creative writing masterclass

18 Best Masterclass Writing Courses (2024)

In a rush? The best Masterclass for most writers is Neil Gaiman’s . In this article, we profile your options. 

Masterclass is one of the best learning platforms for writers. You can learn from writing heroes like James Patterson, Margaret Atwood, David Baldacci, etc. But where should you start?

When I reviewed Masterclass a few years ago, I profiled my favorite authors’ creative processes and how they capture the imagination of millions. While writing that review, I enjoyed watching best-selling authors break down complex topics into bite-sized lessons I could act on.

Back then, Masterclass had fewer courses. Good news! Today, if you write fantasy novels, short movies, or advertisements, Masterclass has a course for you. In this post, I’ll profile the best Masterclasses for writers, what I learned from the instructors, and how they can improve your life.

Learn from the world's best teachers and instructors about writing, business, creative pursuits and more. It's affordable and includes dozens of hours of high-quality lessons that you can't get anywhere else. It costs just $10 per month.

1. Neil Gaiman Teaches the Art of Storytelling

2. james patterson teaches writing, 3. malcolm gladwell teaches writing, 4. margaret atwood teaches creative writing, 5. aaron sorkin teaches screenwriting, 6. dan brown teaches writing thrillers, 7. r.l. stine teaches writing children’s books, 8. david baldacci teaches mystery and thriller writing, 9. david mamet teaches dramatic writing, 10. judy blume teaches fiction writing, 11. shonda rhimes teaches writing for television, 12. joyce carol oates teaches the art of the short story, 13. werner herzog teaches filmmaking, 14. salman rushdie teaches storytelling and writing, 15. n.k. jemisin teaches fantasy and science fiction writing, 16. amy tan teaches fiction, memory, and imagination, 17. david sedaris teaches storytelling and humor, 18. steve martin teaches comedy, my testing criteria, why trust us, best masterclass courses for writers: the final word, is masterclass good for beginner writers, is masterclass worth it for writing, who has the best writing masterclass.

Neil Gaiman is an English author who writes novels, short fiction, comic books, and films. Some of his famous books include:

• American Gods
• The Sandman

During his Masterclass, Gaiman speaks about finding your voice as a writer, how to develop a story, and dealing with writer’s block. He also shares unique writing exercises that allow you to fully grasp his message. 

Over the course of four hours and 49 minutes, you’ll learn almost everything you need to write an eye-catching story. When taking Gaiman’s Masterclass, I learned a few important lessons that I implemented into my creative process.

For example, I always try to carry a little workbook so I can put it on paper whenever I get an idea. For more, read our Neil Gaiman Masterclass review .

James Patterson is one of the first authors that I started following, so it was a privilege to get an opportunity to learn from him. After a long career as an advertising executive, Patterson decided to try his hand at writing. 

He published his first book, The Thomas Berryman Number , in 1976 and has been creating best-sellers ever since. Some of my favorite novels include:

• Along Came a Spider
• Cat & Mouse

During his online class, Patterson speaks about his creative process, how he creates book ideas, and how you can implement his techniques to scale your writing career.

The biggest lesson I learned when taking this Masterclass is how to capture your reader’s attention. Patterson writes novels, but his techniques work with blog posts, video scripts, and advertisements. For more, read our James Patterson Masterclass review .

Malcolm Gladwell is a Canadian journalist and author. Gladwell started writing at The New Yorker in 1996 and published his first book, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference . After this, he published several best-selling books like:

• Talking to Strangers
• Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking

Taking this four hours 54-minute Masterclass taught me a few important lessons I carry with me when creating content. Some of these lessons are:

• How to create stories
• Using interviews to create better content
• Developing titles

Gladwell loves talking to other people when creating a story. He says that everyone has a shelf of random ideas and thoughts in their heads. So why limit yourself to your ideas when you can access other people’s.

When he’s developing a story, he’ll interview people, and after they read a snippet of his writing, participants talk about what it reminds them of. This is an effective way to grow a story because you’re using other people’s experiences. To learn more read our Malcolm Gladwell Teaches Writing review .

Margaret Atwood is a Canadian author, poet, and teacher, and she has published 18 novels, 11 non-fiction books, and eight children’s books. You might recognize some of her work like:

• The Handmaid’s Tale
• Alias Grace
• Cat’s Eye

In this Masterclass, Atwood teaches how to take your creative writing skills to the next level. The video lessons are short, and it’s easy to keep up with her teaching style.

She also talks about her creative process, how she developed it, and how you can use it to create engaging stories. After watching her 23-video-long course, my biggest takeaway is how she builds characters in detail. Actions build characters. Your characters don’t just exist in isolation; you’re finding out who they are by how they interact with events around them.

Before writing a novel, Atwood likes creating a graph with the month on the left and the year at the top. Then, she’ll plot all the critical world events on the chart, creating uniformity and accuracy. By doing this, you reduce the likelihood of inaccuracies in your book. My biggest takeaway is how she builds characters in detail. To learn why, read our Margaret Atwood Masterclass review .

Aaron Sorkin is a famous screenwriter, playwright, actor, and director. He developed a passion for writing plays at an early age, and after working multiple odd jobs to support his career in film, he wrote his first hit play, Removing All Doubt.  

Since then, Sorkin has written famous films like A Few Good Men, The American President , and Moneyball . He even wrote the script for the biographical movie Steve Jobs released in 2015.

In this Masterclass , Sorkin talks about how he conducts research, develops characters, and comes up with story ideas. Then, he takes you through how he created famous movies like Steve Jobs and The West Wing.

My favorite Masterclass episode is when he talks about writing habits. He says you should sit down and write, regardless of how you feel. It’s better to write something mediocre than to do nothing.

This helped me when creating blog posts. I always struggle with writing introductions since that’s when the writer’s block kicks in. But after putting his advice into practice, I rarely experience that blank screen anxiety because there’s no pressure to create a perfect post.

Dan Brown is famous for his novels in the horror and thriller niches. So if you’re an aspiring author who loves writing thrillers, this Masterclass is for you. You might recognize some of his famous books like:

• The Da Vinci Code

The Da Vinci Code was such a hit that Columbia Pictures even made a movie of it starring Tom Hanks and Jean Reno. When teaching this Masterclass , Brown aims to help viewers write better and more suspenseful thrillers.

During these classes, he explains how he got ideas for The Da Vinci Code . I found this class helpful because I could implement the techniques he used into my writing.

One of his main principles is to create what you like and hope others share your taste. You shouldn’t chase other people’s tastes because it comes off as inauthentic. Some people will love what you do while others will hate it, but that’s part of being an author.

Check out our guide to the best Dan Brown books .

Rober Lawrence Stine is a novelist and screenwriter famous for his work in the children’s niche. His notable books include:

• Fear Street
• Rotten School
• Mostly Ghostly

As a child, Stine was passionate about creating stories, and in 1986, he wrote his first novel, Blind Date.

In his Masterclass, Stine covers how he scares his readers, so they keep coming back. He uses examples and case studies from Goosebumps to help elevate your horror writing skills. There’s even an entire lesson on creating monsters.

I learned that the key to scary writing is a close point of view of the protagonist. When writing in first-person, you place the reader in the protagonist’s head. So when something terrible happens, your readers are frightened.

David Baldacci is a former attorney turned best-selling author. He’s well-known for his legal and political novels. Barack Obama even stated that he’s a big fan of Baldacci’s work. 

Baldacci started writing stories as a child but decided to study law after graduating from high school. After a long and successful career as an attorney, he published his first novel, Absolute Power, in 1996. Since then, he has written best-selling books like:

• The Camel Club
• The Innocent

During this Masterclass , Baldacci covers creating an outline for your novel, constructing chapters, and building suspense.

Baldacci is one of the best at creating suspense, making it almost impossible to put his books down. In a few video lessons, he talks about his thought process when building tension. 

Before something important happens, Baldacci will end the chapter, which forces readers to turn the page quickly. He might finish a book before an exciting event when writing a book series, so readers must read his next book to find out what happens. To learn more, read our David Baldacci Masterclass review .

David Mamet is a director, screenwriter, and author who wrote classic films like The Untouchables, Hannibal, and Heist . He also wrote award-winning books like Chicago and Three Uses of the Knife.

Mamet’s four-hour 41 minutes long Masterclass aims to teach viewers how he creates dramatic writing. Some of his classes include:

• The basic rules of dramatic writing
• How to structure your plot
• Building the habit of writing

This Masterclass is divided into 26 videos, so it’s easy to digest. It details how to create dramatic scenes, making it an informative course for anyone looking to improve their drama writing skills.

However, my favorite part of his Masterclass is the exercises that Mamet shares. He believes in learning by making mistakes instead of just absorbing information. For example, in a few episodes, he asks you to structure a plot using his creative methods, and although you’ll make many mistakes, it allows you to grow.

Judy Blume is one of the world’s best children’s book authors. She started writing in 1959 and, since then, published over 25 best-selling novels. Some of her best work include:

• Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing
• Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret

Blume’s novels are admired by millions of readers worldwide since she teaches children and young adults about their bodies. As a child, I read a few of Blume’s classics, and her writing voice is informative yet fun.

So it was a pleasure to learn from one of my childhood authors. You’ll go behind the scenes and discover how Blume creates ideas and transfers those ideas onto paper in a way that’s appealing to children.

I especially like her two episodes where she talks about her writing process. Blume explains that the first thing she does when creating a new novel is to write down everything she can in a first draft. This way, she doesn’t have to face a blank screen or page.

Blume also likes writing with a pencil instead of typing on a computer since it allows her to more effectively transfer ideas from her head onto a piece of paper.

Shonda Rhimes is a screenwriter, television producer, and author. She’s famous for being the creator, head writer, and executive producer of the hit medical television show Grey’s Anatomy . Here are other popular films that Rhimes wrote:

• The Princess Diaries
• For the People

In her Masterclass , Rhymes goes over essential lessons she learned over her long career and how you can use them to get into the television writing industry.

