Text-Based

In these courses, you will join text-based course software for course content, writing assignments, and feedback.

These courses do not include live video meetings (such as weekly Zoom calls).

Upcoming Courses




October Courses

The Literary Essay

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October 30 | 8 Weeks | $545$465Save 15%!

Only 3 seats left!

Explore the literary essay - from the conventional to the experimental, the journalistic to essays in verse - while writing and workshopping your own.

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November Courses

Thirty Tiny Stories In Thirty Days

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November 1 | 4 Weeks | $345 | NEW!

Discover the exciting possibilities of micro stories, and write a 6- to 250-word story every day for 30 days.

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16-Week Novel Writing Intensive

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November 6 | 16 Weeks | $995 | NEW!

Turn your novel writing dream into reality. Get in-depth support tailored to you and your novel, and submit up to 5,000 words each week for detailed feedback.

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Poetic Prose: The Prose Poem

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November 13 | 10 Weeks | $745

Only 3 seats left!

Explore the border between prose poetry and flash fiction. For writers of fiction, poetry, essay and memoir.

Write Your Picture Book!

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November 13 | 6 Weeks | $445

Picture books have changed greatly over the last few decades, and the market is wide open for fresh ideas. Join us in this six-week intensive where we’ll take that idea of yours and turn it into a manuscript!

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Food Writing: Meals And Manuscripts

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November 20 | 6 Weeks | $445$380Early Bird: Save 15%!

Do you love cookbooks, cooking, or reading anything about food? This food writing course is for you. With award winning writer Jennifer Billock.

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Nature’s Muse: Finding Inspiration through the Changing Seasons

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November 20 | 4 weeks | $345$295Early Bird: Save 15%! | NEW!

Galvanize your creative practice by deepening your connection to the natural world. Discover inspiration in the changing seasons, and generate fresh new writing.

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December Courses

Write into Mystery: Writing Flash Memoir on Wonder and the Unexplained

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December 4 | 4 Weeks | $345$295Early Bird: Save 15%!

We often encounter wonder, mystery, and the unexplained in our everyday lives. Turn those experiences into flash essays in this community-centered course.

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Creative Nonfiction: The Art of Telling True Stories

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December 11 | 6 Weeks | $445$380Early Bird: Save 15%!

How do you tell your stories beautifully and authentically? Learn the fundamentals of creative nonfiction with Nicole Hardy.

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Publication-Ready Prose Poetry

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December 11 | 6 weeks | $445$380Early Bird: Save 15%! | NEW!

Elevate your unique voice as a prose poet, and catch the attention of top literary magazines and anthologies. 

January Courses

In Brief: Explorations in Short Story Forms

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January 1 | 8 Weeks | $545$465Early Bird: Save 15%!

Explore the intricate world of short prose forms. Experiment with story forms from one-syllable micros to full-length short stories, and complete six new story drafts.

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Write Your Novel! The Workshop With Jack

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January 1 | 10 Weeks | $645$550Early Bird: Save 15%!

Get a good start on a novel in just ten weeks, or revise a novel you’ve already written. Free your imagination, move steadily ahead and count the pages!

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The Craft of Poetry

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January 15 | 10 Weeks | $645$550Early Bird: Save 15%!

Poetry is alive and well. Contemporary poets can be touching, terrifying, and laugh-out-loud funny. Join us for an exploration of writing and reading poems.

Writing Autobiographical Fiction

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January 15 | 8 Weeks | $545$465Early Bird: Save 15%!

Learn to depart from "what really happened," and write compelling fiction from your own life experiences.

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Creative Nonfiction and the Personal Essay

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January 22 | 10 Weeks | $645$550Early Bird: Save 15%!

Gretchen Clark pick axes her way into the volcanic marriage of real life and fiction. Weekly writing with incisive feedback.

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The First Fifty Pages of the Novel

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January 29 | 10 Weeks | $645$550Early Bird: Save 15%!

The first 50 pages sets up plot, characters, and voice, and it lays the groundwork for your book's overall structure and success. Receive critical, supportive feedback on your book's start from novelist Sandra Novack.

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February Courses

Crafting the Poetry Novel for Young Adults

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February 5 | 8 Weeks | $545$465Early Bird: Save 15%!

