Writing & Literature courses

Within you there dwells an innate sense of storytelling and a unique voice with which to tell your stories. In this course you will explore writing techniques to help you locate and refine the "natural music" of your own voice. Through writing exercises and…

Technical Communication I 10 weeks | Online This is a practical, hands-on technical writing course for all currently practicing or would-be technical communicators wishing to get a firmer grasp on this extremely broad and quickly evolving industry and develop…

Writing Online Documentation 10 weeks | Online As more print publications and manuals go online, it's vital to understand the similarities and differences between writing for print and writing for online delivery. Explore theories and practices for creating…

Science fiction and fantasy novels are immensely popular and have inspired some of our most beloved, successful and long-lived media franchises. But speculative novels are challenging to write due to their complex settings, their need to orient readers to an…

Writing Effective CEQA Documents Effective writing is one of the most highly cited and desirable skills in CEQA practice. Learn how to prepare technically compliant, legally defensible, and high quality environmental documents including Environmental Impact…

Write a novel in a month! Is it possible? Over the 20 years the class has been offered at UCLA Extension, over 500 writers have participated and an astounding 86% of them has written a complete first draft of their novels. The challenge of the class is to…

In this short introductory workshop designed for beginners, you learn the key building blocks for a writing a structurally solid screenplay. You begin by refining your story idea by studying and workshopping the elements that make for a successful logline.…

Everyone has a story (and often many stories) to tell, whether your life has been a wild ride or a quiet stroll. This course is designed for those interested in learning more about the similarities and differences between the two forms and how to explore and…

Harvard University presents Beginning Poetry: Listening to Lines, a foundational course in Writing & Literature. Designed to deepen your understanding of poetic craft, this course invites you to explore the intricacies of verse, rhythm, and language. Through…

Harvard University's Poetry in America: From the Mayflower to Emerson course offers an enriching exploration of early American poetry within the Writing & Literature category. This academic journey traces the evolution of poetic expression from Puritan verses…

Harvard University's Magical Realism course delves into the fascinating world of Writing & Literature, where reality blends seamlessly with the fantastical. This academic exploration examines key works and techniques from renowned authors, offering students a…

For writers with a minimum of 50 pages of a science fiction and fantasy novel-in-progress, this workshop guides them to generate 50 additional pages. Writers often experience lack of direction or stamina at this middle stage in their novel. This workshop thus…

Whether you've written a one-hour or half-hour tv script, (pilot or a spec of an existing series) your goal is the same: to dig deeper, raise the stakes higher, stretch your characters further to make your script one that will leave an indelible mark on its…

This course reveals the vital first step of understanding the craft of writing feature films, making it an ideal starting point for aspiring screenplay writers. In this workshop, you get a fundamental overview of storytelling, character development, plot and…

An editor’s job includes not only improving the mechanics of writing, but also identifying places where content needs revision and development, then engaging in respectful dialogue with their writer regarding subsequent drafts. Expanding on the topics covered…

This comprehensive 10-week course offers aspiring screenwriters a deep dive into the world of crafting powerful, thought-provoking horror stories that resonate across cultures. Drawing from diverse global influences, including Latin American, European, South…

This course demystifies the crucial first step of understanding the craft of writing for television, making it an ideal starting point for aspiring television writers. You learn the fundamentals of how to develop and write a television episode in both…

Writing for documentary is probably the most important and least taught skill set in documentary production today. Mastery of its concepts can ensure your project runs smoothly, from start to finish, and may, in the end, mean the difference between a…

In this course, we review what ideas will translate into good movies, and which ideas are better suited for television. We explore what can make you stand out from other writers before you've even written a word. By looking at the art of storytelling with…

Designed for screenwriters who have written their first screenplay, this workshop guides you to analyze and rewrite your draft and bring it to its fullest potential. You develop skills to rewrite your screenplay to industry standards, beginning with learning…

The second of a three-course sequence, this workshop expands on the development of story concept, worldbuilding, character, and plot explored in the first course. This second workshop focuses on critical but underemphasized aspects of compelling science…

This specialized course for editors provides students with a comprehensive overview of grammar to establish an effective foundational structure. Appropriate for those who want to become editors or seek to write for a living, this course provides innovative…

David Mamet said, “If you’re bored by a scene, so is your audience.” Every scene in a script serves a purpose. When they are character-driven, they keep us emotionally invested and engaged with the story. Individual scenes have a lot of moving pieces, from…

You have the dream—I've always wanted to write a children's picture book. But...how? This inspiring class offers you practical tools to help you realize that dream. It includes writing exercises, examples of current picture books, behind-the-scenes stories,…

Television storytelling is undergoing significant shifts in the early twenty-first century, but the basics of structuring satisfying narratives are rooted in human psychology and are timeless. This vigorous ten-week course exposes and explores the…

