February 20th, 2019 | Updated on January 11th, 2023
English is a wonderful language and though fluency in speech is mostly achieved it is difficult to put that in words and express your thoughts. However, for those who are in love with writing and putting their views on paper, no clues about writing can prove a roadblock to their dreams.
In such a situation we are left with no choice but to look for writing courses to guide us in doing so. Thanks to the internet there are innumerable Online writing courses which can be of extreme help. We bring to you a list of the best 20 Online Courses in English Writing.
With the guidance of these courses, you would get a fair idea about sentence formation and how to make people grasp what you are trying to say.
1. Academic And Business Writing
An introduction to academic and business writing for English Language Learners, focusing on grammar, vocabulary, structure, editing, and publication.
College Writing 2.2x continues the introduction to academic and business writing for English Language Learners. In this part of the course, students focus on understanding the demands of different styles of writing, and continue to improve grammatical correctness, vocabulary development, and revision and editing skills.
The five-week course includes material on vocabulary, tone, diction, and editing, all in the areas of academic and business writing. Students will have the opportunity to write on a number of different topics and ideas, always centred on areas of interest to them.
The course materials will be offered via readings and videos. Assignments include short writing assignments, quizzes, journal entries, and longer pieces.
What you’ll learn :
- Refine persuasive writing techniques and essay development
- Gain skills for proofreading, self-editing, revision, tone, and vocabulary
- Develop strong English-language writing and communication skills
2. English For Journalists: Key Concepts
Improve your English grammar, vocabulary and writing skills through exciting topics in journalism and world news.
English for Journalists offers instruction in English language development for students who are studying journalism, or working journalists who want to improve their English proficiency. Students with a basic understanding and interest in journalism are encouraged to sign up.
In this communication course, you will learn about key topics that are essential to journalists working around the world.
These Topics Include:
- The job of the journalist
- Ethics in journalism
- Inclusive journalism
- Local vs. Global journalism
- Citizen journalism
Issues in English vocabulary, idioms, and grammar are explored as well.
“English for Journalists” is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, and developed in partnership with the Regional English Language Office in Central and Southeastern Europe, the Voice of America, and English language educators across Central and Eastern Europe. This course is being offered by UC Berkeley as part of the U.S. Department of State’s MOOC Camp.
What You’ll Learn
- Understand current issues facing journalists globally
- Improve your English vocabulary and grammar in order to write more effective stories
- Communicate more effectively with others in interviews and reports
- Understand issues of ethics, equality, and fairness as they apply to journalism
3. English For Journalists: Free Speech And Media Trends
Improve your English grammar, vocabulary and writing skills through topics in journalism including free speech, sports, humor and broadcast writing.
English for Journalists offers instruction in English language development for students who are studying journalism, or working journalists who want to improve their English proficiency. Students with a basic understanding and interest in journalism are encouraged to sign up.
In this communication course, you will learn about key topics that are essential to journalists working around the world.
These Topics Include:
- free speech and freedom of the press
- sports writing and broadcast
- humor and satirical news writing
- understanding science and technology in journalism
- media trends
- Issues in English vocabulary, idioms, and grammar are explored as well.
“English for Journalists” is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State, and developed in partnership with the Regional English Language Office in Central and Southeastern Europe, the Voice of America, and English language educators across Central and EasternEurope. This course is being offered by UC Berkeley as part of the U.S. Department of State’s MOOC Camp.
What You’ll Learn
- Improve your English vocabulary and grammar in order to write more effective stories
- Communicate more effectively with others in interviews and reports
- Different styles of news writing include humor, satirical, sports and broadcast
- Understand current issues facing journalists globally
- How technology and science affect journalism
- Understand issues of ethics, equality, and fairness as they apply to journalism
4. How To Write An Essay
An introduction to academic writing for English Language Learners, focusing on essay development, grammatical correctness, and self-editing.
College Writing 2.1x is an introduction to academic writing for English Language Learners, focusing on essay development, grammatical correctness, and self-editing. The five-week course includes a review of basic grammar terminology and understanding; writing effective sentences and paragraphs; introductions and conclusions; strategies for writing longer texts; and thesis statements.