Even if you’ve never written poetry before, you can begin the rewarding process of crafting a poetry novel for Young Adults. Is there a market for novels written in verse? Are they well received? Yes, there is, and yes, they are!

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Long Story Short: Compressing Life into Meaningful Micro Memoirs

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February 12 | 6 Weeks | $445$380Early Bird: Save 15%! | NEW!

Distill the spirit of your story in fewer than 500 words. Learn to craft compelling short nonfiction, and write and revise five new pieces of micro memoir.

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Poetry Workshop: Bring Your Poems to Life

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February 19 | 8 Weeks | $545$465Early Bird: Save 15%!

Join us for this workshop on creating powerful poems—poems that are clear and organized, fresh and moving, full of life.

Crafting a Story or Novel Chapter Using Forward-Moving Tension

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February 26 | 5 Weeks | $395$340Early Bird: Save 15%!

How do writers tell stories with tension, action, and emotion? Learn how to write forward-moving tension in this 5 week fiction course.

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May Courses

Crafting Poems in Form: Rhyme, Meter, Fixed Forms, and More

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May 14 | 8 Weeks | $545$465Early Bird: Save 15%! | NEW!

Working within the guidelines of a fixed poetic structure can make your poetry more creative, not less. Find freedom in form in this 8 week workshop. 

June Courses

The Chronology of Mind: From Journal to Poem or Prose

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June 18 | 5 Weeks | $515$440Early Bird: Save 15%!

Gather material through writing and experimenting with journaling, researching and taking notes to develop into poems or prose works.

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Unscheduled Courses

These online writing classes don’t currently have a next session on our calendar, but will soon. If you see a course you’re interested in, use the “I’m Interested” button to let us know, and we’ll follow up with you when the course is on our calendar next.

Want to reach us or our instructors with questions about our online writing courses? Contact us at writers@writers.com, or visit the contact form.

*Private Class | Embodied Writing: Improve Your Writing with Full-Body Creativity

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January 1 | 6 to 10 Weeks | $545 | NEW!

Have a grand time with specific physical exercises that honor your health, generate imaginative ideas, explore deeply and make your creative writing entertaining.

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*Private Class | Embodied Writing: Somatic Practices to Improve Your Work

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January 1 | 6 to 10 Weeks | $545

Have a grand time with specific physical exercises that honor your health, generate imaginative ideas, explore deeply and make your creative writing entertaining.

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*Private Class | Food Writing: Meals And Manuscripts

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January 1 | 6 to 10 Weeks | $545

Do you love cookbooks, cooking, or reading anything about food? This food writing course is for you. With award winning writer Jennifer Billock.

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*Private Class | Introduction to Writing Genre Fiction

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January 1 | 10 to 14 Weeks | $745

Take the whirlwind tour! Learn the conventions of eight major fiction genres, try them out, and figure out your niche.

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*Private Class | Poetry Workshop: Bring Your Poems to Life

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January 1 | 8 to 12 Weeks | $645 | NEW!

Join us for this workshop on creating powerful poems—poems that are clear and organized, fresh and moving, full of life.

*Private Class | The Craft of Poetry

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January 1 | 10 to 14 Weeks | $745

Poetry is alive and well. Contemporary poets can be touching, terrifying, and laugh-out-loud funny. Join us for an exploration of writing and reading poems.

*Private Class | The Literary Essay

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January 1 | 8 to 12 Weeks | $645

Explore the literary essay - from the conventional to the experimental, the journalistic to essays in verse - while writing and workshopping your own.

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*Private Class | The Micro-obstacles/Flow Technique

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January 1 | 3 to 7 Weeks | $395

Create new work with fresh language, universal themes, sustained mystery and memorable characters. Stimulate your imagination.

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*Private Class | Writing the Short Story

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January 1 | 10 to 14 Weeks | $745

Create new work with fresh language, universal themes, sustained mystery and memorable characters. Stimulate your imagination.

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*Private Class | Writing with Tarot

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January 1 | 8-12 Weeks | $645

Jump-start your creative juices, and explore a world of divination, symbolism, and imagery right at your fingertips: learn short story and novel writing through Tarot.

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30 Poems in 30 Days

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4 Weeks | $345

This National Poetry Writing Month (NaPoWriMo), build community and get feedback on your work while writing a poem every day.

Battling the Blank Page: Writing the First Third of Your Novel

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10 Weeks | $645 | NEW!

