10+ Free Online Creative Writing Courses Australia

Here featured are 10+ free online creative writing courses Australia to write your book, novel, a script, poetry or prose. These are free writing courses for beginner writers and authors with experience in writing fiction and creative nonfiction.
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​The following free creative writing courses objectives are to improve your writing skills, boost career prospects, explore writing techniques and styles, and reach your writing goals. Study fiction and creative fiction writing today from published authors, tutor-led writing workshops and professional distance learning providers.

These courses offer the fundamental skills you need to write fluently and with style regardless of your writing ability or preferred genre. If you would like to find more in-depth courses or enroll onto courses where you receive an accreditation, check out the paid online writing courses from providers and universities in Australia at the end of this article.

Whether you want to learn creative writing, write a book or screenplay, or become a children's book author, check out these 10+ free online creative writing courses available in Australia.
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1. Secret Sauce of Great Writing – Udemy

The secret formula of excellent writing can be contained in this 42-minute course outlining the four ingredients of elite writing. These ingredients are ease, transparency, beauty and evocativeness. Put them into effect, and your writing will definitely benefit.

Instructor Shani Raja is a former editor of The Wall Street Journal, and the course requires writing assignments in the teaching of the lessons. There are 45 minutes of video lessons on demand and web services provided.

Techniques of effective writing are learned in this writing course while writing literature, poetry and prose, company compositions or personal blogs. These same writing practices are often useful in editing your own work before submitting to a literary agent or publisher.

View course: Secret Sauce of Great Writing

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Related reading

• ​Check Out These Top Online Creative Writing Courses​
• Find Top Online Creative Writing Courses by Published Authors
• ​Discover Top Screenplay Writing Courses

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2. Writing for Young Readers – Commonwealth Education Trust

Along with video tutorials, online readings, peer feedback and special appearances by popular writers, the free writing course via Coursera incorporates an all-inclusive creative writing tutorial for authors and aspiring writers wanting to write for young readers.

If you are interested in developing your voice, shaping your identity as an author, familiarizing yourself with the traditional elements of storytelling (theme, plot, setting, character, language, dialogue and point of view), examining how art and words communicate, how to practice self-editing skills and learning practical insights into publishing options, this free interactive writing course can focus in on any part of writing so you can pursue the genre you choose.

This is a self-paced course which is suitable for beginner writers. It can be accessed at any time and requires 13 hours of study time. Click on the “Enroll for Free” box and select the “Full Course, No Certificate” option to enroll on this course for free.

View course: Writing for Children

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3. Creative Writing for All: A 10-Day Journaling Challenge

One of the hardest problems any writer has to contend with is writer's block. Luckily, this class via Skillshare will teach you how to tackle this dilemma and make sure it doesn’t occur in the first place.

Author and editor Emily Gould leads this brief sequence of lessons that steer you towards a creative mind. If you stick to writing for 10 minutes for 10 days in a row, you will be able to bring her suggestions into effect, which makes this an extremely actionable course.

Although this course is not for all, it might be suitable for those in the early stages of writing who are finding writer’s block affecting their creativity and productivity.

You can access this short course (if you’re a new member) via Skillshare through their 7-day free trial.

 View course: Creative Writing for All: A 10-Day Journaling Challenge

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4. Write Your First Novel – Coursera

To realise your dream of writing a novel, don’t put it off any longer! If you’re not sure where to begin or need guidance to finish that draft manuscript, this free online writing course from via Coursera could help you. Throughout this online writing course you will be taught how to write and complete a 50,000-word novel.

This is a beginner-friendly course that is self-paced, can be accessed at any time, and requires 127 hours of study time. Click on the “Enroll for Free” box and select the “Full Course, No Certificate” option to undertake this course for free.
 
On this free writing course you will learn how to create the idea for your novel, how to create your character profiles and outline chapter one, there is a step-by-step process to write each chapter, and you will learn how to submitting your finished novel, and also write a prologue for your book and a synopsis to submit to agents.

View course: Write Your First Novel via Coursera

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5. English Writing Skills – Alison

It is important to engage readers in your writing to articulate yourself clearly. If you do not express the concept well, the novel, online blog post, or commercial article, it is not going to do have the desired impact.

There is more about writing than simply learning which phrases to use and how to punctuate appropriately. There are also some writing forms that contribute themselves to be better for one reason or another. There are writing styles for mystery novels, another way for humor, for example. Instructions and insightful information utilize particular writing forms than poetry or motivational text.

The course takes approximately 3 hours, includes an exam, and a certificate of completion is required. The professors are both experts in their professions and are accredited as coaches on the Alison online learning platform. When determining which free online writing course to take for learners, this is a great one to start with.

View course: English Writing Skills

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6. Endless Story Ideas – Creative Writing Now

This free online writing course from Creative Writing Now helps writers utilize methods to "generate story ideas whenever you need them", which can then be developed for future projects.
 
A student review for Creative Writing Now online classes:
 
"I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the lessons and feel they were very helpful in introducing new ideas and perspectives to my writing. I am sure I will go back frequently to review them for reference during many of my future writing projects. Thanks again!"
 

• You can also access their Story Starters and Where to Find Creative Writing Ideas sections to find creative writing ideas for an abundance of inspiration
• There is free participation for their Creative Writing Contests and Free Poetry Contest where you have the chance to be published on their website and you could win Amazon or cash prizes.
• The course is via email where students are sent one lesson each week over three weeks.