The course materials will be offered via readings and videos. An optional course workbook, in ebook form, may be used for additional writing work. Students will participate in online discussions as well as peer review. Students will complete an essay for this part of the course.
In Partnership With The U.S. Department Of State
UC Berkeley is partnering with the U.S. Department of State to extend the reach of College Writing 2X. Participating U.S. Embassies will host in-person, facilitated discussions sessions around the course content in order to maximize the learning experience.
The State Department-supported EducationUSA network will also offer facilitated discussions in some locations for students interested in pursuing higher education in the United States.
This partnership is part of the English Education Alliance (E2A), a global effort of the U.S. Department of State to address the global demand for 21st-century English language skills.
What You’ll Learn
- Basic grammar terminology and understanding
- How to write effective sentences and paragraphs
- How to tackle writing introductions and conclusions
- Strategies for writing longer texts and thesis statements
5. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Through MIT’s OCW program, students can download a variety of undergraduate and graduate-level course materials that cover topics in, among others, essay, expository and technical writing. Course activities and formats include assignments, exams, lecture notes and video presentations.
- Writing and Reading the Essay: Focuses on the essay as a popular literary genre. The syllabus indicates two essay anthologies as course texts, which can be purchased online. Course activities include a reader’s journal and a series of personal writing assignments.
- Writing and Reading Short Stories: Offers students the opportunity to study character development, plotting and point of view. Featured authors include, among others, Flannery O’Connor, Alice Walker, William Faulkner and John Updike.
6. New Jersey Institute of Technology
The New Jersey Institute of Technology is a scientific and technological university that offers OCW courses and materials.
- Technical Writing: is geared toward the advanced writer. In this course, which consists of about 40 video-taped lectures, students apply theory to analyze and solve complex communication problems. Course topics include audience awareness, document design, ethics, gender equity and rhetorical theory.
7. Purdue University
Through Purdue University’s Online Writing Lab (OWL), students and teachers around the world can enjoy 24-hour access to a variety of Web-based resources, including handouts, podcasts and PowerPoint presentations. These include topics in grammar and mechanics, professional and technical writing, English as a Second Language (ESL), research and writing style.
- Professional and Technical Writing: Provides a list of varied Web-based resources that can show students and professionals how to research and write business letters, memos and other office-related documents. Topics include audience analysis, parallel structures and writing tone. Additional technical writing resources include information on how to write scientific abstracts and white papers.
- The Writing Process: Includes a list of mostly text-based resources and exercises that cover everything from overcoming writer’s block to proofreading strategies. Additional topics include pre-writing, thesis statements, outlining and audience analysis, which can be applied to a wide variety of writing tasks.
8. The University of Massachusetts at Boston
Critical Reading and Writing is designed to help students achieve college-level reading and writing skills through a critical exploration of U.S. foreign policy. Students have access to the course syllabus, an assignment list and website.
Through the course site, students can open and download text documents and PowerPoint presentations on topics like critical analysis strategies, brainstorming and building concepts, as well documents and links to online resources on foreign policy issues.
9. Utah State University (USU)
Utah State offers OCW materials in several academic departments. Students may be able to apply the knowledge gained from the use of these open materials to pass exams to earn credit.
USU may give credit to students who pass subject tests offered by individual departments, the International Baccalaureate Organization or CLEP exams, among other options.
- Intermediate Writing: Research Writing in a Persuasive Mode provides access to 16 weekly lessons, with links to readings and related writing assignments. Students learn how to engage in various components of the writing process while developing critical reading and thinking skills. Topics include writing about controversial topics, argumentation styles, source documentation and how to use multimedia resources.
- Introduction to Writing: Academic Prose is an online complement to a graduate-level course. The course materials are presented in a similar 16-week format, with links to several online readings and assignment descriptions. The syllabus begins with assignments related to debate and dialogue, cultural myths and visual literacy. Additional writing activities include a family narrative, a school board project and a media analysis.
10. University Of Lowa
The Writing University is a Web-based resource for the school’s literary and writing community, providing direct access to a number of free audio presentations. Recent podcasts have included presentations on the sentence, creative nonfiction and experiential writing.
- Flash Fiction introduces students to the concept of the super-short story and its emergence as a mainstream literary trend. Listeners can learn how brief experiences or even a life story can be condensed to a paragraph or a couple of written lines.
