student names aren't disclosed, but most commercial course offerings want to sell more classes, and are therefore more likely to give out names of students who liked their courses.


Writing Course In Miniature

Don't have the dollars to shell out for a whole class? Maybe only need help with one part of your novel writing? You can look for fiction and creative writing exercises that help you polish just one area of your novel skills.

A single creative writing lesson might be the only boost you need, and you'll find yourself scribbling down your whole novel the minute you've mastered the lesson.

Fiction writing tutorials are offered online, too. More of a "how to" format, perhaps, and again, you may not get feedback. Look for lessons and exercises that give examples of how to use the techniques well, rather than just telling you to "show don't tell" or other empty advice.

Still want a course, but don't have the dough? When I did a search online, one of the listings came back with "10 universities offering free writing courses online.": These ranged from fiction to poetry to essays to research papers - and everything else you can imagine a writing course to be about.

Most of them looked like online tutorials that you read and practiced from independently. While this is a very nice way to start, eventually, you'll probably want feedback from a live person.

Whatever your needs, you should be able to find a writing class that suits you if you dig deep enough.