12 Best Free Writing Courses Of 2024 (Top Rated)

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Ohh! So you are one of those writing enthusiasts. Don’t worry, Gotcha! We have many best free Writing courses customized according to your needs.  

If you are a writer, you must have excellent skills, but as you know, learning never stops, and we must not lose any chance of becoming 1% better every day.

So here are a few free writing courses that you should check out. We have gone through all the courses and their pros and cons to delivering the best ones.

Here is a list of the best free writing courses in all genres of writing. You can pick the one that best suits you and increases your dopamine levels.

Have a great time learning! 

Top 12 Free Writing Courses: In a Nutshell (2024)

Let’s take a quick overview of all the courses so that you can find the right choice if you are in a hurry!

Sr. No.Writing Course   TypeOffered By
1.Creative writing Specialization Creative WritingWesleyan University
2.Business Writing TechniqueBusiness WritingDOANEX
3.The art of Persuasive writing and public speakingRhetoricHarvardX
4.Comedy Writing and Performance PoetryStand upUniversity of Cambridge
5.How to write an EssayEssay writingBerkely University of California
6.Writing Successfully for the stageWriting for stageUniversity of Cambridge
7.The Singer-Songwriter SpecializationSong WritingBerklee College of Music
8.English for JournalismWriting as journalistUniversity of Pennsylvania
9.Write Your First NovelFiction writingMichigan State University
10.The Strategy of Content MarketingFreelance writingDavis University of Cambridge
11.155 Years of Copywriting Insights Taught In 1.5 Hour Course!CopywritingEric John Campell
12.Build Your ScreenplayScreenplay WritingUniversity of Cambridge

Now that you have the gist of the courses let me take you to the details you can take advantage of at your fingertips.

1. Creative Writing Specialization (Creative writing)

 This course covers three major writing genres: Short essay, Narrative essay, and memoir. This course is a specialization course offered by Wesleyan University. It is a Self-Paced Learning and a beginners-level course. 

Best Free  Writing Courses - Creative Writing

You will have to complete hands-on projects to complete the course successfully. Besides, you will get access to Practice Quizzes, Graded Assignments with Peer Feedback, and Graded Quizzes with Feedback.

 The specialization course consists of 5 introductory courses. You can Complete all of them or any one of your choice.

Key highlights 

  • Creative writing: The Craft of Plot
  • Creative writing: The craft of character 
  • Creative writing: The Craft of setting and description
  • Creative writing: The Craft of style
  • Capstone: Your Story

Platform: Coursera

Duration: Approx 6 months (1 hour/week)

Ratings: 4.6/5

2. Business Writing Technique (Business writing )

This is an entirely free course for beginners to enhance their business writing skills. The course will provide you with in-depth knowledge about the parts of business letters, and direct and indirect messages.

Moreover, you will be able to explore the details to 6 C’s (Must Check out!) necessary for business messages. Also, you will understand and learn about the use of emojis in a business setting from this course.

Business Writing Technique

You can be flexible while accessing the course as it is self-paced. So you can chill and learn.

However, the course has limited free access of 28 days. So what are you waiting for? Go speed up and complete your course for free! And enhance your skills

Key highlights:

  •  Parts of Business letter
  • 6 C’S for Business Messages
  • Direct Vs. Indirect Messages
  • The use of emojis in the business setting

Platform: edX

Duration: Approx 4 Weeks (5 -8 hours/week)

Ratings: 4.2/5

3. The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking (Rhetoric)

Yeah! You guessed it right; this course is also self-paced. The course is offered by HarvardX and is the best for Rhetoric writing.

It is an introductory course, so it’s excellent for beginners and intermediates. Moreover, this course will help you in conveying a compelling message. This will add value not only to your professional lives but also to your personal and public lives. The course will teach you to build and defend compelling arguments.

The Art of Persuasive Writing and Public Speaking

The free access will be granted for 55 days. So what are you waiting for? Enroll fast!!