- How to Find the Short Story Within Your Novel helps listeners identify the dissimilarities between these two literary forms. Students learn how to extract a quality excerpt from a longer piece of prose and how first-time authors can prepare their work for publication.
11. Start Writing Fiction
On this online course, established writers – including Louis de Bernières, Patricia Duncker, Alex Garland, Abdulrazak Gurnah, Tim Pears, Michèle Roberts and Monique Roffey – will talk about how they started writing.
You’ll consider the rituals of writing and keeping a journal; learn how to develop your ideas; reflect on your own writing and editing; hear writers talk about their approach to research; and start turning events into plot.
You’ll also have the opportunity to review the work of fellow writers and receive comments on your own, learning to read as a writer and respond to feedback.
This course is intended for those with an interest in starting to write fiction or improving their fiction writing, and does not require any previous experience of studying this subject.
Please be aware that participation in this course involves reviewing work posted by other learners. You may find some material used in these stories is of an adult nature (e.g. language, sex, violence) and although captured in context, may offend. Learners on this course are instructed to place warnings at the top of their work to indicate use of such content.
12. Adventures In Writing
Welcome to Adventures in Writing, a series of graphic-novel style learning modules designed to help you learn more about and practice a range of effective written communication skills. You’ll immerse yourself in the adventures of Maya and Chris, using each module’s interactive exercises to apply what you’ve learned. Writing instructors in Stanford’s Program in Writing and Rhetoric (PWR) designed the modules to reflect PWR’s philosophy that the best academic and real world communication practices require us to think about more than “correctness” or just getting things right—we must actively consider what we’re trying to achieve with a specific audience for a specific purpose. Through joining Maya and Chris on their adventures, you’ll develop your abilities to communicate in writing—from punctuation and style to argument—increasing the power of your language in the classroom and beyond.
CONCEPTS
While there are many challenges related to writing well, we’ve chosen to focus on the following issues, crucial to your writing success:
1. Academic Language
This module invites you to explore the way in which successful writers consciously change how they use language to work best in different contexts – from tone, to word choice, to style – focusing specifically on how to develop a strong, persuasive academic voice. Join our characters Maya, Chris, and Josh at a baseball game and learn how to make a successful academic writing pitch.
2. Purpose, Audience, and Context: Language as Communication
This module asks you to develop a nuanced understanding of how language works, suggesting that powerful communication is about more than just what you want to say; you also need to take into account your goals, your audience, and context. Join Maya and Chris on their adventure through an amusement park and learn in the importance of considering “Who,” “Why,” and “What.”
3. Identifying Passive and Active Voice
This module focuses on one of the most common stylistic choices in writing: the use of passive and active voice. Join Maya and Chris as they watch a zombie movie, and learn the importance of understanding when to be passive – and when being passive puts you in danger of being eaten by zombies.
4. Punctuation: Signposts to Guide Readers
This module explains that punctuation is more than just a set of rules; it’s a series of communication tools that you can use to increase the clarity and precision of your language. Join Maya, Chris, and Vlad as they rush to try to get Vlad to his orchestra rehearsal on time, and learn how to use punctuation to help you hit the correct notes in your writing.
5. Argument: Making and Supporting Claims
This module leads you through the steps for constructing an effective argument, from developing a central claim, to supporting it with evidence, considering diverse opinions, and even thinking about why your argument matters. Join Maya, Chris, and Fiona in their quest to establish a community garden at their university and learn what it means to get arguments to effectively take root in academic contexts.
13. Writing For Young Readers: Opening The Treasure Chest
This course is for curious students and aspiring authors with a passion for writing for young readers. Participate in a dynamic online community of writers as you experiment with your own writing and develop your voice. This course will guide you with a combination of video lectures, online readings, peer reviews, and guest appearances from world-renowned children’s authors. As you work through the writing exercises, you will give and receive feedback from your peers and gain tools and techniques for improving your writing.