This class is primarily geared to writers who have never translated before or who are just getting started in the process. You should have a basic or working knowledge of another language, but you definitely need not be fluent or even a comfortable speaker.…

This course explores the unlimited possibilities of creative nonfiction, which embraces forms of creative writing such as personal essay, memoir, profiles and more. Working with the same techniques as fiction, including artful language choices, dialogue,…

Sometimes the best stories are true. To help you turn your personal experiences, anecdotes from everyday life and family stories into compelling narratives, this workshop teaches beginning writers the basic elements of good storytelling. You learn how to…

The short story, one of the most challenging of all literary forms, requires the precision and imagistic intensity of poetry combined with novelistic elements of structure, setting and characterization. This workshop helps you to realize your fictional…

Focusing on close textual analysis and intensive writing practice, you create two short stories and revise one in this ten-week workshop. Weekly lectures on technique, analysis of published stories and in-depth instructor, and peer critique develop and deepen…

It is said that all of us have locked inside at least one good story to tell. Through lectures on craft, short writing exercises, assignments and discussion, you learn how to tell yours. Topics include plot, point-of-view, setting, description, conflict,…

This dynamic and rigorous Master Class in Novel Writing is designed for those serious about revising and polishing their novels and getting published. The nine-month, 30-week structure allows for intensely individual instruction, peer critiques from a…

For students who have completed Novel IV, this intensive workshop is specifically directed toward refining an advanced manuscript into a polished novel. The focus is on structural and thematic aspects and the maintenance of the author's unique voice. You work…

For students with at least 100 pages of a novel, this advanced workshop focuses on elements of technique and vision necessary for a work to be considered complete. You receive intensive instructor and peer critiques of manuscript chapters and their relation…

For those with a minimum of 50 pages of a novel-in-progress, this workshop guides you to generate at least 50 new pages, as well as learn essential self-editing techniques with the instructor and peers reviewing each participant's project in detail.…

Armed with your overall concept and first chapter, you continue to develop your knowledge of craft by writing scenes using characters and situations from the projected novel and workshopping your in-progress work. Mini-lectures on the art of the novel,…

That novel is inside you waiting to emerge, but knowing how and where to start can be daunting. This course provides you with weekly assignments, group interaction and instructor feedback to help you explore various methods of writing your first novel while…

Do you aspire to write creatively but don't know where to start? This supportive workshop provides you with many techniques to motivate and guide you. You learn how to transform observation and personal experience into imaginative prose, create dynamic…

This six-week course is perfect for anyone just getting started on their path to being a writer. Students work in small breakout sessions with experienced writers and teachers, then attend a lecture by various guest speakers with expertise in fiction, poetry,…

The old adage "write what you know" too often negates the truth that a part of what we "know" is in our imagination. It is the blending of our personal experiences and what we can imagine that helps to create some of our most powerful narratives. In this…

You've lived, listened, seen, had a childhood--there's your raw material. Now it's a question of channeling and shaping that experience with the tools of literary craft. In this beginner's course, you explore the basics of the three major genres--fiction,…

One of the most misunderstood concepts in the craft of fiction writing is the relationship between character and conflict. A story can involve a complex character with fascinating thoughts, ideas and interests, but without a conflict that motivates the…

This is a reading and exercise-based class designed to explore and practice dialogue, voice and point-of-view in fiction and creative nonfiction. Each week, we read sample fiction and creative nonfiction to identify how the content is influenced by the…

Setting and description are foundational to a story and can support larger themes well—if done thoughtfully with fresh and vivid language, attention to detail, implication and perspective. They can, in effect, give one's characters a home or space to work…

Poets push language to the limits of its potential by forming words into sounds and images. In this workshop, you read examples from diverse contemporary poets as you learn how to craft images while avoiding clichés, employ simile and metaphor to enhance…

Romance novels generate just over one billion dollars in sales revenue annually in the United States. With online platforms allowing authors to learn to write better, find compatible publishers or publishing options and market the work product, there has…

This six-week course is perfect for anyone getting started on their path to becoming a screenwriter. Each class offers a broad-strokes introduction to a different writing format, which includes Feature Film, Television Specs and Television Pilots, as well as…

Understanding how Hollywood operates is crucial for any new screenwriter seeking agents and managers for representation. First, you must know the differences between the roles an agent plays versus a manager. Furthermore, differentiating between power agents,…

Great, funny, compelling dialogue is easier than you think. It comes when you focus on one single thing: your moral premise. There’s a vice and a virtue ready to argue with each other, and funny lines arrive when you see the strengths and weaknesses in your…

Join a panel of current TV showrunners, writers, and producers as they reveal their journey to a writing career and to creating, scripting, and running the popular TV series and describe their paths to success. Topics include writing on staff vs. freelance,…