She covers topics like finding creative ideas, creating memorable characters, and pitching your story. This makes her Masterclass an actionable option for those looking to work in the television industry.

Taking her Masterclass taught me how to write a script for a one-hour drama for my own work. Rhimes talks about the five acts of a show:

• Present your characters with a problem
• The problem escalates
• The plot reaches a peak
• An unexpected outcome
• A victory and celebration

Rhimes goes into how to create each act, when to end it, and how to move on. You’ll also learn some techniques she used when creating Grey’s Anatomy .

Joyce Carol Oates is an American writer who writes different stories like plays, novels, poetry, and short stories.

She’s famous for her books, Blonde, The Falls, and We Were the Mulvaneys. She published her first novel, Shuddering Fall , in 1964, and since then, she has published over 60 books and plays.

In her Masterclass, Oates talks about observing the world as an author to generate creative ideas, structuring these ideas concisely, and studying other authors’ work. She also holds writer’s workshops with her students where they do writing exercises.

After taking Oates’ Masterclass, the biggest lesson I learned was how writing with limited time could benefit your creative ideas. The work you create when time is limited is usually better than when you have a few days to write. 

Think back to when you had to meet a tight deadline. Then, ideas flow easily, and you rarely struggle with writer’s block. So if you can set a deadline for 20 or 30 minutes, you’ll get into a flow state quickly.

Werner Herzog is a German screenwriter, actor, author, and director. He acted in Star Wars: The Mandalorian and voiced Shrimply Pibbles in Rick and Morty.

He’s also the screenwriter for movies like My Best Fiend, Grizzly Man, and Jack Reacher . During his Masterclass, Herzog shares the writing tips and techniques he developed over the years so you can create compelling screenplays.

I’ve always been passionate about creating films and writing scripts, so I was excited when learning from Herzog. After taking this course, I walked away with information that’ll stay with me forever.

For example, in one of his episodes, Herzog talks about a set of rules that allowed him to create the best films possible. Some of these rules include:

• No cellphones allowed on set
• Stay close to your actors and build a relationship with them
• Throw away the director’s chair

Salman Rushdie is an Indian-British author who’s known for his work in the magic realism genre. He won several prestigious writing awards like The Booker Prize and Golden PEN Award . The Queen of England even gave him a knighthood in June 2007.

You might recognize some of his famous books like:

• The Satanic Verses
• Midnight’s Children

During this writing class, Rushdie teaches the art of storytelling. He goes over bringing characters to life, developing your writing voice, and researching for your novel. This makes it a helpful tool for anyone looking to write their first book.

Rushdie also shares exercises that help your writing. For example, he suggests you write a few thousand words without adjectives, thus forcing you to describe things in more detail. 

For example, instead of saying a house is beautiful, you could talk about the house’s color, shape, lawn, and size. This exercise improves your descriptive writing skills.

Finding a suitable course focused solely on genre fiction and world-building is hard. Enter this Masterclass. N.K. Jemisin is a best-selling American science fiction author. Her books include The Broken Earth trilogy and Inheritance trilogy. An entry in the former series won the Hugo Award for best novel.

Jemisin reveals her approach to world-building, crafting compelling magic, science-fiction systems, and character development. It’s a great choice if you want to write either a best-selling fantasy or science fiction novel.

American author Amy Tan was 33 years old when she started writing fiction. In 1989, her debut novel, The Joy Luck Club , spent 40 weeks on The New York Times best-seller list. It was turned into a successful film in 1993.

In this Masterclass writing course, she reveals how to write about the challenges and joys of self-discovery. She also covers how to start your story and end it, find your voice, and use your emotional memory to make your writing more powerful.

David Sedaris is a New York Times best-selling comedian, essayist and author. His books Me Talk Pretty One Day and Calypso . In this Masterclass writing course, he reveals how he crafts and performs his famous essays.

Pleasingly, Sedaris writes and performs for the reader in this course. We particularly liked how Sedaris advocates using everyday experiences as material for writing. It’s an excellent course for aspiring essayists and non-fiction writers.

Steve Martin is a well-known and beloved comedian in the United States. In addition to his roles in The Jerk , Father of the Bride and Cheaper by the Dozen , he’s also known for his stand-up shows. Only Murders in the Building earned him a nomination for an Emmy and a Golden Globe in 2022.

If you want to learn more about his career and approach to comedy writing, this Masterclass is a good option. In addition, Martin critiques several pieces created by course participants. In order to get the most out of this Masterclass, I recommend reading his autobiography, Born Standing Up too.

When looking for the best Masterclass writing courses to recommend to my fellow writers, I used the following review criteria:

• The expertise of the instructor
• Amount of actionable information in the video lessons
• The teaching style of the instructor
• The length of video lessons

After using Masterclass for several years, I can safely say these courses are worth it.

All the instructors are world-famous experts who share actionable tips you can implement immediately. Their teaching style is also easy to understand, and the annual membership only costs $180. With this all-access pass, you can watch as many classes as you want.

On Become a Writer Today, a team of trained writers and journalists regularly takes and reviews the Masterclass courses on offer and applies lessons from these best-selling authors. We profile individual Masterclass courses, their pros and cons, and periodically update this round-up.

I mostly learned from online videos and blog posts when I started writing. However, this information was often regurgitated. Most blog posts and videos gave the same boring advice; add bullet points, use lots of headers, write like you’re talking to a child, and optimize for SEO.

But when I learned from these Hollywood writers and best-selling authors, I accessed a new world of information. Almost every piece of advice they shared was actionable. 

For example, when taking Rushdie’s course, I started writing without adjectives. I instantly got better at descriptive writing because I couldn’t use words like big, fast, and perfect. It would not be easy to find this advice when watching generic online videos.

Masterclass writing courses offer access to a whole new world level of expertise for writers. Writers like David Baldacci, Salman Rushdie, and Judy Blume share their secrets on generating ideas and writing that keep the reader turning the page. By implementing these writing techniques in your creative process, you’ll take your career to the next level.

Masterclass Writing FAQ

Masterclass offers several great courses for beginner writers. James Patterson’s course is one of its earliest offerings and a good entry point for thriller writers. Neil. Gaiman’s Masterclass is polished, concise and actionable. Some non-fiction writers will enjoy David Seders on Masterclass.

If you want to improve your writing and storytelling abilities, Masterclass is a good choice. It features actionable and digestible courses for many of the world’s top writers, authors and storytellers. It’s all but impossible to learn from the likes of Neil Gaiman, Amy Tan, James Patterson, Salman Rushdie and others elsewhere.

The best writing Masterclass depends on your genre, skills and interests. Neil Gaiman’s Masterclass is a delight and contains great writing lessons. David Sedaris delivers a great course about storytelling and humor. Malcolm Gladwell is also a fascinating teacher.

MasterClass fast facts:

What the margaret atwood creative writing course is like as a student:, the bottom line, i took margaret atwood's creative writing course on masterclass. it made my subscription worth every penny..

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• As a fan of "The Handmaid's Tale" author Margaret Atwood, I took (and loved) her Creative Writing MasterClass .
• Like her writing, the course is engaging, sharp, and fast-moving. It addresses both the abstract and practical aspects of writing.
• A MasterClass annual membership is $180 (or $15 a month). With it, you can access every course on MasterClass.

Margaret Atwood, creator of such bestselling works as " The Handmaid's Tale " and " Oryx and Crake, " is beloved for her ability to spin eerily prescient fables out of meticulous research and shrewd observations. Despite objections to the "science fiction" label (Atwood focuses on crimes against humanity that resemble real-life events), her work is one of literature's best examples of creativity in relation to — real, imaginary, or anticipatory — hardship, particularly in society.

The famed author of classics like "The Handmaid's Tale" and "Oryx and Crake," Margaret Atwood teaches the fundamentals of fiction writing in this MasterClass, from structuring your plot to coming up with compelling characters and prose. Free with Masterclass subscription

So, as a break from ambient television and audiobooks , I took Atwood's Creative Writing MasterClass . It felt like a great way to do something fun and creative in a time that has been stagnant, predictable, and exhausting . Atwood's pieces often deal with dystopia and its impact on the individual, but it's her Canadian sensibility and tell-you-how-it-is nature that made this online course feel most useful. All in all, I can't recommend it enough — but, then again, I'm a big fan of MasterClass .

MasterClass 's annual subscription is $180 (broken down to $15 a month) and gives you unlimited access to its 85+ classes. The courses and experts run the gamut — from gardening with activist Ron Finley to photography with Annie Leibovitz to film with David Lynch, with new classes added every month. You can find a full MasterClass review and FAQ here .

Anatomically speaking, the course is 23 videos (about 4 hours of Atwood lectures) and a 90-page PDF workbook. The workbook is optional; it just provides refreshers of the lessons as well as recommended readings and assignments.

In terms of topics, Atwood covers the general points of interest for writers — how to get started, handle the middle of a story, develop characters, craft dialogue, and address writers' block — as well as more specific queries, like research and maintaining historical accuracy. She even addresses some deeper existential questions, like what you can expect from a writing career (AKA, not necessarily nabbing a six-figure book contract) and common roadblocks. "If you really do want to write, and you're struggling to get started," Atwood says in the second chapter, "you're afraid of something. What is that fear?" To me, it felt like an excellent blend of the concrete and the abstract. You can't really fully address creative writing without touching on both.

The formatting is also very convenient. You can access the classes on multiple devices, online or (when downloaded) offline — and in video or solely audio form. Audio-only doesn't work as well for MasterClasses with lots of visual direction — such as cooking classes — but with this course, I was able to transform Atwood's lessons into a great audiobook ; I listened to the classes while handling all the other tasks of the week: cleaning, cooking, showering, and walking outside for my daily endorphin infusion.

