There are many professions that require lifelong learning in order to maximize their skills and previous educational knowledge. As times change, their professions must stay updated on things like new laws, new policies, and new scientific discoveries. A continuous education is needed for writers too. Although writing doesn’t have aspects that change, authors can forget basics or confuse tricky grammar and punctuation. A lot of writers also suffer from writer’s block. I’ll be honest, I always get mixed up with dialogue quotes and parentheses versus period placements. It’s good to know there are books and courses that you can take or read to write better – even better these are all free! Here are my suggestions for writing better with lifelong learning.
FREE Online Courses
Class Central
Class Central periodically updates a variety of online classes that are aimed at all types of writers, even new ones. They are sharing course information from real colleges and universities that have programs called Mass Open Online Course or MOOC. While most MOOCs aren’t free, the list on Class Central’s website are. You can find courses from prestigious institutions like Stanford University, to universities such as the University of California or Michigan State University, to online institutions such as Skillshare. Some of the topics are applied writing, basic writing, journalistic writing, and essay writing. What I like most are the names of the courses. Of course you have your basic English Composition, but there are courses on creative writing, grammar and style, thinking like a writer, content writing, blogging, storytelling, fiction, poetry, business, and scientific writing. I’m sure you’ll be able to find a course that you NEED to take.
The Crafty Writers Creative Writing Course
This free course is taught by a prolific author who has written and sold multiple novels, children series, and magazine articles. Fiona Veitch Smith, the editor of Plain Truth magazine, has created an online course with eight fun and powerful writing modules. Although the course doesn’t give you feedback on your writing, it does push you to start writing. (She offers critiquing at paid rate). Her courses teach on releasing your creativity, writing a short story, writing from certain points of view, and more. She also gives helpful resources and other literature that will aid you in your lifelong learning journey.
If you’ve ever wanted to get your MFA in writing, here’s your chance and guess what? It’s free. The owner graduated with a MFA and noticed how others were struggling to feel like they were professionals because of their lack of education. She decided to create a free course that focuses on writing, reading, and building a community of writers.
More Free Online Courses
There are lots more free online courses compiled on TCK Publishing’s website. Scroll through the site and find the free course that best fits you.
FREE Books
If you want to know why you should read books to improve your writing, follow this link and read my blog post on why it’s so important. I challenge any writer to read at least one book per month and analyze the results.
Book Marketing Guide by Smashwords
This 2018 edition written by Smashwords founder and CEO, Mark Coker, introduces authors to important tips for book marketing. I mean what’s the point of writing if no one ever buys your products? This free e-book presents 65 marketing ideas and also gives advice for social media marketing as well. He even talks about how to get free press for your material.
How to Write a Good Query Letter by Noah Lukeman
This book is ranked 29th on Amazon’s website for Publishing. Noah Lukeman is a literary agent who receives hundreds, no thousands of query letters daily. His book details why he rejects letters and why he accepts letters and how to get your letter accepted. Isn’t that the goal of writing? Don’t you want to have your book published? This book also explains how to get and keep a literary agent. All of this piqued my interest, so I downloaded the free book from Amazon.
More Free Books on Writing
Smashwords has a full list of books that are free to download as pdf’s. They are all for writers looking to enhance their skills with lifelong learning. The first book is the most downloaded book on their website. Read through the list and download what you need or just download them all, they’re free.
I hope this article helps you to believe in lifelong learning and also helps you become a better writer.