If the blank page daunts you, conquer it in this comprehensive novel writing course, where you'll end with over 1/3 of a first draft written.

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Crafting the Poetry Novel: Advanced Workshop

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5 weeks | $395

Want to make headway on your poetry novel? This workshop offers the structure and resources to get it done, with instructor Kelly Bingham.

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Creating the Visual Journal

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8 Weeks | $545

Go beyond narrow definitions of “journaling" to include visual images and let writing give what is seen a new voice. Surprise yourself.

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Creative Writing & Storytelling Techniques For Business Professionals

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4 Weeks | $345

Good writing helps business connect deeply with the clients they're hoping to work with. Learn how to hone the power of story in your professional career.

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Drafty in Here: Write Your Novella in Ten Weeks

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10 Weeks | $645

Write the entire first draft of a novella-length story, with plenty of feedback from stage to stage, and finish with a plan for revising toward a publishable manuscript.

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Even Smaller: Adventures in Short-form Writing

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4 Weeks | $345

Course full. Contact us to join waitlist.

Less is more in this bite-sized writing class, where you'll learn how to tell complete stories under the tightest word counts.

 

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Find Your Brave: Publishing As An Act Of Courage

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4 Weeks | $345

In this fun, transformative four-week program, get tips and techniques to bring out your courage to publish a story in print or online.

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Flash Fiction: Writing the Short-Short Story

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10 Weeks | $645

Only 1 seat left!

Write 1–3-page flash fiction in this online course with Barbara Henning, drawing on classic, poetic & experimental elements. Read the form’s masters.

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Food Writing: Food-Focused Memoir

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8 Weeks | $545

The food we eat and enjoy tells volumes about our lives and experiences. Write it all down in this food memoir course, with Jennifer Billock.

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Fundamentals of Travel Writing

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8 Weeks | $545

Take to the skies in this online travel writing course. We'll discuss the market, different types of travel writing, and pitching your piece!

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Growing Smaller: The Art of Micro- and Short Fiction

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4 Weeks | $345

Course full. Contact us to join waitlist.

Less is more. Learn the ropes of flash and micro-fiction in this 4-week course and hone the art of the short-short story.

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Humor Is The New Black!

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4 Weeks | $345

Ready to add a splash of fun to your writing life? Join us for a four-week humor writing class. We’ll read. We’ll laugh. We’ll write. We’ll experiment.

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In Your Own Words: Transforming Life Into Memoir and Fiction

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8 Weeks | $545

Learn how to draw inspiration and material from your life experiences or those of people you know, or want to know, to craft compelling, publishable memoirs, personal essays, autobiographical novels and short stories, and/or narrative poetry.

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Let’s Get Personal: The Art and Craft of the Personal Essay

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8 Weeks | $545

Draw inspiration and material from your life experiences or “real life” people you know to craft compelling, publishable personal essays. With author Margo Perin.

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Manuscript Review for Children’s Writers: Summer Edition

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5 Weeks | $395

Instructor Sarah Aronson welcomes all writers who are working on manuscripts for kids and teens. This advanced workshop will focus entirely on the participants' own work in progress.

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Manuscript Workshop: Writing For Young Readers

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8 Weeks | $545

Author Denise Santomauro leads this intermediate/advanced workshop on writing for children. It offers support, structure and detailed feedback on manuscripts.

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Mastering the Elements of Fiction

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10 Weeks | $645

In this course, you’ll work with the basic elements of fiction--the fundamentals that drive the story and determine the quality of the work.

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No More Excuses! Four Weeks to Finish and Submit Your Personal Essay or Short Memoir

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4 Weeks | $345

Join us for this insightful four-week “get the writing done” program, give and receive thoughtful comments from your fellow writers and the instructor, and enjoy heaps of encouragement and writing wisdom along the way.

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Onward: Writing the Novel-in-Process

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12 Weeks | $795

So now that you have your opening novel pages, what next? Get detailed, constructive feedback on your work-in-progress, wherever you're at in writing it.

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Ordinary to Extraordinary: Turning Everyday Experiences into Poetry

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4 Weeks | $345

Only 1 seat left!

No experience is too small or mundane to serve as a foundation for extraordinary poetry and short fiction.

Plot Your Novel

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8 Weeks | $545$465Save 15%!