It's also pretty customizable. Whether you're looking for edu-tainment and prefer to listen to the videos only and ignore the homework, I think you'll still find the class easily absorbable. Atwood is, after all, an iconic storyteller — and this class is not immune from that magic. Her practical advice is layered over sharp anecdotes about her life and upbringing in Canada, as well as her process — writing first drafts swiftly and urgently, like a "downhill skier" for the best flow, for instance. I genuinely looked forward to listening. On the other hand, if you do want a more hands-on experience, you can use the workbook, complete assignments, and participate in an on-site discussion with other members.

However, if you're looking for a more traditional classroom setting, that's not MasterClass's appeal — and not its strong suit. The discussion forums are less lively than you may find on a larger platform like edX or Coursera . Plus, many writers really benefit from deadlines, direct peer feedback, and evaluating classmates' work.

Having said that, I find MasterClass's entertaining approach more luxe and engaging . Personally, I was ok with missing out on some class discussions for the intrigue of listening to Atwood and the high production value of the MasterClass operation (meaning gorgeous lighting, smooth video editing, and musical cues).  

Atwood addresses the nuts and bolts of writing — story, plot, characters, dialogue, genre — directly. She also infuses each lecture with the same dry humor and sharp insight into the human condition that her fans prize in her novels. If you're an especially avid Atwood reader, you can also look forward to hearing anecdotes about her childhood and personal life. In the same way that you may bond with podcast hosts after a few hours of listening to them, by the end, Atwood feels more like a grandmother who wouldn't be afraid to tell me I have lipstick on my teeth than a stranger. 

All in all, I found the class as attention-grabbing as it was useful. Atwood is so talented a storyteller that, most of the time, I felt more like I was sitting rapt in a lecture hall than pacing on a treadmill, staring at my phone.

If you're looking for practical advice on the art and business of writing — and you appreciate Atwood's dark humor and keen observations — this class will be special and worthwhile. 

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10 Best Creative Writing Courses for 2024: Craft Authentic Stories

Learn how to tell your story and engage your readers with great storytelling.

As a lifelong literature enthusiast, I decided to challenge myself in 2010 by participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), which tasks participants with writing a 50,000-word draft within a month. Although I’ve only achieved this goal twice since then, the experience has been invaluable. I’ve connected with a wonderful community of writers, both online and in person.

Through my experience, I can confidently say that creative writing is a skill that can be developed and honed, just like any other. While traditionally associated with literature, creative writing is increasingly being recognized as a powerful tool in various forms of writing, from copywriting and storytelling to novels and poetry. It has the ability to captivate readers and elevate the impact of written expression.

If you’re searching for the best online Creative Writing courses and resources, you’ve come to the right place. This Best Courses Guide (BCG) is built from Class Central’s catalog of over 300 Creative Writing courses and selected according to a methodology that you can check below.

Click on the shortcuts for more details:

What is Creative Writing?

Courses overview, why you should trust us, how we made our picks and tested them, here are our top picks.

Click on one to skip to the course details:

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Creative writing is a genre of writing that seeks to evoke emotions and feelings in its readers. It surpasses the limits of traditional forms of literature and emphasizes narrative craft, character development, and the use of literary tropes and poetic traditions. Creative writing finds application in various forms of writing, including screenplays, plays, novels, poems, and other written works. In this guide, I will delve into some of its most popular facets.

Enhancing resilience and creativity through writing

Research shows that the brains of professional writers work differently from those of novice writers. Moreover, creative writing has been found to boost resilience in students . If you want to enjoy the benefits of writing, it’s important to develop the habit of jotting down your thoughts and words. Doing so can help you overcome writer’s block.

Creative writing is so powerful that it’s used in prisons to give inmates a chance to express themselves in programs like PEN America . “By providing resources, mentorship, and audiences outside the walls, we help these writers to join and enrich the broader literary community.”

Creative writing is a skill that can be learned and practiced like any other. Techniques such as ABDCE structure, 1st or 3rd person point of view, “show don’t tell”, dialogues, and tropes can be easily learned through the online courses in this guide.

• Together, they account for over 1M enrollments
• Skillshare, with 2 courses, is the most featured provider
• The single most popular course has nearly 400k enrollments
• Three courses are entirely free or free-to-audit.

Best Fantasy And Short-Stories Writing Lessons For Beginners (Brandon Sanderson)

Besides being an awesome writer, Sanderson is an instructor with a very unique talent for keeping us engaged. He has also made available a full course in creative writing on YouTube , originally presented at Brigham Young University, which includes the most crucial tools for any beginner or even experienced writers. The course is comprehensive and rich in content, with great sound and video quality.

Each video discusses a specific tool or technique, so you can easily select the theme you want to explore next or watch it all in sequence. It’s up to you. I recommend you take your time, watch one video at a time and experiment with each concept, or even better, find a writing buddy or form a group to practice writing together.

What you’ll learn:

• Plot construction, character development, and engaging storytelling
• Techniques for crafting immersive worlds and believable viewpoints
• Insights into the publishing industry, tailored for emerging writers
• Strategies for writing compelling short stories and leveraging them for larger projects.

“Very informative! I’m a beginner writer looking to study writing for video games, and this class gave me a lot of helpful tools to start understanding how stories work/how to organize my ideas! Will definitely be returning to some of these lectures in the future for guidance 👍” – Paige Webster

Best University-level Creative Writing Course (Wesleyan University)

Creative Writing by Wesleyan University is a specialization for those looking for a way to improve their writing structure, scene and character creations and finding your style. Each course includes writing practice (for paying learners) and insightful interviews. It’s worth your time and effort if you are a disorganized writer like myself.

• Techniques for crafting a bracing story with memorable characters and an interesting setting
• How to employ a fresh descriptive style in your writing
• Skills for analyzing and constructively evaluating peer writing
• The ability to refine your writing, critique writing in general, and draw inspiration from existing literature
• The process of drafting, rewriting, and completing an original story in the genre of your choosing.

It should be noted that the peer-grading system often lacks depth. However, the assignments are well-crafted and can be easily evaluated with minimal effort, providing some insights from other participants in the form of feedback or inspiration from their submissions.

“Great information about plot and scene structure. The information about revision was entirely new to me – thank you! The exercises were good and difficult in a good way that helped me hone my writing.” – Laura B, Coursera learner

Best Course to Find Your Voice (Neil Gaiman)

Neil Gaiman is currently one the most prolific writers I know of: he’s written books , comics , movies and even TV shows . Even if you’re not a fan of his style, there is definitely something you can learn from him.

In Neil Gaiman Teaches The Art Of Storytelling you will discover Neil’s philosophy on what drives a story and learn to unlock new stories within yourself.

While MasterClass doesn’t sell single courses, a subscription provides access to their entire library, including other writing courses like Margaret Atwood Teaches Creative Writing , Dan Brown Teaches Writing Thrillers , Malcolm Gladwell Teaches Writing , and James Patterson Teaches Writing . If you are considering the purchase, you should definitely enjoy the rest of their catalog.

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

• Discover and develop your unique writing voice
• Generate and develop original ideas
• Create dynamic, well-rounded characters that come to life on the page.

This course includes a 94-page workbook that includes assignments and supplemental material.

Best Practical Writing Course With Support (Trace Crawford)

I love it when a passionate teacher like Trace Crawford puts the effort into creating a comprehensive curriculum. COMPLETE Creative Writing – All Genres is a 12-hour course with 145 downloadable resources. In this course, you will learn how to write engaging fiction, poetry, drama, and creative non-fiction, helping you become the successful writer you want to be.

• The four genres of creative writing: fiction, poetry, drama, and creative non-fiction
• How to discover, refine, and share your unique writing voice
• A series of authentic writing assignments designed to target the skills you need to develop
• Writing techniques, literary devices, and specialized skills to enhance your writing
• Opportunities for publishing, podcasts, and how to create a professional creative writing portfolio
• Discover multiple public outlets to share your writing with others as you gain confidence and experience success in your writing ability.

This is a practical creative writing course that includes assignments reviewed by the instructor, though response time may vary.

“The short snippets of theory in combination with the short assignments suits my learning style. I don’t remember the last time I’ve written anything creative, but this course gave me the incentive to set some foundation and its actually quite enjoyable if you stick to it.” – Nikolaos-Stylianos Z., Udemy learner

Best Course to Overcome Writer’s Block: 10-Day Journaling Challenge (Emily Gould)

I couldn’t resist adding Creative Writing for All: A 10-Day Journaling Challenge to this guide. Emily Gould is a delightful instructor, and her approach to inviting you to participate in the challenge is impossible to decline. It’s the perfect course to overcome writer’s block, which is exactly what she proposes. In this 10-day creative writing challenge, filled with inspiring examples, observation prompts, and clever revision tricks, writers and enthusiasts will be able to express their creativity in a personal and artful way.

This course is the shortest one on the list, and it’s more about the challenge of keeping a journal. If you decide to subscribe to Skillshare, you can also enjoy their entire library of courses. In addition to the other two recommended courses on this list, you can also check out these other Skillshare courses: Writing Suspense: How to Write Stories That Thrill in Any Genre and The Writer’s Toolkit: 6 Steps to a Successful Writing Habit .

Best Course to Create Fiction From Personal Experience (Shaun Levin)

Shaun’s approach to writing in Short Story Writing: Create Fiction from Personal Experience is an unusual one. It draws from your personal experience to create a compelling fictional story. I can say from experience that this technique will help you write with more depth and authenticity. Every time we bring our own life to the story, it becomes alive, believable and relatable. In a way, all fictional stories are based on the author’s life.

