Creative Writing Course with the Crafty Writer

Learn to Write Short Stories, Poetry, and Non-Fiction Free Online

© Suzanne Pitner

Sep 14, 2009
Take Writing Courses Online, Zsuzsanna Kilián
The Crafty Writer offers a basic creative writing course with eight sessions and the option of having work critiqued.

Writers today are busy, and many delve into fiction writing as a hobby. Creative writing courses online are a flexible way to learn the basics of writing and how to find a market for publication. The Crafty Writer offers an eight-session course at no cost to the student. Optional critiques are available for a nominal fee.

Creative Writing Course Content

This course begins with a lesson and three exercises on unleashing creativity. Creativity is a writer’s valuable asset, yet it can sometimes be elusive. This session gets the student thinking like a writer. Other sessions deal with lessons in crafting the short story, characters, dialogue, point of view, bringing writing to life, writing poetry, and finally, finding a market for the written works.

Fiona Veitch Smith, a freelance author, journalist, and teacher, wrote the course and moderates the lessons. She responds to comments at the end of each lesson, and she makes her contact information available throughout the website. If students want to learn more, she recommends books for further study.

Short Story Writing Lesson

The short story module of this lesson defines how a short story differs from a novel. The student learns about how to choose a topic for a short story from a larger story arc. The Crafty Writer also gives information on the state of the short story market and where to find places to publish short stories.

Short stories are the beginning writer’s way of learning the skill of putting a story together and developing plot and setting. Perfecting the short story is the first step to master before moving on to writing a novel.

Non-Fiction Writing Courses from Crafty Writer

Fiona Veitch Smith lives in Great Britain and she offers an array of courses in the Newcastle area at local churches and universities. She teaches travel writing and also screenwriting and writing for the media, in addition to creative writing.

She offers a non-fiction writing course, also free, also online, at her website. This course delves into blogging, writing for online publishers, writing a feature article, and how to query editors. It also has a module on copyright law, important information for every writer.

These courses are designed for the beginning writer. The information contained in them can also be a refresher for more writers with more experience. Unlike Open University courses, where the student can connect with others in forums or chat rooms, at the Crafty Writer the student must be more independent. However, the friendly writing style, easy contact with the teacher, and professional critiques makes these Crafty Writer courses worth checking out.


The copyright of the article Creative Writing Course with the Crafty Writer in Writing Fiction is owned by Suzanne Pitner. Permission to republish Creative Writing Course with the Crafty Writer in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.


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