course

For all you Wordsy people who have been visiting my free online non-fiction course, you may want to drop in to the free creative writing course too. Start from the beginning and work your way through releasing your creativity, writing from a POV, short stories and bringing your writing to life. Next week we'll look at building a character. See you there!

Non-fiction writing is often considered the poor cousin of ‘real’ writing. Being a novelist sounds far more exciting than an author of a guide to painting and decorating, but I can guarantee the painter and decorator author has a far better chance of being published and paid. In this eight-week course we will look at non-fiction writing opportunities in the print and electronic media.

Are you a beginner writer? Do you know you want to put pen to paper but not know where to start? Fiona Veitch Smith is offering free online access to material from her Introduction to Creative Writing Course, run in partnership with Sunderland University's Centre for Lifelong Learning.

Well, frankly, if these would-be writers "find it hard to maintain their momentum and enthusiasm" outside the confines of the creative writing classroom then perhaps they should be encouraged to go off and do something else, the poor loves, rather than gently coaxed further into the cold world of professional fiction writing.