This course will help you with techniques and a series of practical exercises to start writing your scenes from a more philosophical point of view, creating compelling stories. You’ll learn how to delve into your imagination to find everything you’ll need to become a prolific writer, no matter where you are.

By the end of the course, you will have a final project that will receive feedback from Shaun and other learners as well. Actually, if you want to check it out, in the course page on Domestika you can open the submitted projects and read the comments.

Shaun’s other courses: Creative Writing for Beginners: Bringing Your Story to Life .

“A practical course. Shaun Levin talks about theory but also demonstrates his process, which was invaluable. The exercises got my creative juices flowing. Thinking about doing his other course in the future.” – Maya Dicheva

Best Course to Make Writing Less Stressful with Best Practices (Jennie Nash)

If you struggle to start or get stuck in your writing, Write Your Book: Start Strong and Get It Done can help. With good advice and emotional support, you’ll learn techniques to make writing less stressful. The accompanying workbook guides you to think methodically by asking the right questions to keep you focused on your story and not chasing your own tail.

In this class, you’ll learn how to:

• Design every element of your novel or memoir, including the protagonist, plot, story structure and a project success plan
• Define your narrator’s voice
• Determine where your story begins and where it ends
• Decide what point you’re making about human nature
• Make sure you’re giving your ideal reader exactly what they want
• Gain the confidence you need to push past any doubts and finish your book.

This course is more of a masterclass, so there are no assignments included but it teaches good practices and provides a very useful workbook.

Best Course to Create A Compelling Story (Lisa Cron)

Writing: The Craft of Story is a series of well-produced lectures covering the basic building blocks of a story. Taught by author Lisa Cron, you will learn how to create compelling stories based on the way the brain responds to storytelling. This course emphasizes the importance of capturing the reader’s attention through techniques such as suspense, exploring the protagonist’s inner issues and dreams, specificity, and cause and effect. Upon completion of the quizzes, you will receive a certificate for your LinkedIn profile. Additionally, you can watch all the videos without subscribing to the course.

“Learning the fundamentals of crafting a story was and is a fascinating experience. And yes, I would highly recommend writing to anyone interested in learning how to express the communication of feeling.” – Nicole Gillard, LinkedIn learner.

Best Course to Write Personal Essays with Impact (Roxane Gay)

Discover the art of crafting powerful personal essays with best-selling author Roxane Gay in her course, Creative Writing: Crafting Personal Essays with Impact . Through her honest and thoughtful approach, Roxane will help you find your story, craft your truth, and write to make a difference.

This master class offers eight video lessons that are filled with practical guidance, actionable tactics, and example essays to guide you from the first idea to a final, publication-ready work.

You’ll learn how to:

• Find a specific purpose for telling your story
• Connect your work to larger conversations and timely themes
• Conduct crucial research to support your work
• Navigate personal memories to write your truth
• Write and revise your final work, and submit your work for publication.

Additionally, the class provides a downloadable worksheet to support your ongoing creative nonfiction writing practice, as well as links to additional resources.

If you enjoy creative nonfiction writing, you might consider this course that’s also on Skillshare: Creative Nonfiction: Write Truth with Style (Skillshare Original) by Susan Orlean

Best Course to Develop Your Ideas And Research for Characters (The Open University)

Start Writing Fiction explores the writing process, from journaling and idea development to reflection and editing. It features insights from established writers such as Louis de Bernières, Patricia Duncker, Alex Garland, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Tim Pears, Michèle Roberts, and Monique Roffey,  who share their approaches to research and turning events into plot. Led by Derek Neale, a novelist and short story writer, this course provides a comprehensive understanding of the writing rituals and techniques used by successful writers.

You’ll get to critique the work of other writers and receive feedback. This course is designed for individuals interested in starting or improving their fiction writing and does not require prior experience in the subject.

You’ll learn:

• Creation of characters in fiction
• Different sources and ways of presenting characters in stories
• Reading as a writer
• Writing practice including creativity, research, observation and editing
• Peer reviewing, workshops and the importance of feedback.

“This course takes learners through many aspects of writing such as developing characters, observing and describing details, finding inspiration, writing and editing. It includes some peer reviews which can be varying in quality. I was lucky enough to have some of my writing reviewed by a reviewer who gave very helpful and positive feedback.” – Pat Bowden

What’s Next

Scribophile is one of the largest online writing communities. You can get feedback on your writing and join writing groups. If you decide to join with a free plan, you need to collect points by reviewing other writers’ work before submitting your own work for review. They also developed some advanced tools for evaluating work and guidelines to make sure you give/receive feedback that is actually meaningful.

NaNoWriMo started out as a month-long challenge where you invite your friends and join other writers in your region, be it online in their forums or in person, to challenge yourself in writing your first draft. Nowadays, they run all-year round writing challenges (but November is still the biggest one in terms of participation). What is cool about it is you actually get to meet people in real life with various writing skills and backgrounds. I was able to make some great friends over the years and even met a few professional writers that decided to join our local group just to support us.

If you have any resources you would like to have added here, leave a comment below.

Class Central , a Tripadvisor for online education, has helped 60 million learners find their next course. We’ve been combing through online education for more than a decade to aggregate a catalog of 200,000 online courses and 200,000 reviews written by our users. And we’re online learners ourselves: combined, the Class Central team has completed over 400 online courses, including online degrees.

Trying to find “the best” can be daunting, even for those of us who live and breathe online courses. Here’s how I approached this task.

First, I combed through Class Central’s Catalog and the internet to find a variety of free and paid open courses, some with certificates. You don’t need to enroll in a university to learn about creative writing.

When choosing courses, I considered the following factors:

• Renowned Institutions : I looked for recognized institutions in creative writing
• Instructor experience : I sought instructors with extensive experience in creative writing and engaging presentation styles
• Popularity : I checked numbers of enrollments and views to find popular courses
• Course content : I examined courses that covered a range of topics and presentation styles, including the basics and more advanced topics. I watched some course videos to sample courses I hadn’t already taken
• Learner reviews : I read learner reviews (when available) to get a sense of the quality of each course, leveraging the Class Central database with its thousands of course ratings and reviews written by our users as well as available course provider reviews.

Then, I defined the scope for these recommendations. A creative writing course can cover various topics, so I chose top courses from a range of sub-fields.

Ultimately, I used a combination of data and my own judgment to make these picks. I’m confident these recommendations will be a reliable way to learn about creative writing.

Fabio Dantas

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Daily Writing Tips

Margaret atwood’s masterclass review: a course on creative writing.

I wrote about MasterClass a couple of months ago in my review of James Patterson’s course on Writing – and this month, I’ve been enjoying Margaret Atwood’s course on Creative Writing.

In case you don’t want to head back to that post, I’ll quickly recap the basics of MasterClass itself here:

What’s MasterClass?

MasterClass is a well-established brand with a website that offers courses from many big names in the writing world. (There are also loads of other courses on topics from cooking to tennis, also from some household names.)

All the courses are structured as a series of short video lessons, usually roughly 10 minutes long, though this does vary from course to course. Most courses have about 20 lessons.

MasterClass is priced at $90 for a single class – which gets you lifetime access – or $180/year for the All-Access Pass.

If you want to take several classes within a year, then, it’s definitely worth going for the All-Access Pass. You’ll also get two extra months added onto your subscription if you persuade any of your friends to sign up.

For more about the pricing and about MasterClass itself, take a look at my previous review here .

Margaret Atwood’s MasterClass

This time round, I picked Margaret Atwood’s MasterClass to listen to. I’ve enjoyed many of her novels over the years – particularly The Blind Assassin, for a literary take on SF – and I also really enjoyed Negotiating With the Dead: A Writer on Writing , which is a compilation of a series of lectures.

You might well know her best as the author of The Handmaid’s Tale , recently adapted into an award-winning TV series.

I was confident, then, that Atwood would have some valuable advice to dispense in the MasterClass course, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Like all the MasterClass courses, this one had high production values. The video and audio quality were again superb – and I found it very easy to navigate between lessons using the website interface. The whole thing felt polished and professional, which you’d hope for, at the price.

The lessons cover similar ground to Patterson’s, but from a more literary and creative perspective: this is the sort of material you might find on a university course about creative writing. There’s discussion of story and plot, structure, point of view, creating characters , dialogue, and much more.

Atwood comes across as authoritative and very knowledgeable – but not at all stuffy in her approach. There’s a sense of a real depth behind her advice, but she talks in a friendly way (comparing, for instance, the building blocks of story to “a giant Lego set”).

What’s Great About the Course

While the lessons are short, Atwood packs a lot in. Compared with the Patterson course, the material felt like it had been well considered in advanced – there’s loads of great advice here. As with that course, too, the videos are handily divided into individual lessons, with each lesson broken into chapters.

I particularly liked that Atwood gave lots of concrete examples along the way. For instance, when she talks about ways to start a story, she uses the example of Little Red Riding Hood, and explains several ways in which that story could be told (one option, for instance, is starting with the grandmother’s perspective inside the wolf).

Again, as with MasterClasses other courses, you can leave comments below the lesson videos to talk with other course members. These looked like they came in sporadically, though – with often several days between comments – and didn’t tend to be answered. If you’re looking for a course that involves plenty of interaction with other students, this probably isn’t the one for you.

The PDFs supplied with each lesson had quite a different format from the ones that come with the Patterson course: I definitely preferred these ones, as they had a detailed summary of key points that Atwood made. You could read these instead of listening to a lesson and still get a fair amount of value out of the course.

I also liked that Margaret Atwood wasn’t at all afraid to speak her mind and to call out things that she disagrees with, like what she describes as a “false distinction” between character-driven and plot-driven novels.

What’s Not So Great About the Course

I’m not a huge fan of video courses (I like to be able to skim read – and easily go back to bits I want to re-read), so I’d really have liked transcripts for the course. To be fair, though, the PDFs do contain good summaries.

