Are you a writer looking to brush up on your skills? Or maybe you’re just jumping into the world of creative writing. Either way, picking out a fun creative writing course will take your story to the next level. Let’s take a closer look at a few of the top writing courses in Australia, along with hot tips to help you pick out the perfect course for you.
Writing is a one of the best skills in the creative industries to have. Someone with good writing skills can have their way with the written word, contemporary romance, structuring poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction stories, and so on. It’s also one of the many practical skills someone will need in the workplace. You could use a writing talent to write public relations releases, resumes, reports, thesis, and so on.
So whether you’re looking at getting into a professional creative writing practice, reach your dreams of being an award winning author, or brush up your english proficiency skills for your career, check out these writing courses around Sydney that won’t disappoint.
1. Australian Writers’ Centre
Price: $695 AUD
Length: 8 Weeks
This Novel Writing Essentials class is perfect if you’re serious about writing a novel. By the time your eight weeks are finished, you’ll have the first 20,000 words of your manuscript finished. This novel writing course will focus on getting the opening just right, and it will help you pinpoint specific issues in your own writing as well.
The creative writing class also emphasizes the value of workshopping your work with other writers. Through their individual and group workshops, you’ll have access to constructive criticism to improve your writing and eventually develop a deeper understanding the art of creative writing.
Address: Suite 3/55 Lavender St, Milsons Point NSW 2061, Australia
Phone Number: (02) 9929 0088
Website: writerscentre.com.au
2. How to Write for Children and Young Adults
Price: $450
Length: 5 Weeks
Interested in writing for a younger audience? The course outline includes everything you need to know to write for kids and teens between the ages of eight and eighteen. You’ll work on narrowing down your writing voice and understand what appeals to market publishers.
This course also encourages the class to maintain a supportive environment that can help you further develop your creative writing skills. You’ll be able to workshop and get constructive feedback from other writers. According to reviews, this writing course is especially helpful for anyone wanting to break into writing middle grade or YA fiction and have a more specific focus on creative writing for younger readers.
Website: writerscentre.com.au
3. The Writing Quarter
Price: 230 AUD
Length: 6 Weeks
This is a Beginners Creative Writing Course. The class is perfect if you’ve never dabbled in creative writing classes before and would like to improve your writing skills. It covers all the basics from setting and character development to structure and point of view. After six weeks, you’ll be a writing beast on the way to that writing career you’ve always wanted!
Website: writingquarter.com.au
4. Kerry Hadley-Pryce
Price: 230 AUD
Length: 6 Weeks
This novel-writing course for Teenagers is taught by Kerry Hadley-Pryce. She is an editor for Backcountry Magazine and has an MA in Creative Writing. Aside from several short stories, she published her second novel in 2018.
Website: kerryhadley-pryce.weebly.com
What To Look For In A Creative Writing Course
Despite the fact that creative writing takes no more than your favorite notebook and a number 2 pencil, there’s actually a lot more to choosing the perfect Creative Writing Course than meets the eye. We’ll walk you through a few of the things you need to consider before you sign up for your next creative writing course.
Instructor
Whether you’re taking a face-to-face class or signing up for a virtual course, pay attention to the instructor. Look them up to see if their resume offers some practical, real-world experience. Have they published any books, novels or short stories? Or maybe, they are well-known journalists or award winning writers. You also might see professional editors who have experience working with published authors.
If the instructor has any published work posted on social media , try reading an excerpt. Getting to know their personal style will give you a good idea of the level of their creative writing skills. While you don’t have to be interested in the exact same things, it can be helpful to have a mentor in the field you want to have a specific focus on. This also makes your writing journey fun and a memorable one. Not only will this help you hone your writing skills, but also help improve your character development.
Genre
Creative Writing encompasses many different genres. Generally speaking, there’s typically four main categories of creative writing: Fiction, Creative Non-fiction, Poetry, and Screenwriting or Playwriting.
While many authors write for more than one category, you should have a specific focus on training for one. Allow yourself to perfect your skills in that area. You’ll be surprised how many of them will transfer across classes.
Especially within fiction, there are many different writing genres you can choose from. There’s romance, literary fiction, science fiction, historical fiction, western, fantasy, and many more. Most writing programs stick with an overarching category, but if you can find a genre-specific course, they can be especially helpful.
Audience
We know, as a writer you’d be happy if anyone reads your writing. Even if it’s just drafts of your short stories, poetry or novels. When asked, most people tend to say their writing is for a wide range of audiences. But in reality, writing with a specific reader in mind can make your work more appealing.
The three major audiences typically include adult fiction, children’s literature, and young adult fiction. While a basic fiction writing course leaves you open to writing for any of these audiences, you can occasionally find courses specific to these audiences.
Why does it matter? Specific audiences will have background information that you can tailor your story to, making it more appealing. For example, if you’re writing for preteens, you’ll want to include a specific range of vocabulary, your main character should be a couple of years older, and you should focus on themes that relate to the issues they face on a daily basis.
Workshops
Creative writing workshops are a powerful tool. They allow you to challenge yourself as a writer and find clarity in your work. A well-organized writing workshop also gives you a supportive environment with new perspectives from other writers and builds your writing tribe.
As you decide on the best creative writing course, look at what the course has planned for writing workshops. If you can, check out the current classes that are being held. Also, look at how many students, group workshops and the type of feedback you are required to give. If you are lucky to have international students with you in the class, it would be great to also learn and interact with them as you .
The best writing courses will have group workshop opportunities, even if the program is online. The feedbacks given to your creative work and the connections you can gain from these groups are invaluable to your writing journey at any stage of the process.
Conclusion
If you’re a writer, or you want to be one, don’t wait. Sign up for one of these great creative writing courses in Australia. You’ll find the support and tools you need to finish that manuscript sitting in your desk drawer. Before you know it, you’ll be well on your way to publishing your first novel.