View course: Endless Story Ideas

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7. Free Writing Courses and Tutorials Beginner Level – Udemy

Why not have a go at a free Udemy online writing course for beginners? The course content is the same high quality as their paid courses, but course participants don’t receive a certificate of completion or have Q&A access to instructors.

Udemy is a well-known and popular e-learning platform that teaches millions of students globally with its 130,000 courses. Other courses provided include health and fitness, business, programming, marketing, and much more.

Here are some of Udemy's free online writing courses for beginner level:

• Starting to Write – Be a more creative you. Take small steps and start writing today.

• Make Your Writing Stand Out in Eight Easy Steps – Master brilliant writing and beat your competition with a research-based system designed by a professional writing coach
• On Writing – The 20 Minute Jumpstart for Novices and Writer-Blocked Writers

Once you've tried a free course (or many) from Udemy, you can enroll in one of the numerous in-depth paid courses with low prices during flash sales. 

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8. Free Writing Courses and Tutorials All Levels – Udemy

If you would like a more advance writing course, check out more free online writing courses from Udemy which are applicable for all levels of writers. 

Here are a few of Udemy's free online writing courses for all writing levels:

• Let’s Write a Basic Story – A step-by-step walkthrough. Write your own story.
• Creative Writing Sample Lesson – Video lectures and plenty of activities about setting, character and plot with best-selling novelist K.C. Finn.
• Use Show Don’t Tell to Improve Your Writing – A free mini-course about one of the most important skills in writing.

You can find a full list of Udemy's free online writing courses here.

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9. Write a Feature Length Screenplay for Film or Television – Coursera

This online screenplay writing course will enable writers of all genres to write a "polished and pitch-ready script".
 
Participants will learn the tools and techniques to create a screenplay in this practical, motivating and highly recommended course. No previous script-writing experience is required to enroll, so this course would suit beginners as well as professional writers.
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The video lessons cover a 20-week period and include creating the idea, creating your character profile/s, the three-act story arc, screenplay formatting and software, how to structure each act, and more.
 
There are flexible deadlines, so students can work around their schedule. Students can enroll on to this course at any time, and the course states that it takes approximately 93 hours to complete.

This is a free course without receiving a certificate upon completion. To undertake the course with certification, the price is advisable on application as the cost will convert to the currency of the country from which you're accessing the course.
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View course: Write a Feature Length Screenplay for Film or Television

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10. How to Plot a Novel – Reedsy

If you would like to write a book but need some help to plot and structure your story, this free online writing course from Reedsy could benefit you.

The instructor for this course is Kristen Kieffer, who is an author of fantasy fiction and creative writing resources as well as the founder of Well-Storied.com. This free online creative writing course provides a step-by-step guide through the 3-Act Story Structure, which will give you the foundation and solid template to craft your story.

This is a 10-day course where the 5-minute lessons are delivered to your inbox each day. Sign up to a free account is required to get instant access to the course.

View course: How to Plot a Novel with 3-Act Story Structure
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Reedsy also offer the following free online creative writing courses:

• How to Write a Suspense Novel
• How to Turn Up the Heat in Your Romance
• The Mechanics of Writing Dialogue
• How to Write an Irresistible Romance
• How to Write YA That Sells
• Story Editing for Authors
• How to Write for Middle-Grade Readers
• Understanding Point of View
• Novel Revision: Practical Tips for Rewrites
• How to Self-Edit Your Manuscript Like a Pro

 
You can find even more free online writing courses via Reedy’s Free Courses

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Paid Online Creative Writing Courses from Australian Universities and Providers

• Writing NSW provides writing courses for all levels of writers across the various genres. Courses run at specific times of the year.
• Northern Territory Writers' Centre offers various online writing workshops. From receiving feedback on your writing to a writing class to produce a story in six weeks, there are courses to give you practical skills to further your creative writing.
• Open Universities Australia offers various short writing courses (as well as undergraduate and postgraduate degree courses) from An Introduction to Creative Writing, Writing Poetry, Writing Crime and Contemporary Romance, to Writing Feature Articles and Writing Digital Media.
• The Writing Quarter currently lists its upcoming courses as a beginner creative writing course, an intermediate creative writing course, a memoir writing course, and a poetry course.
• Australian Writers' Centre provides foundational creative writing courses, writing courses for kids and teens, courses on writing books for younger readers, courses on fiction techniques, publishing, and much more.
• The Writers' Studio this Sydney-based creative writing studio provides both online and classroom writing courses. Current courses include an unlocking creativity course, a 10-month novel and script writing course, and a short story writing course.
• Centre of Excellence offers certified and accredited writing courses. Select your country at the top right to see the prices for your country. Current courses listed include diplomas in fantasy writing, poetry writing, and writing books for children.

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Conclusion

Free online writing courses can teach you how to build a story and how to engage readers. Studying a course from experts will improve your writing proficiency, so the benefits of a free writing course will increase your confidence and motivation as well as refining your writing style and storytelling skills.

While you keep writing, learning, and developing, you’ll soon see how much a difference practice and utilizing the information from a writing course can make.

If you make time to write each day, even for just a few minutes, and apply the techniques and advice from a writing class, you will see your progression and growth as a writer.

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