The format itself is a bit limiting: in many cases, I’d have liked to hear more from Margaret Atwood on a particular topic. When a big subject like “structure” has to be covered in a 10 minute video, there’s obviously a limit to how much advice can be given! A lot was packed in, though, and even if you’ve read a fair few blogs and books on writing, you’ll pick up some great ideas and tips here.

Should You Give MasterClass a Try?

If you’re going to pick only one course to go for, the Margaret Atwood one is a great option . It covers a lot of ground, the PDFs are really clear and helpful, and Atwood is a pleasure to listen to as she talks about craft.

The $90 price tag does seem quite a lot to pay for a single course. When I looked at the amount of material provided, though, I found that the total run time of all the lesson videos came to about 3 hrs 45 minutes. That means you’re paying about $24/hour for Atwood’s advice, which is comparable to many writing courses or conferences.

It’s definitely best value, though, to opt for an All-Access Pass if you’re planning to watch more than a couple of courses within a year. That way, you can have as many courses as you want.

There is a 30 day money back guarantee, so if you try MasterClass and decide it’s not for you, you can get a refund.

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1 thought on “Margaret Atwood’s MasterClass Review: A Course on Creative Writing”

Using ‘The Little Red Riding Hood’ fable as a guide is not that original. On my first day at University,the prof did exactly the same and reversed the plot of this fable. Not to say it is a bad example, it’s just not Atwood’s. Having bad or no feedback on comments is the bane of social media. Peer review is extremely valuable, but it has to be prompt and meticulous. I was considering this course but I’m not convinced it is better than Open University’s ‘Start Writing Fiction’ which I just completed. It sounds like a similar format but without certificate and more expensive. The peer review though, on Open University is of extremely poor quality. You have to review others work which is sloppy, ignoring the lessons given. Aside from this, the course lead by Derek Neale gave genuinely helpful tools.

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Top 5 Best Creative Writing Courses

Want to jump straight to the answer? The best creative writing course for most people is Masterclass : Margaret Atwood Teaches Creative Writing or Coursera : Creative Writing Specialization.

Creative writing courses help develop your writing skills, build conscious writing habits, and teach you how to build a professional portfolio for your writing career. Most creative writing courses offer educational and practical assignments that help you advance your creative writing abilities. 

Whether you’re a complete beginner or just want to sharpen your creative writing tools, the courses below have you covered.

The Top 5 Best Creative Writing Courses 

• Masterclass : Margaret Atwood Teaches Creative Writing – Best for writing development
• Coursera : Creative Writing Specialization – Best for experiential learning
• Udemy : Complete Creative Writing Course – Best for portfolio creation
• Gotham Writers : Creative Writing 101 – Best for building a writing habit
• Reedsy Learning : Understanding Point of View – Best for beginners 

Continue reading for our in-depth reviews on the five best creative writing courses to help you become a better writer today. 

Masterclass: Margaret Atwood Teaches Creative Writing – Best for Writing Development 

If you’re an experienced writer looking to develop your writing abilities, the Masterclass course Margaret Atwood Teaches Creative Writing is an excellent option for you. 

This course compiles advanced material that Atwood simplifies with 23 slow-paced video lessons that span across about four hours. 

Author of The Handmaid’s Tale and instructor of this creative writing course, Atwood takes you on a journey of the creative writing process from getting started to getting published. Her first-ever online class will teach you to develop your writing with advanced material and personal advice. 

Whether you already have a first draft or a half-written book, this in-depth course teaches all about core writing elements. Atwood discusses how to write a compelling story, create structure, develop nuanced characters, keep your readers interested, and how to stay motivated while writing—helping you turn your work into a masterpiece. 

The best part about this specific creative writing course is how participatory it is. You get access to a class workbook that includes additional writing assignments you can complete after each lesson, as well as helpful resources for writers. 

The course also comes with a community hub for all students to interact with each other. The community page gives you a place to discuss lessons, share your work, get feedback, and network—creating a sense of classroom-like community. 

The structure of the Masterclass course is easy to navigate, with all 23 lessons being split into three to five sections and are around 10 minutes long each. 

Lessons one through 16 are about the general elements of writing, like story and plot, structure, characters, and point of view. Lessons 17 through 23 discuss the business side of writing, including getting published and working within different genres. 

Masterclass offers one membership fee to receive access to every class on its website. The fee is $10 per month, billed at $120 per year.

A Masterclass membership gives you access to more than 180 classes, audio-only lessons, offline viewing, downloadable instructor guides, and new classes added every month. 

Masterclass also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee on all subscriptions.

Coursera: Creative Writing Specialization – Best for Experiential Learning 

Not every creative writing course offers practical and interactive assessments, but the Creative Writing Specialization courses offered by Wesleyan University for Coursera stands out because of its experiential learning experience. This is a set of five courses within one larger specialization, all leading to a capstone project.

As a creative writing course with extensive hands-on projects, each specialization will teach you how to master a different writing technique that successful writers use in the three major writing genres. 

There are more than 113,000 students already enrolled in this set of courses, and for a good reason. The course structure has helped many people understand the short story, narrative essay, and memoir genre. 

What makes this course so experiential is during the last lesson, where you have the chance to write and edit your own original story. 

Using the elements and techniques you learn throughout the five courses taught by different instructors, you will draft a short story, narrative essay, or memoir. With the help of your peer readers and instructors, you will revise, rewrite, and complete the story in whichever genre you choose. 

Each course within the overall Specialization focuses on a different element for each genre. During this course, you will learn the craft of plot (course one), crafting characters (course two), settings and descriptions (course three), and style (course four) before you put these skills to the test and write your story in course five. 

Even though this Specialization is more in-depth, it’s still flexible, as you can take each of the first four courses in any order (ending with the course five capstone). It’s also 100% online, so you don’t need to show up to a classroom, and you can access all course material via a desktop or mobile device. 

The Creative Writing Specialization currently takes one month to complete at 10 hours a week, which you should keep in mind. However, Coursera lets you set and maintain flexible deadlines, even though you cannot change the course duration to be any shorter than it already is. 

Currently, Write-Bros, Scrivener, and Scribophile are sponsors of the Creative Writing Specialization course and are offering discounts for all students who complete their assessments.

Upon completing your first assignment, you receive an 80% discount from Write-Bros, a 30% discount on your first purchase from Scrivener, and a 30% off membership pricing for Scribophile’s online writing community. 

You can enroll in the course for free to read and view the course content. However, if you want access to all courses in the Specialization and receive a certificate upon completion, you need to sign up for Coursera Plus. Coursera Plus offers both monthly and annual subscriptions. The cost is $59 per month or $399 per year with a 14-day money-back guarantee.

With each Specialization course, you get access to shareable course certificates, course videos and readings, practice quizzes, graded assignments with feedback, graded quizzes with feedback, and graded programming assignments. 

Coursera also offers financial aid and a seven-day free trial of Coursera Plus.

Udemy: Complete Creative Writing – Best for Portfolio Creation 

If you want to learn about the four writing genres and create a strong portfolio with your writing samples, the Complete Creative Writing course by Udemy is an excellent option. 

Creating an outstanding portfolio can be difficult for many writers, especially beginners, but this course will help you create a digital portfolio in just five concise sections. 

Instructed by teacher and author Trace Crawford, this course delves deep into the world of fiction, poetry, drama, and creative nonfiction. In the fifth and final section, you’ll learn how to create a digital portfolio.

Including the introduction, the course has 162 lectures and a running time of about 12 hours. By the end of this course, you will understand the ins and outs of all things creative writing. 

Crawford breaks down the course into four subsections: Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Creative Non-Fiction. You will receive a writing journal prompt for every lesson, 145 downloadable resources, and a certificate of completion. Each subsection offers between 20-50 lectures that range between one and four hours in length in total.

The final course section focuses only on the digital portfolio. Many creative writing courses don’t touch on portfolio creation, even though it’s an essential aspect of a writer’s career. These lectures will leave you feeling ready to pursue a career in writing. 

This course is also flexible, as you can complete it at your own pace and receive lifetime access for one price. If you have the time, you can complete this course within a day or two, which is helpful to retain as much information as possible. 

The course comes with 37 online quizzes, 145 downloadable resources, and journal prompts. You also receive a daily writing assignment, a lesson covering the course content, and a practical application project. 

Crawford aims to further develop and perfect your voice by teaching you about the four genres. You will also learn about writing techniques, writing concepts, how to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of your writing projects, and of course, you will build a portfolio. 

The regular price is $109.99 for the Complete Creative Writing course, and Udemy often has discounts throughout the year. This specific course usually goes on sale each month, so look out for this. 

Udemy also offers a 30-day money-back guarantee. 

Gotham Writers: Creative Writing 101 – Best for Building a Writing Habit 

Are you struggling to build a writing habit and don’t know where to start? The Creative Writing 101 six-week course by Gotham Writers is an excellent place to start. 

This level one online six-week class focuses on slowly building a writing habit while teaching you about the show and tell of writing, individuality, fiction, nonfiction, and how to get better at the craft. 

This course is unique because each class size is limited for students to get enough personal attention from the instructor. There are a maximum of 16 students in each Creative Writing 101 class, which is 100% online. 

Creative Writing 101 helps you slowly build a writing habit by encouraging you to complete daily observation exercises and free writing. These writing activities help stimulate the brain and create a way to write freely without the burden of writer’s block. 

The course also offers weekly writing assignments that the instructor grades and provides feedback for, which will help you feel more confident about your writing abilities as you progress through the course. 

Because this course is online, Gotham Writers provides the Lounge feature for all students to meet weekly for a one-hour live chat. The Lounge is open 24/7 for all students to chat and get to know each other, network, and discuss feedback. 

You also get access to a weekly planner, class roster, guidelines, and syllabus. The notebook, booth, library, and blackboard are other essential features that store lectures, assignments, resources, and student feedback.  