Over eight weeks, you'll develop a solid basis in the fictional elements—protagonist, setting, secondary characters, point of view, plot, and theme—while you develop the outline of your novel. You'll receive feedback at all stages from your fellow writers and your instructor.

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Poetry II: Hone Your Voice for Emotional Impact

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8 Weeks | $545 | NEW!

Write more powerful poetry though sound, form, and image. Explore poetic craft and creativity to write your most imaginative and moving work.

Speculative Fiction: Sci-fi, Fantasy, & More

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4 Weeks | $345 | NEW!

Speculative fiction isn't (only) warp drives and magic wands; it's anything that examines human lives and relationships through alternate realities. In this course, learn how to wield the fantastic in your fiction.

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Suspense Sells! Power Up Your Writing With Conflict, Tension and Emotion

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4 Weeks | $345$295Save 15%!

Inject suspense into your stories to keep readers turning pages. For writers of all kinds of fiction: thrillers, mysteries, romance, humor, literary and memoir. A four week class with Giulietta Nardone.

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Tales From The Memory Palace: 6 to 250 Word Memoirs

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4 Weeks | $345

Course full. Contact us to join waitlist.

If you want to be an in demand storyteller in the digital age, you need to get in, get out and get going. In this "short" four-week memoir writing adventure, you'll learn to scope out, swoop down and snatch up important memories from your life then speed write them into miniature masterpieces.

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The Cabin In The (Virtual) Woods: Writing Horror Comedy

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4 Weeks | $345$295Save 15%!

The line between horror and comedy is a lot thinner than you think. In this class, make your readers laugh in one sentence and cower in the next.

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The Elements of Fiction

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8 Weeks | $545$465Save 15%!

Good fiction writing can feel like juggling as you balance all the different elements of storytelling. By the end of this course, you'll be an expert juggler.

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The Lyric Essay

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10 Weeks | $645$550Save 15%!

Explore non-traditional and imaginative ways to tell your stories with this ten-week writing course online. Creative nonfiction teacher Gretchen Clark provides detailed feedback on weekly writing assignments that emphasize creative freedom.

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The Micro-obstacles/Flow Technique

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3 Weeks | $295

Create new work with fresh language, universal themes, sustained mystery and memorable characters. Stimulate your imagination.

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The Sixth Sense: Writing Horror with a Message

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4 Weeks | $345

Looking to write the substance of nightmares? Learn the ropes of horror writing in this spine-chilling fiction course.

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The Soundtrack of Your Life: Writing About Music, Memories and Mix Tapes

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5 Weeks | $395

In a song inspired class, write several essays about the music that has moved you through life: the emotions, the relationships, the events, the outcomes.

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The Wandering Heart: Tales of Connection

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3 Weeks | $295

Wander through the rooms of your own life to discover stories of deep connection, reconnection or loss of connection and fashion your findings into stories suitable for blog posts, essays, short memoirs, short plays, scenes in screenplays, or chapters of novels.

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The Watching Eye/Thinking Mind: Writing Flash Fiction

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10 Weeks | $645$550Save 15%!

Course full. Contact us to join waitlist.

In this ten-week workshop with poet and novelist Barbara Henning, write tiny fictions while experimenting with first and third person points of view and analyzing how point of view affects the craft of fiction writing. Barbara will provide practical instruction and assignments, suggestions for revision, and lectures and and articles.

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What’s So Funny? Writing Poetic Humor

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4 Weeks | $345 | NEW!

Can a poem make the audience laugh out loud? Learn how to harness poetic humor in this class about knocking the reader's socks off.

Write Your Children’s Book!

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8 Weeks | $545

If you’re looking for accountability, support, enthusiasm, feedback, and a chance to make progress on your Children's Book or YA story, then this is the place for you.

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Writing Paranormal Flash Fiction: Adventures With Angels, Spirits and Ghosts

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3 Weeks | $295 | NEW!

Create captivating stories about characters who live by rules different than our own. A fun, supportive foray into imaginative fiction, with an eye to publication. 

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Writing the Short Story

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10 Weeks | $645

Create new work with fresh language, universal themes, sustained mystery and memorable characters. Stimulate your imagination.

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Writing with Tarot

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8 Weeks | $545

Jump-start your creative juices, and explore a world of divination, symbolism, and imagery right at your fingertips: learn short story and novel writing through Tarot.

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