Today's writers are busy. Many fiction writers have day (or night) jobs, family, and other obligations that might prevent them from taking writing classes at a college or working toward their MFA in Creative Writing.
Romance Writers of America understands this. Being an organization dedicated to writer education, they opened the RWA University as an online learning benefit to members worldwide. The online learning classes are still in their infancy stage and more are being added monthly.
Although the RWA has America in the title, the organization is open to members worldwide. Classes may be taken by members at all locations around the glove.
Online Publishing Course
The first course offered is titled Publishing Avenues. It teaches the writer about the many different ways of becoming a published author. It covers New York large trade publishing houses, small presses, vanity and subsidy presses, digital first publication, category romance publishing, and work-for-hire. The publishing class takes the writer from the query and submission stage to reading a contract and royalty statement.
The online learning classes provide extensive reading lists. The lists include articles from past issues of the Romance Writers' Report, or RWR, the magazine for members of RWA. In addition, a list of resources provide further reading and research opportunities. The entire course is designed to be studied over a period of 8-9 months.
More Online Writing Classes Coming Soon
The first course is online now. The RWA is asking for input from students about future offerings. Whatever writers want to learn about most will determine which future courses in the RWA university series will be offered.
In addition, many local chapters of the RWA offer writing workshops and online writing classes for a nominal fee. The listings of these class offerings are at the official RWA website and also appear in the RWR magazine. There are classes in many subgenres of romance, including YA, thriller, suspense, paranormal, and historical.
To take advantage of these classes, one must be a member of the RWA. The organization offers many opportunities and is open to writers of any genre. For people not interested in joining RWA, there are many other free online writing courses available. Here are a few:
Free Online University Writing Course from MIT
Open University Creative Writing Courses
Creative Writing Course With the Crafty Writer
Creative Writing Course Online in Screenwriting
With all these free and low cost online learning options available, a writer doesn't need to look any further than their own computer for continuing education.
Suzanne Pitner - Suzanne Pitner is a teacher and published writer. A member of RWA and YARWA, she writes fiction as Suzanne Lilly.
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