The course layout is the most similar to an online classroom, especially for collaboration purposes, making it easy to navigate and complete tasks. Each class session lasts for a week, and you have the flexibility to complete tasks at any time of day during the week. 

Gotham Writers offers this course online, on Zoom, or one-on-one (either in NYC or long distance) for different prices. 

• Online: $319 
• Zoom: $319 
• One-on-One: $1,195

There is also a $25 registration fee that you pay once per term. All course dates are listed on the website and are subject to availability.

Reedsy Learning: Understanding Point of View – Best for Beginners 

Beginners need to start somewhere, and there’s no better place to start than enrolling in the free Reedsy Learning course, Understanding Point of View. 

Taught by TEDx speaker and author Gabriela Pereira, this course focuses on the technical element of point of view, which challenges many writers in the beginning stage. If this sounds like you, you will be delighted to hear that this course is free and gets delivered to your inbox every morning for 10 days. 

This is a quick and easy 10-day course. Each lesson is just five minutes, and Pereira takes you on an immersive journey through the challenges of establishing the correct point of view in your creative writing. 

This course will familiarize you with each primary POV, including first, second, and third person. With the help of practical writing exercises, you will complete the course understanding how to master each point of view within your writing. 

During this course, you will also learn: 

• The differences between third-person limited and third-person omniscient 
• The strengths and weaknesses of second person 
• How to work with multiple points of view
• Epistolary and Journal forms 

To enroll, include your name, email address, and time zone so that Pereira can deliver each lecture to your inbox on time. You can start each morning on the right foot by completing a quick five-minute lesson and go about your day, making it a simple course for the complete beginner to follow and get used to writing each day. 

Reedsy Learning offers this and many other free online courses to help you establish your career and transform your writing skills. 

How to Find The Best Creative Writing Course For You 

There are a few factors that go into finding the best creative writing course for you. Sometimes it can be challenging to choose the right course, especially since there are many different goals you may want to achieve. So we put together this methodology of the three most essential elements to consider before investing in a creative writing course. 

Schedule and Flexibility

The first thing to consider before investing in a creative writing course is the flexibility of your schedule. Consider the duration of each writing course, as some can go for days, weeks, or even months. 

The Complete Creative Writing Course by Udemy is a flexible option, as it allows you to go at your own pace and offers 12 hours of content you can complete in as little as a day or two.

However, some courses aren’t as flexible with timing, such as the Creative Writing Specialization by Coursera and Wesleyan University—which takes one month to complete. 

Make sure you check whether the timing is flexible, or you might need to change your schedule to fit in with your studies. 

Payment Method

Each course offers different prices depending on the duration, topic, and how in-depth the content is. Some writing courses have a subscription-based payment method, while others are one-off payments for lifetime access. 

It’s crucial to look for lifetime access, as you don’t want to invest in a course that will expire, and you lose all access to the materials. The course Understanding Point of View by Reedsy Learning is a free course perfect for beginners or anyone who isn’t sure where to start. 

You can enroll in a free course to learn the ropes of online studying, or you can choose one that offers a one-off payment, as most of the courses on this list. We wouldn’t recommend paying for a subscription unless you are dedicating a few months to learning or are interested in multiple courses from the same company. 

Learning Community 

A learning hub or community page can help you reinforce the learning materials, network, and build on your overall learning experience. Courses like Margaret Atwood Teaches Creative Writing by Masterclass and Creative Writing 101 by Gotham Writers offer community hubs or lounges for students to interact and connect. 

Although not required, a central hub is essential for building a community and connecting with other writers. It can make your learning experience feel more like a classroom, even when it’s online. 

You might even complete the course with a few fellow writer friends along with the knowledge you obtained from the writing course. 

The Top Creative Writing Courses in Summary 

Overall, the Masterclass and Coursera courses are our top two recommendations for the best creative writing courses on the market today. 

With workbooks, learning hubs, video content, and downloadable resources, you can learn how to become a successful and confident writer using the courses reviewed in this guide.

Writing Masterclass: Best Masterclass Courses for Writers (2024)

by Joe Bunting | 0 comments

I’m a huge fan of MasterClass . You’ve probably heard of it: it’s a library of online classes taught by the best people in their fields (like Serena Williams for tennis, Steph Curry for basketball, and Steve Martin for comedy).

The MasterClass Courses

As a writer, I’m most interested in learning from other authors, like Malcolm Gladwell, Margaret Atwood, James Patterson, and Neil Gaiman.

Each author’s MasterClass gives you a chance to learn directly from a bestselling writer. And these classes are masterfully designed (if you’ll pardon the pun.)

They include dozens of hours of video lessons, exclusive downloads (like the authors’ own edited drafts of their writing!), practical homework assignments (writing prompts from the experts!), and even interactive office hours where you can ask the authors questions and get feedback.

Find out more about MasterClass here.

But with so many classes available, which ones are worth your time? Here at The Write Practice, we're attending and reviewing each author's MasterClass to help you decide whether it's the class for you.

The Write Practice's MasterClass Reviews

Check out all our MasterClass reviews:

Neil Gaiman's MasterClass

Dan Brown's MasterClass

James Patterson's MasterClass

Joyce Carol Oates's MasterClass

R. L. Stine's MasterClass

Aaron Sorkin's MasterClass

Try MasterClass Yourself

Interested in taking a course (or several courses) from authors you love? An annual membership is $180 and gives you access to every MasterClass for a year.

That means you can take classes from all the authors on MasterClass (and hey, maybe pick up some cooking skills from Gordon Ramsay while you’re at it).

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Your Creative Writing Masterclass: Featuring Austen, Chekhov, Dickens, Hemingway, Nabokov, Vonnegut, and more than 100 contemporary and classic ... novels, screenplays and short stories Paperback – February 16, 2012

• Print length 320 pages
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Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing

Program overview.

Named one of the “Five Innovative/Unique Programs” creative writing programs by The Atlantic , the master of fine arts in creative writing is one of two programs offered by UNLV’s Creative Writing International Program with genre concentrations in fiction, literary nonfiction, and poetry. By providing an innovative curriculum and fostering an educational environment where students can perfect their art, our graduates become globally-engaged writers that demonstrate socially-engaged and active writing practices.

Program Outcomes

Students receive a strong theoretical foundation in their selected genre concentration, as well as an appreciation for the art and theory across various genres, thereby expanding their creative abilities. Moreover, they develop a nuanced understanding of canonical contexts and the historical evolution of literature, which provides valuable insights into new writing. Through exposure to international writing and literary translation, students cultivate a practical appreciation for diverse linguistic traditions beyond English, enriching their creative perspectives. 

A high percentage of our graduates have widely published fiction, literary nonfiction, journalism, and poetry with mainstream presses, indie presses, and nationally esteemed venues such as:

• W. W. Norton & Company
• Grove Press
• The Best American Poetry
• McSweeney’s
• The New York Times
• The Los Angeles Times

Program Structure

Our students follow a three-year course of study that includes writing workshops, genre forms courses, literature classes, a residency abroad, completion of a literary translation, and completion of a book-length manuscript that meets the standard of publishable works. Students also have the opportunity for teacher training and practical experience in literary publishing.

Additionally, our department, in partnership with the Black Mountain Institute, offers the Doctorate of Philosophy in English with a Creative Dissertation, supported by a graduate assistantship combined with the Black Mountain Institute fellowship.

Program Funding

All MFA students are fully funded by UNLV and the Black Mountain Institute (BMI) for three years of study towards their degrees. 

• Graduate Assistantships of $21,000/year 
• Opportunities for additional funding from BMI
• In-state tuition 
• Student health insurance.

Duties for the Graduate Assistantship are 20 hours per week, usually fulfilled through a combination of teaching, tutoring in the Writing Center, and working for English Department or Black Mountain Institute publications.

Our Faculty

Maile chapman, ph.d..

Wendy Chen, Ph.D.

Claudia Keelan

Roberto Lovato

David Morris, MFA

Douglas A. Unger

The MFA Student Experience

The UNLV creative writing program offers a supportive and immersive experience to its students. From day one, students become part of a vibrant community of writers where creativity thrives and collaboration flourishes. Whether students aspire to publish their writing, pursue further study, or embark on diverse career paths within the literary world, UNLV provides the resources, support, and community they need to thrive and succeed.

Activities and Events With the Black Mountain Institute

The UNLV Department of English has a longstanding relationship with the Beverly Rogers, Carol C. Harter Black Mountain Institute (BMI). This allows our students to receive opportunities to engage in creative and literary activities with visiting BMI fellows in socially meaningful literary events for the city of Las Vegas and its greater community. Recent BMI fellows and national and international award-winning visitors include:

• Percival Everett
• Melissa Febos
• Layli Long Soldier
• Jaquira Díaz
• Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

See the Black Mountain Institute's website for more information.

Academic and Literary Journals

The creative writing concentration helps students develop their writing craft and critical thinking skills through a workshop setting and literature courses. It equips them with professional skills for various industries and prepares them for graduate studies in English and creative writing.

Founded by M.F.A. alumna Kat Kruse in 2010, Neon Lit is a completely student-run reading series featuring writing of students currently in the Creative Writing programs at UNLV. Events are held on the last Friday of each month usually at the Writer’s Block, an independent bookstore and community center in downtown Las Vegas. See Neon Lit’s website and YouTube Channel for more information.

Writing Series

Breakout writers series.

The “Breakout Writers Series” or Emerging Writers Series features writers just emerging on the literary scene. Writers who visit and read for this series are chosen entirely by the students in the M.F.A. and Ph.D. programs.

Alumni Reading Series

The yearly Alumni Reading Series celebrates the literary successes of graduates of the program. Recent alumni readers include Marianne Chan, Jean Chen Ho, Clancy McGilligan, Alissa Nutting, Juan Martínez, Sasha Steensen, and Mani Rao.

