Writing Courses

What is Writing?

Writing is a skill that involves using text to communicate important ideas. The study of writing equips students with highly transferable experience in academic writing, essay writing, business communication, creative writing, storytelling, and more. From a technical standpoint, writing also helps students cultivate high-level reading comprehension skills and proper grammar knowledge.

Free Online Writing Courses

edX offers a plethora of some of the best free online writing courses for new writers. Students interested in learning how to write or who want to gain basic writing tips for improving their writing have access to a wide range of academic courses available online for beginner level, intermediate, and advanced students.

Whether you are interested in brushing up on the key elements of report writing, essay writing, letter writing, or academic writing, there are a wide range of online courses and writing styles to explore.

Are you a hopeful writer who has always wanted to write a novel? Take creative writing courses and register for How to Write a Novel: Writing the Draft, an intermediate course currently offered by University of British Columbia. Move from outline to draft, and learn how crucial craft lessons from MFA faculty on scene design, dialogue, character development and plot can help you reach your writing goals.

Taking a writing course and developing stronger writing skills isn’t only beneficial to MFA candidates. Strong writing skills can also help prepare you for a career in fundraising. Learn how to increase your impact, innovate, and overcome often static funding through various fundraising and grant writing approaches by registering for Michigan University’s introduction to Grant Writing and Crowdfunding for Public Libraries.

If you simply need to brush up on your writing skills as you pursue other college-level courses you can also focus on the fundamental principles of essay writing through UC Berkeley’s intro to How to Write an Essay.

Jobs in Writing

Clear writing and communication skills are highly sought in a range of industries, including advertising, publishing, law, development work, and web design, making a writing background attractive to many potential employers

Taking an online writing courses will give students the communication skills they need in a career as a technical writer, digital copyeditor, or even author. With creative writing degrees, online writers workshops, and certificates from online writing classes or programs, students from all backgrounds get exposure to different kinds of writing, such as descriptive writing, and learn to give and receive critical feedback.

Currently, a search of “writing jobs” yields over 300,000 results for open positions ranging from Content Writer for online resources to a role as Elementary Reading and Writing Tutor, for those more interested in getting into the education field. Of those writing roles over 100,000 offer competitive salaries of $50,000 a year or more. Whether you're interested writing a bestseller or giving yourself a competitive advantage in another field, strong writing skills are in high demand, making writing a highly marketable skill.

Careers in Writing

Good writing has the power to transport us to different worlds, convey history, and help us to understand different cultures. Find your voice and gain skills applicable to myriad future career goals by signing up for an edX writing course today!