Best Free Learning Tools for Writers – Part 1

Greeting Fantasy Nerds and fellow writers! The journey of being an author can be a trying one, especially when you want to learn more and expand your skillset. This week we want to offer you some of our favorite free writing resources. Whether you’re in a rut, hungry to acquire knowledge, or just starting out, these resources will help!

Brandon Sanderson’s Writing Lecture

Brandon Sanderson, an incredible author well known for novels like The Way of Kings, somehow finds the time to give writing lectures at a college! He even records and posts the lectures on YouTube for anyone to watch for free!! WTF watched his entire series on this, and learned a ton! Highly recommend checking out his channel, definitely his writing lectures, but he does have other writing-related videos as well. You’ll walk away not only equipped with better knowledge, but also the excitement of incorporating what you’ve learned into your writing style!

Coursera – Creative Writing

Coursera is an excellent resource to take courses specifically in what you want to learn. It is free, but paying does give you perks like receiving an official certificate when you pass a course. A great place to start is the creative writing course. You can take the course for free, and it’s beginner-friendly! But it also has great tips, even if you’re an experienced writer. There are other writing courses on Coursera as well, so we definitely recommend them!

M.K. Williams’ YouTube Channel

M.K. Williams is a primarily self-published author who shares her journey over the last decade. With a focus on discussing not only writing, but also self-publishing and promotion. She has a lot of good videos you can watch for free! Especially a great resource for self-publishing if that is something you’re interested in pursuing. We have both taken away a lot of great nuggets of information from her videos!

Reddit – r/writing

Reddit can be a great place for advice and learning, just stay within related subreddits, which is what we would recommend. r/writing is a great subreddit where tons of writers from vastly different experience levels share insight and resources! You can ask specific questions if you’re a Reddit user, or sift through and search within the subreddit to find resources, because there is a ton of content already at your disposal. You don’t have to be an official Reddit user to peruse!

…

Did you find a new resource to check out? What are your favorite free writing resources? Let us know in the comments below, we’re always looking for more! Stay tuned for our part 2!

Thank you so much for reading!

–Clever&WTF