Admission Requirements

• Fiction: 20-30 pages
• Literary nonfiction: 20-30 pages
• Poetry: 10-15 pages
• A letter of application to the Graduate Committee detailing a statement of purpose and reasons for choosing UNLV
• Official transcripts from all previously attended colleges or universities 
• Two letters of recommendation

Applicants must choose the International Focus subplan, unless they have already been accepted to the Peace Corps Master's International Partnership program.

International Applicants

Each year, our program admits several international writers with high competency in writing in English that immensely contribute to our literary community. Our diverse student body fosters a rich exchange of ideas and perspectives, creating a dynamic learning environment that prepares graduates for success in the global literary landscape. Furthermore, UNLV's creative writing program values inclusivity and encourages applicants from diverse backgrounds and life experiences to contribute to the vibrant tapestry of voices within our community.

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A writing room: the new marketplace of writer classes, retreats, and collectives.

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A Writing Room is one of the fast-growing writer collectives. The four co-founders (left to right): ... [+] Reese Zecchin, Director of Production; Jacob Nordby, Director of Writer Development; A. Ashe, Creative Director; Claire Giovino, Community Director.

The past decade has brought an explosion in the number of books published each year in the United States (an estimated three to four million annually). In turn, this explosion is bringing a growing and evolving marketplace of writer classes, retreats and collectives. It is a marketplace creating new jobs and entrepreneurship opportunities—both for mainstream tech, marketing and managerial workers, as well as for writer/artist denizens of America’s bohemia.

The Drivers of Growth in Book Publishing

The number of book sales in the United States remains healthy, though it has leveled off in the past four years. In 2020, 756.82 million book unit sales were made in the US alone. This number climbed to 837.66 million in 2021, before falling slightly to 787.65 million units in 2022 and 767.36 million units in 2023.

What has changed dramatically has been the number of books published. Steve Piersanti of Berrett-Koehler Publishers estimates that three million books were published in the US, up 10 times from the number only 16 years ago . Other estimates put the number of published books annually at closer to four million .

The main driver of this growth in books published has been self-publishing. According to Bowker , which provides tools for self-publishing, an estimated 2.3 million books were self-published in 2021. Up through the 1990s (now the distant past in publishing), writers of all types of books, fiction and nonfiction, were dependent on convincing publishing houses to publish their work. As the technology for self-publishing and print on demand grew in the early 2000s, writers could publish on their own, and a very large number of Americans began to do so.

Fueling growth also is the level of affluence and discretionary income that an increasing segment of American society is reaching. For centuries, theorists across the political spectrum have envisioned a society, freed from basic economic needs, pursuing creative activities, with writing as a primary activity. In The German Ideology , Karl Marx could write about the economy of abundance in which individuals pursue writing as one of a series of daily activities—hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, write criticism in the evening. John Maynard Keynes in a 1930 essay, “ Economic Possibilities for Our Grandchildren” , envisions a time a hundred years forward (2030) in which writing is no longer the province of the upper classes. Contemporary theorists on the future of work, such as John Tamny, similarly see a blooming of creative and artistic activities by the average citizen.

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Best 5% interest savings accounts of 2024, a writing room, and the emerging marketplace of writer training.

A marketplace of writing coaches, classes and retreats expanded throughout the late twentieth century and first years of the twentieth century. Published authors and even recently-minted graduates of MFA programs hung out shingles for individual coaching and small classes. Colleges expanded their writing programs and certifications, and writer retreats multiplied. Co-working and literary event spaces were established in major cities ( The Writers Room in New York, The Writers Grotto in San Francisco). But the marketplace continued to bump up against geographic and logistical limitations.

Then, along the came the internet, and its evolution.

Today, hundreds of businesses throughout the country offer assistance to aspiring writers. Many continue to offer some in-person assistance through coaching, classes or retreats. But as in other fields, the internet has allowed for a nationwide (worldwide) reach that these businesses are taking advantage of to scale. The major pre-internet writer assistance companies, such as The Writers Studio , added online courses and instruction, and the early internet-based companies from the 1990s, such as Writers.com (a pioneer in the internet field), steadily expanded their offerings. New enterprises are springing up on a regular basis, including the writer collectives.

A Writing Room is one of the fastest growing of the writer collectives, and its suite of services illustrate the how the field is evolving.

A Writing Room has its roots in the writing classes that novelist Anne Lamott had been teaching for some years, and her interest by the early 2020s in creating a larger on-going community of writers. Lamott connected with a team of four entrepreneurs who had experience with previous start-ups and expertise in online tools. In early 2023 they set out to develop A Writing Room.

Novelist Anne Lamott, one of the partners in A Writing Room.

A Writing Room launched in June 2023, and followed a few months later with an inaugural writers retreat in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Though hastily arranged, the retreat attracted more than 400 in person attendees and over 1600 attendees online. In the first half of 2024, the company set up a membership structure of monthly and annual memberships. Within months, over 550 writers had joined.

The products that members can access are aimed in part at teaching the craft of writing. In a recent author discussion (with close to 400 participants joining online) Lamott discussed the craft of writing with novelist Donna Levin . Both started publishing in the 1980s. They noted how much publishing and the role of the writer have changed, but emphasized the fundamentals that have remained over their forty years, related to craft and the responsibility of the writer: the daily commitment, the careful development of plot and characters, the numerous rewrites (as many as you think you need, and one more).

A Writing Room offers a series of on-demand courses, online discussions with authors and publishing professionals, and daily writing prompts, built around writing as craft. It further offers instruction on the paths to and options for publication, building a following of readers.

At its center, A Writing Room is about being part of a community of writers, giving and receiving regular feedback from other members, as well as feedback from writing mentors and coaches. In an interview earlier this year, Lamott explained:

The great myth about writing is that it's an entirely solitary activity. This really isn't true. Every book I've ever written has been with a lot of help from my community. I wouldn't be the writer I am today — and wouldn't even want to write — without people to share the process and finished work. Writing is a process, but it doesn't have to (and really shouldn't be) done in total isolation.

The writing process can feel overwhelming. It often does for me. Believe me, a trusted writing friend is a secret to life.

Other emerging writing collectives also emphasize community and cooperation. Levin underscored this point in the recent online discussion: “Writing can be such an isolated activity, and to some extent needs to be. You want to seek out a community that can give you the support you need and also the honest feedback.”

How the New Marketplace Is Evolving And Jobs Created

The founders of A Writing Room know that the marketplace for writer assistance is fast changing, and they need to be quick to adapt to increased competition. Already, several developments are driving change in the field:

· The entrance of major online education companies (i.e. Masters Class , Coursera, Udemy ).

· Faculty recruitment of writers with built-in audiences of sizable twitter and other social media followings.

· Partnerships with the major publishers and agencies, who hold out the promise of publication to participants of the classes, retreats and collectives.

· Specializations by race and ethnicity, gender, geography and genre.

· Market segmentation, and attention to higher income consumers.

A number of these developments reflect the changes in the broader publishing world and are likely to continue. Overall, the marketplace itself will be expanding, as publishing technology advances, along with discretionary income.

The jobs being generated by this new marketplace are a mix of tech, administrative, and writing coach positions. At A Writing Room, recent hires include a community liaison, video editor, customer support, and a “beta reader” providing feedback to writers on their drafts. The hiring process is sweeping up into jobs not only workers who have been in the regular economy, but also residents of America’s bohemia: writers and artists who previously were outside of (and often scornful of) the market system. What can be better than that.

In his 2023 book, The Novel, Who Needs It , Joseph Epstein, former editor of American Scholar , offers a paean to fiction as above all other intellectual endeavors that seek to understand human behavior. But what he says of fiction is true of other writing (memoir, history, even forms of self-help) that arouses the mind.

Yes, there are way too many books published each year, and yes only a very small percentage of writers will earn any significant income from their writing. But who knows what individual book will succeed commercially or critically, or add to our shared knowledge or wisdom. And really, why not encourage the craft of writing. How much does America benefit from most of the paper-pushing, meetings and e-mails that now pass for work in our economy of affluence.

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Gravity and Grace: What Becoming a Nurse Teaches You About Being a Poet

Dorinda wegener on channeling her creative empathy and curiosity into the medical field.

Many years ago, after the Master of Fine Arts did not generate the academic career and writing lifestyle I bought blindly into, I needed a job. I laid aside creative writing for a time, leaned into my gifts of empathy and scientific curiosity, and became a nurse. School was grueling, work even more so. I entered the workforce as a Progressive Care Cardiac Nurse, where I would monitor step down patients from cardiac Intensive Care Units, bridging the gap between critical care and basic medical-surgical nursing. During the Covid crisis, I was sealed into a wing with six beds, no doctor or tech, some Personal Protective Equipment, a hospital cellphone, and the dying. The experience still haunts me.

Searching for a better work-life balance, while I nursed my own acute depression from losing my oldest sister to the same virus I battled every day in the workplace, I transferred to the Surgery Department and became a Certified Nurse in Perianesthesia Patient Care. I worked and was worked. Being bedside means being the main observer and assessor. The doctor must trust in the skills honed by nurses and we, as a whole, must always be thinking two to three steps ahead of how the patient is presenting. Nurses are walking triage, always on guard.

I am currently out on short term disability—torn rotator cuff—because, like many nurses, I have cared for others past my own body’s boundaries. However, the ordeal hasn’t been all a cautionary tale of physical therapy, Mobic for pain, and ice packs. My personal health crisis has forced me to step back from the new field I worked so hard to break into. The seismic shift unearthed a piece of me that I thought I’d lost: poetry.