Key Highlights:

  • Employing a variety of rhetorical devices in writing and speaking
  •  Differentiation between argument and rhetorical technique
  • Writing a persuasive opinion editorial and short speech
  • Strength of an argument
  • Logical fallacies in arguments

Platform: edX

Duration: Approx 8 Weeks (2-3 hours/week)

Ratings: 4.4/5

4. Comedy Writing and Performance Poetry (Stand Up)

Ever wanted to make your audience fall off laughing? You can get 28 days of free access to this course and get the most out of the writing for the performance industries.

Comedy Writing and Performance Poetry

Moreover, you will come across an in-depth structure of short-form performance material. Also, you will prepare physically and vocally so that you can perform live with calm and clarity.

This course is by the University of Cambridge and is one of the best courses for standup writing.

Key Highlights:

  • History and forms of performances
  • Understanding and framing the performance.
  • Scrip-editing skills
  • Self-Development and stage management.

Platform: edX

Duration: Approx 4 Weeks (8-10 hour/week)

Ratings: 4.4/5

5. How to Write an Essay (Essay writing) 

This is an introductory level course for essay writing. Berkeley University of California provides this course. 

You will be able to improve your academic English language by focusing on Grammatical correctness and self-editing. By the end of the course, you will be able to frame effective sentences and paragraphs, introduction and conclusion, and thesis and statements. You will have access to the readings and videos of the course, course workbook, and ebooks. 

How to Write an Essay

Moreover, you will also be able to engage in discussions with your peers. Peer-graded assignments constitute an effective form of evaluation. This course will help you to level up your game of Essay writing.

Key Highlights:

  • Understanding basic grammar and its terminologies
  • Effective ways to frame sentences and paragraphs.
  • Insertion of Introduction and Conclusions.
  • Proven ideas to write the thesis and long paragraphs.

Platform: edX

Duration: Approx 5  Weeks (5 -6 hour/week)

Ratings: 4/5

6.  Writing Successfully for the Stage (Writing for stage)

This course will help you to write your dramatic writing with the professional standard. This course is a self-paced course from the University of Cambridge. It is well made for beginners as well as intermediates. 

Writing Successfully for the Stage

Moreover, You will learn the structure of the story and dialogues. Additionally, you will be able to stage directions, music, and set designs of the play.

This course will be your best trade if you look forward to writing for the stage.

Key Highlights:

  • Specialized knowledge of histories, forms, and traditions of writing 
  • advanced awareness of the relevant market and distribution demands of entertainment industries
  • enhanced understanding of the applications of performance in educational, community, and social contexts
  • dramaturgical and script-editing skills within playwriting
  • developed advanced self-management skill

Platform: edX

Duration: Approx 4 Weeks (8-10 hours/ week)

Ratings: 4.3/5

7.  The Singer-Songwriter Specialization  (Songwriting)

 You can either go for all the 4 courses available in the specialization or choose the ones you need in any order you prefer.

This course is by Berklee College of Music and is the best one I have come across, so it’s definitely a go-on if you are interested in being a songwriter. It is a self-paced and beginner-friendly course.

The Singer-Songwriter Specialization

When you finish this course, you will have hands-on experience on how to play the guitar and its basics, Singing in your preferable genre and style.

Also, you will be able to use songwriting tools and techniques. This course will teach you to record, edit, and mix music productions that include MIDI and audio to create professional-sounding recordings of your music.  

Key Highlights:

  • Guitar for beginners
  • Singing popular music
  • Songwriting: Writing the lyrics
  • Introduction to Ableton live

Platform: Coursera

Duration: Approx 5 months ( 4 hours/week)

Ratings: 4.7/5

8. English for Journalism(Writing as a Journalist)

So you want to grab your place in journalism? This course will help you explore print and digital media. You will have access to readings and video lectures to expand your vocabulary and increase your ability to read research and develop local as well as global news.

English for Journalism

Moreover, you can gather the knowledge from the course with great flexibility as it is self-paced. At the end of this course, you can grab a certificate of completion and showcase your skills.

Key Points: 

  • Introduction and principles of journalism
  • How to research, Pitch, and Interview 
  • Words in Print
  • Broadcasting The News
  • Journalism in the digital age 

Platform: Coursera

Duration: Approx 43 Hours 

Ratings: 4.8/5

9. Write Your First Novel (Fiction writing)

This course is a beginner-friendly course offered by Michigan state university. You can access the course at your preferred time as it is a self-paced course. 

