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Are there any online video courses for creative writing? Preferably free.

I'm referring to university-type courses, which are filmed and then published online. An outstanding example is Brandon Sanderson's courses on YouTube.

There are lots of blog/podcast videos, but they're not well structured. Courses prepared for teaching at a uni level are more helpful.

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  • Very efficiently written information. It will be priceless to anybody who uses it, together with myself. Sustain the good work – for positive i will try extra posts. – user6733 Jan 16 '14 at 6:18
  • Why would you want video courses for writing? I mean, if the author of the course is not capable of conveying the knowledge through writing, but needs video for that, that's a sure-fire sign they aren't too good at their craft. And if the audience can't even be assed into reading the text by someone else, they are unlikely to write anything of quality either. – SF. Jan 16 '14 at 6:31
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I don't know about free ones. Dean Wesley Smith's workshops and lectures have been tremendously helpful for me.

Dean's workshops cost $300 each, and run for six weeks. Each week, you get about an hour of video instruction, and a homework assignment that will stretch and challenge you. You get brief, helpful personal response from Dean about your assignment. And each week's videos include a brief general discussion of the assignments (general comments, with nobody's work singled out). You can find them here: http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?page_id=7474

The lectures are mostly $50 each, though a few are $75. Several of them are presented by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Each lecture consists of about 10 videos, for a total of about 60 to 100 minutes of ideas. You can find them here: http://www.deanwesleysmith.com/?page_id=8597

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  • I have attended one of Smith's online workshops and was somewhat disappointed, but obviously, Your Milage May Vary. It goes without saying that you should do your homework before a $300 expenditure - make sure the level, the content, and the general direction are in line with what you're looking for. – Standback Jan 16 '14 at 12:12
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There is an English language course on The Future of Storytelling on Iversity. The focus, as the course title implies, is on more recent developments in storytelling such as interactive and transmedia storytelling. The course is introductory and provides an overview of storytelling theory, not actual writing training. Its a good starting point, but you will have to pick up some of the recommended books. As a novel writer I found it vaguely interesting, for example in thinking beyond your book to the marketing and franchising of your product. The course is well made and inspiring if you are tolerant of the awkward English of some of the non-native presenters. The main teacher is pretty and fun to watch :-) The course is free.

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  • This is really well done, and looks interesting! And you're right, the main presenter is indeed engaging ;) – beginnerwriter Jan 3 '14 at 12:16
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Like Iversity there are other similar websites that offer online courses. One such is Coursera which allows you to take courses (typically University standard) for free. At the time of writing this reply there are no direct courses available on creative writing but there are a few courses that might come in handy. Of course you can always check back to see if something new has come up (the courses keep getting updated).

A typical course usually involves video lectures and then reading materials, powerpoint presentations, and assignments etc. (which are evaluated so you can have feedback coming in).

I remember seeing courses on poetry, writing styles, and other stuff that might come in handy.

Best wishes!

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