During my Family Medical Leave Act break from the hospital and direct patient care, I meet with my work bestie. I listen to her complaints about the floor—share sheepishly my silver lining: I have written more in the past few months than I have in five years. She mentions how, of course, I would given that “nursing must make for tons of writing.” I’m startled at how fast I knee-jerk react with a strong, “Hell no, it doesn’t.” We are both stunned, and it’s a painful observation all around.

“You’re coming back to the floor, aren’t you?” she asks. I stand confounded by more questions: How I move forward when healthy enough to return bedside? How do I turn that knee-jerk negativity, that mental fatigue, that physical exhaustion, that bitter belief nursing restrains my writing into a positive gain? I don’t know if I can, and yet how did I do it?

The obvious, which I must accept no matter how I want to rally against it, is that nursing does offer a plethora of content. There is the too young pediatric patient’s blistered and distorted skin from a suicide attempt by self-immolation. There is always the, “I’m sorry, this is going to hurt,” as I promptly push forefinger and index finger two inches deep into the 86-year-old patient’s groin to occlude her femoral artery from bleeding out status post-surgery.

Her husband, even older, stands in the corner with concern crinkling his eyes more than any celebration they’ve shared together; but not as much as in my eyes connecting with my peer. We both, as nurses, know the seriousness of this situation and the looming chance for fatality if we cannot get the bleeding in check in time. And even still, there are the most inappropriate yet all too human, what’s in your butt Emergency Room stories courtesy of the Circulating Nurse of the day.

My dear friend Gary Rafferty, Vietnam vet and first poetry mentor, told me about the reptilian brain theory: people with trauma have a basal-ganglia full of images and no words to express them. Images from the hospital prey on me so profoundly that I fear I can no longer set my own words free. How can I, jaded and traumatized by the horror I’ve seen, approach my memories creatively and with lyrical language? Nursing does not offer the context. HIPPA and privacy laws prevent any perversion of story or sharing of personal information.

Even the brief descriptions above rub dangerously close to a breach. As the poet, I must create the context anew around the content by drawing from poetic devices I have learned over the years and by my own human condition. I am of a body, and it is through my body’s five senses (sometimes six) that I experience and understand the world and others around me. I must enter the poem’s body through my own corporealness.

Because I have a mortgage that needs to be paid and a family that requires the proverbial, and real, food on the table, I must balance the mental burnout of coming home, eating dinner, some days drinking way too much, all while dumbly staring into the mid-distance at a true crime documentary. In the midst of this maelstrom, I meditate on the balm offered by John F. Deane, an Irish poet and instructor, whom I studied with prior to MFA and nursing. For a poem to be “good,” he taught, the poet must implement “gravity and grace.”

When I convey the content that nursing offers and the context it does not, I write into that mantra; thus, forming a poem that contains a moment of pain, grief, or hardness—a gravity, at the same time as containing a moment of hope, joy, pleasure—a grace. Therein lies a self-portrait of this nurse slash poet, or for any poet slash nurse: gravity/grace.

It has been two years since the aforementioned pediatric patient left the hospital. The patient survived to enter the tender preteen years and ongoing therapy—a hard won victory. On their anniversary of going home, we nurses send cards wishing for continued strength and wellness. The elderly woman’s artery was successfully sealed and she was discharged the next day to a much relieved husband. There is pizza, sometimes donuts, in the break room.

And I am here, in a body with a busted shoulder from care-giving, my own “contentual” gravity if you will (it’s in the Oxford English Dictionary). And equally there is coffee with a good friend, there’s healing to various degrees, there is my debut book about to launch into the world. I have written. And I will write after all. It seems I cannot escape the “contextual” grace of the body.

__________________________________

Four Fields by Dorinda Wegener is available from Trio House Press.

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The Unique Burial of a Child of Early Scythian Time at the Cemetery of Saryg-Bulun (Tuva)

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Pages:  379-406

In 1988, the Tuvan Archaeological Expedition (led by M. E. Kilunovskaya and V. A. Semenov) discovered a unique burial of the early Iron Age at Saryg-Bulun in Central Tuva. There are two burial mounds of the Aldy-Bel culture dated by 7th century BC. Within the barrows, which adjoined one another, forming a figure-of-eight, there were discovered 7 burials, from which a representative collection of artifacts was recovered. Burial 5 was the most unique, it was found in a coffin made of a larch trunk, with a tightly closed lid. Due to the preservative properties of larch and lack of air access, the coffin contained a well-preserved mummy of a child with an accompanying set of grave goods. The interred individual retained the skin on his face and had a leather headdress painted with red pigment and a coat, sewn from jerboa fur. The coat was belted with a leather belt with bronze ornaments and buckles. Besides that, a leather quiver with arrows with the shafts decorated with painted ornaments, fully preserved battle pick and a bow were buried in the coffin. Unexpectedly, the full-genomic analysis, showed that the individual was female. This fact opens a new aspect in the study of the social history of the Scythian society and perhaps brings us back to the myth of the Amazons, discussed by Herodotus. Of course, this discovery is unique in its preservation for the Scythian culture of Tuva and requires careful study and conservation.

Keywords: Tuva, Early Iron Age, early Scythian period, Aldy-Bel culture, barrow, burial in the coffin, mummy, full genome sequencing, aDNA

Information about authors: Marina Kilunovskaya (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Vladimir Semenov (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Varvara Busova  (Moscow, Russian Federation).  (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences.  Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Kharis Mustafin  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Technical Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Irina Alborova  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Biological Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Alina Matzvai  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected]

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IELTS Exam Preparation: Free IELTS Tips, 2024

• elektrostal'

Take IELTS test in or nearby Elektrostal'

There is no IELTS test center listed for Elektrostal' but you may be able to take your test in an alternative test center nearby. Please choose an appropriate test center that is closer to you or is most suitable for your test depending upon location or availability of test.

Closest test centers are:

Make sure to prepare for the IELTS exam using our Free IELTS practice tests .

Moscow, Russia

British council bkc-ih moscow, students international - moscow cb, students international - moscow, vladimir, vladimir oblast, russia, students international vladimir, obninsk, kaluga oblast, russia, british council bkc-ih obninsk, nizhny novgorod, nizhny novgorod oblast, russia, students international - nizhny novgorod, british council bkc-ih nizhny novgorod, voronezh, voronezh oblast, russia, british council bkc-ih voronezh, veliky novgorod, novgorod oblast, russia, lt pro - veliky novgorod, kazan, tatarstan, russia, students international - kazan, british council bkc-ih kazan, st petersburg, russia, students international - st petersburg, lt pro - saint petersburg, saratov, saratov oblast, russia, students international - saratov, british council bkc-ih saratov, petrozavodsk, republic of karelia, russia, lt pro - petrozavodsk, students international - petrozavodsk, kirov, kirov oblast, russia, students international - kirov, samara, samara oblast, russia, students international - samara, british council bkc-ih samara, volgograd, volgograd oblast, russia, students international - volgograd, british council bkc-ih volgograd, rostov-on-don, rostov oblast, russia, students international - rostov-on-don, syktyvkar, komi republic, russia, students international - syktyvkar, perm, perm krai, russia, students international - perm, british council bkc-ih perm, ufa, republic of bashkortostan, russia, students international - ufa, british council bkc-ih ufa, kaliningrad, kaliningrad oblast, russia, lt pro - kaliningrad, students international - kaliningrad, krasnodar, krasnodar krai, russia, students international - krasnodar, stavropol, stavropol krai, russia, students international - stavropol, astrakhan, astrakhan oblast, russia, students international - astrakhan, magnitogorsk, chelyabinsk oblast, russia, ru069 students international - magintogorsk, yekaterinburg, sverdlovsk oblast, russia, students international - ekaterinburg, british council bkc-ih ekaterinburg, chelyabinsk, chelyabinsk oblast, russia, british council bkc-ih chelyabinsk, students international - chelyabinsk, murmansk, murmansk oblast, russia, students international - murmansk, tyumen, tyumen oblast, russia, students international - tyumen, omsk, omsk oblast, russia, students international - omsk, novosibirsk, novosibirsk oblast, russia, british council bkc-ih novosibirsk, students international - novosibirsk, tomsk, tomsk oblast, russia, british council bkc-ih tomsk, students international - tomsk, barnaul, altai krai, russia, students international - barnaul, other locations nearby elektrostal'.

• Zheleznodorozhnyy
• Orekhovo-Zuyevo
• Sergiyev Posad
• Podol'sk
• Novo-Peredelkino
• Ryazan'

An Overview of the IELTS

The International English Language Testing System (IELTS) is designed to measure English proficiency for educational, vocational and immigration purposes. The IELTS measures an individual's ability to communicate in English across four areas of language: listening , reading , writing and speaking . The IELTS is administered jointly by the British Council, IDP: IELTS Australia and Cambridge English Language Assessment at over 1,100 test centres and 140 countries. These test centres supervise the local administration of the test and recruit, train and monitor IELTS examiners.

IELTS tests are available on 48 fixed dates each year, usually Saturdays and sometimes Thursdays, and may be offered up to four times a month at any test centre, including Elektrostal' depending on local needs. Go to IELTS test locations to find a test centre in or nearby Elektrostal' and to check for upcoming test dates at your test centre.

Test results are available online 13 days after your test date. You can either receive your Test Report Form by post or collect it from the Test Centre. You will normally only receive one copy of the Test Report Form, though you may ask for a second copy if you are applying to the UK or Canada for immigration purposes - be sure to specify this when you register for IELTS. You may ask for up to 5 copies of your Test Report Form to be sent directly to other organisations, such as universities.

There are no restrictions on re-sitting the IELTS. However, you would need to allow sufficient time to complete the registration procedures again and find a suitable test date.

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The reading, writing and listening practice tests on this website have been designed to resemble the format of the IELTS test as closely as possible. They are not, however, real IELTS tests; they are designed to practise exam technique to help students to face the IELTS test with confidence and to perform to the best of their ability.

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