During this course you will identify stories that matter to you, explore cultural significance and boundaries, and shape your identity as a writer; become familiar with standard elements of narrative (character, setting, plot, theme, language, dialogue, point of view); reflect on your own work and practice essential self-editing skills; see the different ways in which words and art interact, and the possibilities of longer narrative forms; come away with practical insights into publishing options; and create a plan for pursuing your enthusiasm for writing. By the end of the course, you will have ten to twelve extracts of writing that you can develop into a portfolio.
Join a dynamic community of many voices from around the world. Find inspiration in your own voice, heart, and place so that you can tell the stories for young readers you’ve always wanted to tell.
Syllabus
Your Writing Identity
Good children’s writing commonly has a strong sense of identity. This module will give you a chance to think about and practice putting yourself into your writing. We will start by looking at how you can establish effective writing habits and how you can use your own experiences and culture to enrich your writing. We will also discuss ways that you can add depth to your writing by drawing on myths and legends, and by experimenting with different viewpoints.
Genre, Form, And Audience
In this module we will give you an overview of genres and forms that are popular for young readers. We will then move on to a discussion of audience – who your readers are and how you can make your work appealing to your chosen audience. By the end of the module you will have a good sense of the wide range of genres and forms available to you and some techniques that you can use to make the most of the genre or form you are working in.
Structure
We’ve covered qualities of writing that make it appeal to an audience – its form, its genre, and its strong personal voice. Now we’ll move on to some structural elements that are key to holding your writing together. We’ll start by looking at character and setting, then move on to plot and theme. Finally, we will focus on language. Language can really bring your writing to life by adding a layer to your characters and setting and by giving your plot a good pace. This is the last module where we look at creating new writing. In the next two modules we’ll focus on editing your work and getting it published.
Editing And Proofreading
In this module you will learn how to transform your draft work into something that flows well, is free of errors, and is ready to be published. We’ll start by looking at structural editing, where you look at your work’s plot, structure, and themes. Then we’ll move on to the copyediting and proofreading stage, where you focus on perfecting grammar and spelling. We have provided resources and checklists that will help you to practice applying our editing tips to your own work.
Publishing
In this final module you’ll learn about different ways that you can get your work published and into the hands of young readers. We have included information about a range of different publishing methods available to you, from traditional print publishing to digital publishing. You can also listen to our guest writers talking about how they publish their own work. This MOOC is just a starting point for your writing life. You will soon be ready to join a global network of writers.
14. Creative Writing: The Craft Of Style
Syllabus
Meaning, Sense, And Clarity
Here in the first module we focus on putting pressure on your words so that they mean what you intend. We balance abstraction with the need to make good sense. And we discuss the first and last stylistic difficulty of any prose writer, being clear.
Writing With Nouns And Verbs
In the second module we look at the various parts of speech and how two of them—nouns and verbs—are the building blocks of good style and good narratives. By relying on nouns, we make the people, places, and things of the narrative world vivid. By relying on verbs we keep the story alive and in motion.
Economy
In the third module, having practiced putting words in, we learn to take them out. And why: for humor, for clarity, for cleanliness, and for that fleet quality of wit that makes a style irresistible.
“No Ideas But In Things”
In the final module of the course, we learn to balance the drive to get at ideas and feelings, with the need the story always has for concreteness, realness. We learn to express ideas in the form of physical things in a narrative world, to produce a style that speaks as much to the world of the senses as to the world of the mind.
15. Transmedia Writing
Do you have a desire to write a novel, write a screenplay, design a video game? In this project-centered course you will develop your own, original, intellectual property (IP) into a transmedia project containing written versions of your IP on various platforms. You will begin your novel, adapt the first chapters of your novel into the opening scenes of a film or TV show and create a game design concept of your IP.
This is a course is based in “Active Learning” so that most of the actual learning takes place within your own activities – that is, writing! You will learn by doing.
I am a proponent of experiential learning (also known as active learning). My lectures are short and succinct, designed in a step-by-step process essential to your success as a writer. I will guide you, I will show you how to get there, hopefully I will inspire you, but I won’t show you how to write or what to write. That is up to you, you are the only one who can illustrate your creative thoughts, by writing them! I firmly believe that the only way to become a writer is to write, write, write. You need to unleash your creativity and my plan is to help you to do exactly that!