You will be able to write your first novel by forming a basic idea into a structured ready-to-publish novel. Exciting! Isn’t it?

Write Your First Novel

I learned and cleared most of my fiction writing skills using this course. This course is beautifully tailored for the best full-length novel writing. It will help you instill your character’s emotions, thoughts, and lives into readers’ minds.

Key Highlights:

  • You will learn to write and complete a full-length novel of 50,000 words 
  • Finishing the Manuscript in hand.

Platform: Coursera

Duration: Approx127 hours 

Ratings: 4.2/5

10. The Strategy of Content Marketing (Freelance Writing)

The Davis University of California offers this course for beginners to intermediate-level writers. You will be able to strategize, organize and develop professional content with the effectiveness of content marketing.

The Strategy of Content Marketing

This course is a must-go for learning freelancing writing, So if you are the one, Rush!

Key Highlights: 

  • Content Marketing Hierarchy. 
  • Detailed Analysis of the 7A framework(Must check)
  • Depth knowledge of the content types and their strategies
  • Plotting of the content strategies

Platform: Coursera

Duration: Approx 19 hours

Ratings: 4.5/5

11. 155 Years of Copywriting Insights Taught In 1.5 Hour Course! (Copywriting)

This course is a free step-by-step guide to content writing tailored for beginners and intermediates. The instructor of this course is Eric John Campell.

You will be able to Learn Copywriting principles, increase your sales, and frame the product description. Besides, you will be able to understand how the words impact sales.

155 Years of Copywriting Insights Taught In 1.5 Hour Course!

This course is excellent if you wish to improve your copywriting skills and become a copywriting expert. Yeah, so go and learn!

Key Highlights: 

  • Applying necessary copywriting principles to spike up your sales
  • The effective ways of attracting the readers
  • Ways to write unavoidable headlines
  • The convincing ways to write body to sell the products

Platform: Udemy

Duration: Approx 1.5 hour

Ratings: 4.6/5

12. Building Your Screenplay (Screenplay Writing)

If you want to become a screenwriter, then this edX course on screenplay writing is the best option for you. This course helps you understand the demand for TV production and global film and also helps you differentiate between the two.

Building Your Screenplay

The University Of Cambridge offers this course, and you can also get a course completion certificate if you choose the verified track. This course can be the stepping stone for your career in screenwriting and broaden your understanding of how screenwriting works in the entertainment industry.

The course is part of a MicroMasters program at the University of Cambridge, but you can enroll in it for free. The course content for you won’t be available for long in the Audit Track (1 Month only), so it is best to finish it as soon as possible. 

Key Highlights:

  • Develop Script Editing Skills
  • Awareness of the current demand in the entertainment industry
  • Learn to create effective structure inside a screenplay
  • Become a visual story-teller

Platform: edX

Duration: 4 Weeks (8-10 hours per week)

Ratings: 4.6/5

Related Read:

Final Verdict: Which Is The  Most Recommended Free Writing Course? 

All the courses mentioned above are tested, tried, and well researched by our team for enthusiasts like you. 

If you are facing issues with which one to select, let us help you with it!

In my option, these are the two most recommended free writing courses you can take.  

  1. The Art of Persuasive Writing — HarvardX
  2. How to Write an Essay — For Students
  3. Creative Writing Specialization —  by Coursera 

We hope this list helped you to choose your best course. So which one are you going with?  Let us know in the comment section

Wishing you guys a stroke of good luck with your learning. Keep learning and keep improving.

FAQs on Best Free Writing Courses

How can I improve my writing skills for free?

Start with the basics, and go through the courses that we have listed here. What’s more, you can try different courses available, and check out different mentors on writing and follow. 

How do I start just writing?

You can start small. Set daily goals and try to practice as much as possible. You can go for introductory courses and improve too.

Are online writing courses worth it?

Yes absolutely. All you need is the will to learn and the determination to become better every day, and Voila!! You have a lot of courses complimentary that you can make use of. 

How much does a writer make?

It usually depends on whether you are a beginner or an expert, your efforts, and your years of experience.

Adam Cheise
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