Hosted by / Sponsored by: The Open University

Course of Study: Writing / Literature

Course Link: Take This Course

Description: Aimed at the more advanced writer, this free online course is designed to show you the importance of grammar in your writing, utilizing the already sound knowledge of grammar that learners are expected to bring with them to the course.

Looking at everything from the power of grammar to how its meaning has changed through history and from the contextual variation of grammar to exploring topics such as ellipsis and dysfluency, this 15 hour course is divided up into easy to digest subjects and is a very interesting course for anyone looking to further their writing skills.

Hosted by / Sponsored by: MIT

Course of Study: Writing / Literature

Course Link: Take This Course

Description: A course that was first taught to MIT students in Spring 2005, it has been made available for anyone to take completely free of charge, with the aim being to act as an introduction for those wanting to start writing for the stage.

Delivered by Laura Harrington, this free online course is divided into a dozen individual topics, from first understanding what exactly a play is and how it is defined through to the importance of actions as well as words and finishing with analyzing other amateur plays.

With each session expected to last around 3 hours, this course isn’t a quick one but it is particularly in depth and should provide any beginner to playwriting with a fantastic insight into this type of writing.

Hosted by / Sponsored by: Purdue OWL

Course of Study: Writing / Literature

Course Link: Take This Course

Description: Of all of the different types of punctuation to get your head around as a writer, commas are widely regarded as being the one that can cause the most problems.

This free online course by Purdue’s Online Writing Lab (OWL) aims to provide a full and in-depth explanation of when a comma should be used, how it should be used and most importantly, why it should be used.

Offered through a PowerPoint presentation, once you have completed this course you should have a full understanding of comma usage and when and where a comma should be used to help you produce writing of a higher standard.

Hosted by / Sponsored by: MIT

Course of Study: Writing / Literature

Course Link: Take This Course

Description: Produced and delivered by Professor Karen Boiko, the primary aim of this course is to provide all learners with a full and practical understanding of both what their purpose as a writer is, as well as who they are writing for.

The course is intended to be delivered over 25 individual sessions, each lasting 1.5 hours and covering everything from small group work to video observations and essay workshops to free writing.

Aimed at those at an undergraduate level, this free online writing course should prove to be a fantastic aid when looking for your true creativity as a writer.

Hosted by / Sponsored by: Suite101

Course of Study: Writing / Literature

Course Link: Take This Course

Description: This course, offered by Suite101, has been produced with novice writers in mind and aims to educate them in all aspects of basic writing.   Offering information on everything from nouns and pronouns to apostrophes and punctuation marks, the course takes a full and extensive look at various different necessary pieces of knowledge that are needed for writing.

Divided up into 4 separate lessons, each with several of their own sub-topics, whilst this free online writing course may be aimed at beginner writers, there is without doubt some very useful information for those writers who have a natural writing talent but no major theoretical knowledge.

Hosted by / Sponsored by: MIT

Course of Study: Writing / Literature

Course Link: Take This Course

Description: Provided by MIT, this free online writing course is all about the history of the essay and why it is important to know how to both read and write an essay properly before you can create one correctly yourself. Provided largely for those who are interested in the history of the essay, learners can gain a greater knowledge about the essay’s past through a mixture of writing and reading during this course.

Initially released in the Fall of 2005, this course, which is at the undergraduate level, was delivered by Prof. Rebecca Blevins Faery and was originally carried out over a period of 25 lectures, each lasting 1.5 hours each. Whilst it will be possible to carry out certain sections quicker than this if so preferred, all of the necessary materials are provided should you wish to work to the full 37.5 hours.

Hosted by / Sponsored by: The Open University

Course of Study: Writing / Literature

Course Link: Take This Course

Description: This free online course from The Open University is aimed at those who already have a good grasp of poetry writing and consider themselves to be at an intermediate level.  It is expected to take approximately 20 hours to complete.

Consisting of 10 sections that follow a lengthy and in-depth introduction, each of the 10 sections covers a topic related to the understanding of poetry and what most poets would consider to be necessary knowledge items, such as rhythm and poetic inversion.

Although the course may be aimed at those who already have an understanding of poetry, it covers a topic that a lot of beginner poets find intriguing – poems that don’t rhyme – meaning that some parts of the course may be of use to those new to poetry writing.

Hosted by / Sponsored by: Yale

Course of Study: Writing / Literature

Course Link: Take This Course

Description: Taking a look at various aspects of modern poetry, this course was recorded in Spring 2007 whilst it was being delivered on campus by Professor Langdon Hammer and is delivered primarily in video format.

The aim of the course is to provide all learners with with an insight into poetry in the modern day.  From how it is written, its characteristics and primary users to how it compares to more traditional poetry, it makes for a very interesting course for any writer.

To accompany the main video of this course, there are various documents that can be download to assist learners,  including several written course pages.

Hosted by / Sponsored by: Poynter’s News University

Course of Study: Writing / Literature

Course Link: Take This Course

Description: Having the ability to effectively read through and amend your own writing before it is published is one of the most important skills that any writer can hold.

Aiming to provide all learners with the basics of ensuring that their writing is free of any errors and is as clean as it can be, this course leads learners through a variety of different topics, covering everything from identifying weak words and phrases to being aware of when a sentence or paragraph can be shortened to make for a better read.

Expected to take around 2 hours to complete, this free online course was created by Chip Scanlan, an associate professor at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism who has over 20 years worth of reporting and feature writing experience.

Hosted by / Sponsored by: The Open University

Course of Study: Writing / Literature

Course Link: Take This Course

Description: The aim of this course is to provide the learner with a thorough understanding of why good writing is important and how exactly to achieve it, primarily in an academic setting.

Particularly comprehensive, this free online course by The Open University is divided into 4 topics, with 3 of them having a substantial amount of sub-points, covering everything from understanding what an essay is through to taking the objective, analytical stance in your writing.

The course is expected to take a full 12 hours and as it is at an introductory level, the delivery is especially suited to those who are completely new to writing.