All of the assignments on this course are peer review. At each stage of the process, whether creating your novel, your screenplay or your video game, you will post your written work and review the works of your peers. Peer review is an extremely important element of this course. Giving feedback and getting feedback is essential to the development of your critical thinking and your growth as a writer. It is as important as the writing itself.
This course is designed to tap into your creativity and help you to develop your skills in expressing that creativity through written words.
Writing is a truly beautiful, amazing, satisfying thing. Imagine, putting your own words on a page to tell a story which enters your readers minds and allows them to share the thoughts, emotions and lives of your characters. It is a very rewarding experience.
16. Memoir and Personal Essay: Managing Your Relationship with the Reader
Syllabus
WEEK 1
The Art of the Frame: Giving Context to Memories
This week you will learn to identify aspects of the writing process that experienced writers can afford to take for granted. We will address questions of structure, strategy, and methods—the necessary elements for any good blueprint for writing.
WEEK 2
Avatar: The Messenger is the Message
WEEK 3
Diegesis and the Extradiegetic Frame: Two Trains Running
WEEK 4
Profiling: Our Relationship to the People in Our Work
17. Writing Winning Resumes And Cover Letters
How can you bring your resume to the top of the pile? How can you present yourself to prospective employers using the language they already speak inside their organization?
This course will give you answers to those questions. You will learn how to convert a boring resume into a dynamic asset statement that conveys your talents in the language that an employer understands.
After Completing This Course, You Will Be Able To:
- Identify the real purpose of a resume.
- Identify relevant competencies for a position.
- Adapt your resumes to Applicant Tracking Systems (resume screening software).
- Write powerful and convincing accomplishment statements using your accomplishments inventory to strategically
- assemble the most relevant evidence of competency for a specific position.
- Use the resume skills tier method to strengthen your resume.
- Write summary sections and objective statements aligned to a job position.
- Take advantage of web resources to find power language for your resume.
- Produce a strong resume in a format that is suitable both to your background and the position you’re interested in.
- Produce strong cover letters that use A.I.D.A. to help you achieve your career goals.
- Produce effective follow-up letters that help you stand out from the competition.
18. Certificate Course In Writing For A Global Market
With the industrial, technical, and commercial market becoming more and more global, it is imperative that writers understand the importance of writing for a worldwide market. Writers cannot write for a single language community anymore but must be aware of, and consider how to prepare and write for multiple languages to reach diverse populations, cultures, and communities.
This Course Will Focus On How To Apply Best Practices For :
- Globalization – the broad range of processes necessary to prepare and launch products and company activities internationally.
- Internationalization – developing content that is easily localized; doesn’t include local/regional references.
- Localization – the process of adapting a product or service to a particular language and culture.
In addition, writers must also be aware of the industry’s standards to help manage this activity, including an understanding of:
- Machine translation (MT)
- Translation memory (TM)
- Translation Management Systems (TMS)
- Content management systems (CMS)
19. Technical Report Writing For Engineers
Learn to communicate effectively through technical report writing Technical reports are a vital tool for engineers to communicate their ideas. This online course introduces technical report writing and teaches the techniques you need to construct well-written engineering reports.
Each week, we’ll look at a key section of a technical report and the skills needed to write it. You’ll cover areas such as referencing and citations; presenting equations; diagrams and data; and using language and tenses correctly.
We’ll also talk to practising engineers, as well as students and educators who write and mark technical reports, who’ll give their hands-on advice.
This course is designed for both student and professional engineers. It will teach you the technical report writing skills you need to tackle everything from a two-page document to a PhD thesis. As such, it will be applicable for the entirety of your engineering degree or career.
20. Discovering Science: Science Writing
Without science writing, science could not really exist. By recording experiments and publishing the results of studies and discoveries, scientists can share their important work, and find an engaged audience.
Science writing takes many forms: from press releases to video scripts. You’ll learn about different types of science writing, and look at the factors which you need to consider to write a story.
You’ll discover how to gather accurate information and relevant opinions as well as tips on how to conduct a successful interview.
The course is suitable for anyone with a general interest in science; no previous knowledge or experience is required.
If you are working in the field of science and would like to practice and improve your science writing skills, this course is designed to support you as a professional. By completing all aspects of the course you will have achieved 10 hours of CPD time.
